Rosemary
A working apothecary’s reference, drawn by the woman who financed her husband’s freedom with it.
- Work
- Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Plate 159, from A Curious Herbal
- Artist / naturalist
- Elizabeth Blackwell
- Origin & date
- London, 1737–1739
- Held by
- Wikimedia Commons (Wellcome Collection)
Format
The full-resolution scan, color-managed to the source — yours to print, study, and keep.
Size
$19.00
The story
Another plate from Elizabeth Blackwell's self-drawn, self-engraved, self-colored A Curious Herbal (1737–1739), this one recording rosemary — prized in 18th-century medicine as a treatment for everything from headaches to fainting, and one of the most commonly stocked herbs in any period apothecary's shop. Blackwell drew from specimens supplied by the Chelsea Physic Garden while her husband Alexander, a former printer turned failed physician, sat in debtors' prison; the book's proceeds paid his debts and secured his release. What to notice: the small inset at upper left isolates a single flower and its seed, separated out for identification exactly the way a period apothecary would need to cross-reference the plant against a dried or powdered sample — this is a working tool first, an art object second, which is precisely what makes it remarkable now.
About this reproduction
- Faithful reproduction of a public-domain work, sourced from Wikimedia Commons (Wellcome Collection)’s open-access release.
- Printed to order on 200gsm EMA matte art paper: smooth, no glare.
- Color-managed to the source scan.
- Ships in 5–8 business days; satisfaction guarantee.
