Will Beharrell, Librarian at The Linnean Society will be presenting his talk on English botanical artist Elizabeth Blackwell (1699–c. 1758) who found herself penniless, with her ne’er-do-well husband confined to a London debtor’s prison. A talented artist, she came up with a unique and ambitious moneymaking scheme: the publication of a new illustrated guide to medicinal plants, including many New World species not depicted in earlier books. Blackwell’s Curious Herbal, published between 1737 and 1739, was hailed for it’s usefulness to doctors and apothecaries and met with considerable financial success.