Elizabeth Blackwell was born in Aberdeen, Scotland around 1700 and moved to London after she married Alexander Blackwell. To raise money to pay her husband's debts, she undertook an ambitious project to produce an illustrated herbal. Much of her work was based on plant specimens in the Chelsea Physic Garden in London. She was the first British woman to produce an herbal, and is noted for undertaking the drawing, engraving, and hand coloring of the plats herself to reduce the cost of production. Her book, "A Curious Herbal," was issued in weekly parts between 1737 and 1739, each part containing four illustrated plates and a page of text. The work was highly praised by leading physicians and apothecaries of the day. Due to the financial success of "A Curious Herbal," Elizabeth's husband was released from prison. He later left for Sweden where he became involved in a conspiracy to alter the Swedish succession, for which he was threatened with torture and was executed.

Jane Webb Loudon (1807-1858) was an English author and gardener, known for being an early pioneer of science fiction, and for popularizing gardening as an activity for young women. In 1827, her first novel, titled "The Mummy," was published anonymously by Henry Cloburn. John Claudius Loudon, a Scottish botanist and horticultural writer, reviewed the novel in his periodical "The Gardener's Magazine." He sought out the author after his review, unaware that she was a woman. The two married a year later. Loudon, a leading horticulturalist at the time, influenced Jane's foray into horticultural writing, publishing titles including "Young Ladies' Book of Botany," "Gardening for Ladies," and "Laides Companion to the Flower Garden," among others.