Botanica Blackwellia

09/15/23 • 44 min

In which Anna and Judith travel back to the degenerate world of Eighteenth-century London. Expect user-focused content and design, a performance in rhyming verse and a dash of gin.
When Elizabeth Blackwell's husband ends up in a debtor's prison, she thinks writing and illustrating her own book will save the day, but it's a mammoth task.
CONNECT WITH ANNA & JUDITH
Find more information and images at the Bookshapers website.
Follow Bookshapers on Instagram.
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USEFUL LINKS
See Elizabeth's letter of introduction to Hans Sloane at the British Library.
'A Curious Herbal as Material Witness' at the Linnean Society.
'Will the Real Elizabeth Blackwell Please Stand Up?' at NYBG.
CREDITS
Recorded by Anna Faherty and Judith Watts. Edited and produced by Anna Faherty.
Incidental music: Concerti Grosso, Opus 3 No 2 in B-flat major composed by George Frideric Handel in 1734 and performed by The London Baroque Orchestra. Available at Wikimedia Commons.
Sound effects: The sound of the typewriter from tams_kp on freeounds.org
Theme music: Folk guitar music track from Dvideoguy on freesound.org | Typewriter sound effect from tams_kp on freeounds.org | Print shop sound effect from ecfike on freesound.org

Previous Episode

Pianotype

In which Anna and Judith uncover a publishing innovation that promised to spark a revolution - but didn't. Expect the spectre of automation, invisible women, union disputes, rock-star pianists and a new take on the sound of typesetting.
The Anatomy of Sleep was the first book ever typeset by machine. By the time of the second edition, it was set by hand. Today, the machine that made it is virtually unknown. So what happened?
CONNECT WITH ANNA & JUDITH
Find more information and images at the Bookshapers website.
Follow Bookshapers on Instagram.
Follow Bookshapers on Twitter.
BOOKS & LINKS
CREDITS
Recorded by Anna Faherty and Judith Watts. Edited and produced by Anna Faherty.
Incidental music: La Campanella, composed by Franz Liszt in 1851 and performed by Romuald Greiss on an 1850 piano. Available at Wikimedia Commons.
Sound effects: The sound of the typewriter from tams_kp on freeounds.org
Theme music: Folk guitar music track from Dvideoguy on freesound.org | Typewriter sound effect from tams_kp on freeounds.org | Print shop sound effect from ecfike on freesound.org

Next Episode

Modern Magic

In which Anna and Judith travel back to a world of secrets in Victorian London. Expect multiplatform publishing, debates about access to knowledge, a found-poem performance and a marvellous trick.
When Angelo Lewis writes a book about his boyhood love, some readers are so outraged they wish him dead...

CONNECT WITH ANNA & JUDITH
Find more information and images at the Bookshapers website.
Follow Bookshapers on Instagram.
USEFUL LINKS
Explore a copy of 'Modern Magic' at the Internet Archive.
CREDITS
Recorded by Anna Faherty and Judith Watts. Edited and produced by Anna Faherty. Thanks also to Marco Tarantino of University of the Arts London for support with recording. Incidental music: The Sorcerer's Apprentice, composed by Paul Dukas in 1897 and performed by the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in 1929. Available at the Internet Archive.
Sound effects: The sound of the typewriter from tams_kp on freeounds.org
Theme music: Folk guitar music track from Dvideoguy on freesound.org | Typewriter sound effect from tams_kp on freeounds.org | Print shop sound effect from ecfike on freesound.org

Bookshapers - Botanica Blackwellia

Transcript

There’s this traditional idea of a writer or artist as someone tormented by their artistic genius, but what if you need to become a writer in order to overcome some challenging personal circumstances? You’d need to focus less on artistic perfection and more on satisfying your readers.

Phenomenal, actually, that she would do all of that. In spite of her husband...

Who she definitely should have left in prison.

Introduction

Welcome