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1817-1820

BIGELOW, JACOB. American medical botany, being a collection of the native medicinal plants of the United States... Boston: Cummings and Hilliard, 1817.

Jacob Bigelow's American Medical Botany is considered to be the first American botany book to be printed in color. The plates in this book were produced by a lithographic process which Bigelow described as "aquatinting." Bigelow's inspiration for compiling and publishing his botany stemmed from his lifelong interest in plants, but was also born of necessity. As well as being in private practice, Bigelow was Professor of Botany at Harvard and taught Materia Medica at the Massachusetts Medical College. He observed the lack of books containing accurate color depictions of American plants and vegetables. Completed in 1820, his three-volume work was well received. Although some of the first lithographic plates appear to be plain and lacking in detail, many of the later plates are strikingly beautiful and reflect the perfection of the new lithographic process of printing.