Boston Flora

Tag: Elizabeth Blackwell

  • Wednesday, March 20, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Eastern – A Curious Herbal: A Conversation with Janet Stiles Tyson, Online

    For nearly three centuries, Elizabeth Blackwell (1699–c. 1758) has been recognized for etching the 500 full-page illustrations of medicinal plants that are found in A Curious Herbal. Join historian and leading authority on Blackwell, Dr. Janet Stiles Tyson, as she uncovers narratives and identifies some of the key differences found in the many editions of this renowned masterpiece. This online presentation is sponsored by the New York Botanical Garden. The leading authority on Blackwell and A Curious Herbal, Dr. Janet Stiles Tyson, will correct persistent Blackwell narratives and restore attention to her book as a scientific document. Having examined more than 80 copies of Blackwell’s Herbal—including the three held in NYBG’s LuEsther T. Mertz Library—she will highlight differences that endow each with distinct personalities and argue that some copies were so dramatically altered by their owners that they can be considered unique books, and their former owners perceived as co-authors. Register at www.nybg.org

  • Friday, February 11, 9:00 am – 10:00 am EST – Women, Botany, and Art: From the Garden to the Easel, Online

    In this highly illustrated Berkshire Gardens Trust talk on Friday, February 11, Dr Twigs Way will present an overview of the role of female artists in floral and botanic art from the 16th to the 19th century. Including discussion of the lives and works of female artists including Giovanna Garzoni, Maria van Oosterwijck, Rachel Ruysch, Elizabeth Blackwell, Mary Moser, Mary Delany (and Queen Charlotte); and Augusta Withers and Sarah Drake. 

    Floral art has been often dismissed as a ‘pleasing pastime’ for ladies of leisure, but this talk will explore how an association with floral and botanical works enabled women to enter the male-dominated worlds of art and science. Twigs will consider themes including perceived divisions between floral and botanic art, the amateur and the professional, the role of royal patronage and scientific studies, and of course the vexed question of marriage

    ​Twigs Way is a garden historian, writer and researcher. Twigs is fascinated by the past and intrigued by the role of flowers, gardens and landscape in art and culture of all kinds. Her talks and books reflect that endless curiosity, with books on plants and gardens exploring themes of symbolism and meaning, class and gender, art and literature:  every plant has a tale to tell, every garden a past.  

    Twigs is an accredited Arts Society lecturer and her history of the Chrysanthemum in art and culture was published by Reaktion in 2020. She is currently working on the “equally golden daffodil”.

    ​Booking: Please book online. The tickets are £5 each.  We will send you a Zoom link for the lecture a few days before the 11th February. The lecture will last approximately 1 hour, followed by questions. The lecture will NOT be recorded.  

    ​Queries: Please contact Janet by email at bgtmembership@gmail.com

    Still Life with Bowl of Citrons, late 1640s.By Giovanna Garzoni