SHNH

There are still a few weeks left to submit your proposals for our ECR Symposium next year!

We'd love papers from across the field which speak to all aspects of the history of natural history by early career researchers!

Find out how to submit 👇🏻

Illustration of a marble eel (Synbranchus marmoratus) from an 18th-century German natural history book. The eel’s elongated, serpentine body is coiled twice and features a mottled brown and tan pattern resembling marble. Its head is detailed with a slightly open mouth showing sharp teeth, and a prominent blue eye. A small circular diagram is included near the tail, possibly showing an anatomical detail. The image has a plain beige background framed by a black line, with a title and scientific name in the top right corner. The style is precise and naturalistic, typical of historical zoological illustrations.

🌊 D. Marcus Elieser Bloch's, ausübenden Arztes zu Berlin ... Oeconomische Naturgeschichte der Fische Deutschlands ....
Berlin: Auf Kosten des Verfassers und in Commission bei dem Buchhändler Hr. Hesse, 1782-1795..

[Source]

Mollusks from 'Testacea utriusque Siciliae eorumque historia et anatome' by Giuseppe Saverio Poli. Parmae: Ex regio typographeio, 1791-1827.

I saw this at the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives in Washington DC.

#sciart #naturalhistory

🙌

YouTube video by Society for the History of Natural History Discovering the Okapi

Well my Discovering the #Okapi talk is already available - my thanks to @animalhistories.bsky.social and @sochistnathist.bsky.social - you can watch my talk here: youtu.be/Hx1Z2XiETA4?...

This is a truly wonderful book! I was fortunate to write a review for Archives of Natural History here: www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/...

Hey you. Wanna apply for a fellowship on collections? the AHRC Early career fellowships in cultural & heritage institutions are open!

The Natural History Museum priorities are below.

If you wanna talk birds, hit me up. Collectors, colonialism, Canada, Australia & more

www.ukri.org/opportunity/...

An old time-y illustration of a Bitter orange.

Today is Sextidi the 26th of Fructidor in the year 233.
Fructidor is the month of fruitfulness.
Today we celebrate bitter orange. #JacobinDay

More information on bitter orange

Announcing the SHNH Natural History Book Prize (Thackray Medal) longlist - Society for the History of Natural History The Redouté brothers: Masters of scientific illustration in Paris Hans Walter Lack, James A. Compton & Martin W. Callmander. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. 2024. 822pp. ISBN 978-2-38327-020-1. ...

I'm very excited to learn that my book The Unnatural Trade is one of the final seven candidates for the 2025 Society for the History of Natural History Book Prize (The Thackray Medal). My thanks to the @sochistnathist.bsky.social readers! You can see the full list at >> shnh.org.uk/news/announc...

🌿 Freshly released! "A Year with Gilbert White" by Jenny Uglow brings to life the observer of nature whose "Natural History of Selborne" has enchanted readers for centuries.
tinyurl.com/5n7axwdy

#NewBook #GilbertWhite @faberbooks.bsky.social @sochistnathist.bsky.social @gilbertwhites.bsky.social

A deep green background with white lettering that reads "The society for the History of Natural History Call for Papers" surrounded by historic illustrations of different types od seaweed.

📢 Call for Papers! 📢

We're excited to announce that in 2026 we will again be hosting an Early Career Researcher Symposium, and that this time it will be a partnership with @linneansociety.bsky.social!🙌🏻

We'd love to hear from all ECRs, so find how to submit a proposal 👇🏻
shnh.org.uk/news/cfp-ear...

The Sense of Nature: SHNH Summer Meeting, June 2025 by Josephine Koopman - Society for the History of Natural History SHNH Summer Meeting by Josephine Koopman, Researcher (Department of History, European University Institute) “The senses,” Michel de Montaigne wrote in 1588, “are the beginning and the end of human kno...

As summer comes to a close, we're looking back over a wonderfully successful season!

In June, we welcomed folk to Glasgow to celebrate The Sense of Nature. It was a fantastic meeting filled with amazing people 🥰

You can read a report on it by Josephine Koopman here 👇🏻
shnh.org.uk/the-sense-of...

On Sept 1, Australia celebrates the 1st day of spring with #NationalWattleDay! This beautiful wattle, Acacia prominens (Golden Rain Wattle), is from Curtis's Botanical Magazine (1836) contributed to #BHLib by @mobotgarden.bsky.social biodiversitylibrary.org/page/466265 #FlowersInTheLibrary #ILoveBHL

Illustrations of a white mushroom

Agaricus arvensis by Hans Walty - Swiss National Library, GS-WALTY-A-1-82 #FungiFriends #MushroomMonday commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CH...

A deep green background with the logo of the Archives of Natural History.

Finally! Another fantastic edition of Archives of Natural History went out.

It records two previously unpublished Darwin manuscripts, details the journey of the giant panda ‘Grandma’ to Britain in 1938, and the life of Jane Dye 📜🐼🦆

Find the full journal here 👇🏻
www.euppublishing.com/toc/anh/52/1

A deep green background with white writing reading "WT Stearn Essay Prize" and a drawing of a lemur and a yellow bird.

A picture of Theo looking directly at the camera.

We're delighted to say that the winner of the William T. Stearn Student Essay Prize was Theo Detweilier.

Awarded for his very well-researched essay which offers a valuable re-evaluation of the work of Henry Baker Tristram and his interpretation of mammals in the Holy Land.

A photograph of Malini Roy, Cam Sharp Jones and Cheryl Tipp each holind a copy of Animals: Art, Science and Sound.

The front cover of Animals: Art, Science and Sound.

Our Book Prize went to three people this year! 🎉

It was awarded to Malini Roy, Cam Sharp Jones and Cheryl Tipp for Animals: Art, Science and Sound.

The book brings together artworks, printed works and wildlife sounds showcasing the greatest and strangest representations of animals on record.

A deep green background with white words reading "Founders' Medal" and a picture of the medal flanked by two peaches.

The SHNH Founders’ Medal this year went to David J. Mabberley!

To botanists, David hardly needs an introduction. He has produced over three hundred and fifty publications, ranging from plant ecology and systematics to the history of science and botanical illustration.

A deep green background with white text reading "President's Award" and a picture of the award surrounded by orange flowers.

A picture of Caroline Cornish smiling broadly and looking just to the left of the viewer.

We awarded the SHNH President’s Award to the ever-fantastic Caroline Cornish!

Caroline has broken new ground in revealing Kew’s colonial history, highlighting under-represented voices in Kew’s archives and collections, and increasing access and diversity in researchers using Kew’s resources.

The Sense of Nature: SHNH Summer Meeting, June 2025 by Josephine Koopman - Society for the History of Natural History SHNH Summer Meeting by Josephine Koopman, Researcher (Department of History, European University Institute) “The senses,” Michel de Montaigne wrote in 1588, “are the beginning and the end of human kno...

As summer comes to a close, we're looking back over a wonderfully successful season!

In June, we welcomed folk to Glasgow to celebrate The Sense of Nature. It was a fantastic meeting filled with amazing people 🥰

You can read a report on it by Josephine Koopman here 👇🏻
shnh.org.uk/the-sense-of...

24-Aug-1831: Henslow’s letter On 24th August 1831, Charles Darwin’s great friend and mentor John Stevens Henslow sat down at his desk, took up his pen, and wrote what turned out to be one of the most important letters in the histo...

24-Aug: On this day in 1831, Charles Darwin’s great friend and mentor John Stevens Henslow wrote what turned out to be one of the most important letters in the history of science… #HistSci friendsofdarwin.com/articles/hen...

Winston and the platypus: how a bizarre WW2 diplomacy mission to influence Churchill ended in death and tragedy In 1943, Australia tried to send a live platypus across U-boat-infested waters to Britain as a diplomatic gift. The mission, part zoological experiment, part geopolitical theatre, ended in disaster

We’re pleased to see BBC History Extra adapt another ‘Environment and History’ article for a wider audience. "Winston and the platypus: how a bizarre WW2 diplomacy mission to influence Churchill ended in death and tragedy": www.historyextra.com/period/secon... #envhist #platypus #churchill #wwii

Botanical art by Pierre-Joseph Redouté for 'Choix des plus belles fleurs prises dans différentes familles du règne végétal et de quelques branches des plus beaux fruits.' Published in Paris from 1827-1832.

Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections.

#rarebook #sciart #naturalhistory

Historical illustration depicting two detailed views of a turtle, identified as "Die gemeine Dosen-Schildkröte" (Terrapin species Pyxidens clausa). The top image shows a side profile of the turtle walking on land, highlighting its patterned shell, short legs with claws, and an elongated neck with a small head resembling a bird's beak. The bottom image presents a top-down view of the shell, emphasizing the intricate, dark symmetrical markings and texture on the carapace. The illustration is rendered in muted brown and beige tones, typical of 19th-century scientific plates, with fine shading to suggest texture and depth.

🐸 Bilder-Atlas zur wissenschaftlich-populären Naturgeschichte der Amphibien in ihren sämmtlichen Hauptformen
Wien: Kaiserl. Koenigl. Hof- und Staatsdr., 1864

[Source]

A majestically colourful cockerel. From a picture book ABC for children, printed in the Swiss city of Bern in 1860. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Ud.9.460.

The Rodrigues parakeet’s last day: what one extinct bird tells us about the role of museums Two specimens at a museum in Cambridge are the only physical evidence this bird ever existed.

150 years ago today, the last known Rodrigues parakeet died.
It - and one other specimen - is now in @zoologymuseum.bsky.social: the only physical evidence the species ever existed.
I wrote about them & the importance of #museums in our knowledge of #extinction:
theconversation.com/the-rodrigue...

Five more days to get your entries in! 👇🏼

BHL Transition Update #2 Help us shape the future of the Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is at a turning point. After nearly two decades of calling the Smithsonian Institution home, BH…

⏳ Just under a month to go! 🌱

BHL’s Call for Support soft closes 31 Aug. That’s when we begin reviewing offers. Hosting, funding, services – every contribution counts. Help shape BHL’s future: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2025/06/tran...

#BHLTransition #OpenScience 🧪

photo of the lion helmet and label on display at museum, on red background “Sallet in the Shape of a Lion's Head Steel, gile copper, glass, polychromy Weight, 7 lb. 14 oz. (3574 g) Italian, about 1475-80 This helmet is the carliest surviving example of Renaissance armor all'antica (in the antique style). The lion's head is an outer shell made of embossed and gilt copper that is fitted over an underlying plain steel helmet. It represents the head of the Nemean Lion, whose pelt was worn as a headdress and cloak by the mythological hero Hercules. He was frequently portrayed in Renaissance art as a symbol of indomitable strength, courage, and perseverance. Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1923 23.141”

For #WorldLionDay 🦁:
Sallet in the Shape of a Lion’s Head [Nemean #Lion]
Italian, c. 1475-80
Steel, gilt copper, glass, polychromy
On display at the Met
“This helmet is the earliest surviving example of Renaissance armor all'antica (in the antique style).“
#RenaissanceArt

A deep green background with white lettering that reads "WT Stearn Essay Prize" surrounded by a old natural history illustration of a ring-tailed lemur and a yellow bird.

🚨Call for entries!🚨

We're looking for the best original, unpublished essay in the history of natural history from undergraduate & postgraduate students worldwide.

🥇£300, publication in Archives of Natural History
📅Friday 15 August

Find out eligibility & how to apply 👇🏻
shnh.org.uk/awards-honou...