Tree Lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria) – Original Hand-Colored Engraving by Elisabeth Blackwell

This refined botanical engraving depicts Tree Lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria), a distinctive lichen characterized by broad, lobed fronds with an irregular, leaf-like structure, shown in association with fragments of bark.

The specimen spreads outward from a central mass, its pale green surface punctuated by natural perforations and darker marginal zones. Elisabeth Blackwell presents the organism as it appears in situ, emphasizing layered texture and organic asymmetry rather than imposing rigid botanical symmetry.

Produced in the early eighteenth century, this plate forms part of A Curious Herbal, a work notable for its inclusion of plants, fungi, and cryptogams that played an important role in traditional medicine despite their marginal status in formal botany.

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Visual and Aesthetic Analysis

The composition is dominated by a wide, flattened thallus whose branching lobes create a rhythm of expansion and contraction. The contrast between the cool green surface and the darker bark fragments introduces depth and reinforces the organism’s close relationship with its host substrate.

Fine hand-colouring accentuates surface texture rather than decorative colour, guiding attention to structure and form. The result is an image that balances scientific observation with a quietly dramatic, almost sculptural presence.

About the Subject

Tree lungwort—referred to in early sources as Musci pulmonarius—was valued in European medical tradition under the doctrine of signatures, its lung-like form suggesting application in respiratory ailments. Commonly found growing on the bark of mature trees in damp woodlands, it was gathered rather than cultivated, making accurate visual recognition essential. Its presence in A Curious Herbal reflects a period when medicinal knowledge drew upon visual resemblance, habitat, and empirical use, and when organisms now classified as lichens or cryptogams were integrated into practical medical botany.

Condition Report

The engraving is in exceptionally fine antique condition, printed on original handmade laid paper typical of early 18th-century botanical publications. No watermark has been observed. The surface remains fresh and stable, with soft, even age-related toning consistent with period paper. The impression is crisp and clear, with well-preserved hand-colouring and intact engraved inscriptions, including the original title and the artist’s credit.

Details

• Artist: Elisabeth Blackwell
• Work / Publication: A Curious Herbal
• Period: 1737–1739
• Technique: Original copper engraving, drawn, engraved, and hand-colored by Elisabeth Blackwell
• Paper: Original handmade laid paper
• Watermark: None observed
• Sheet size: approx. 37 × 22 cm

For further insight into Elisabeth Blackwell’s work and the medical context of A Curious Herbal, see our editorial article:

Elisabeth Blackwell – A Curious Herbal