RaySocietyBooks

Utterly thrilled with Jeff Ollerton's review of Urban Plants: "So do yourself a favour and take a walk with Trevor through the complex ecology and botany of built-up British landscapes. I learned a lot from Urban Plants and I highly recommend it as an addition to anyone’s Christmas list."

Chromo Plate XV GREAT BARRIER REEF FISHES “lithographs were based on watercolor paintings done by the author on living specimens from the reef” 5 fish “Fig. 1.—Orange-banded Parrot-fish, Xiphochilos fascalas, Gth, p 206. Two-thirds natural size. Fig. 2. Hodgkinson's Parrot Fish, Chergps Hodgkinsomi, n.sp., p. 206. One-half natural size; 23, front view of its teeth. Fig: 3-Scarlet-banded Parrot Fish, Chelms fasciatus, Day, p. 205. One-half natural size. Fig 4—Surf Parrot Fish, Pseudoscarus rizulates, C. and V., P. 295. Female, one-half natural size. Fig. 5-Surf Parrot Fish, Pscudoscares rivalatus, C, and V., p. 295, Male, one-half natural size; 5A, dental plates of upper jaw”

Chromo Plate XVI GREAT BARRIER REEF FISHES “lithographs were based on watercolor paintings done by the author on living specimens from the reef” 15 fish Fig. 1 Fringe-finned Trevally, Caranx radiatus Fig. 2. Diamond Trevally, Caranx gallus Fig. 3. Needle Fish, Amphisile scutata Fig. 4-Blue-banded Coral Fish, Labroudes bicineta Fig. 5. Striped Sole, Solca heterorhina Fig. 6. Trigger Fish, Centriscus scolopax Natural size. Fig. 7. Banded Amphiprion Fig. 8. Crimson Coral Fish, Polyacanthus Queenslandia Fig 9. Gold-Finned Coral Fish, Labroides auropinna Fig. 10-Horned Trunk Fish, Ostracion cornntum, Lin, p. 309 Fig. 14. Yellow-tatied Glyphidodon, Glyphidodon luteo-caudata Fig. 12 Crimson-spotted Goby, Gobius Douglasi Fig. 13-Crimson-scribbled Coral Fish, Julis lunaris Fig. 14-Blue-breasted Coral Fish, Julis cyano-ventor Fig. 15. Alligator Pipe Fish, Gastrotokens biaculeata

#FishFriday 🐠:
“Great Barrier Reef #Fishes”
Chromo Plates XV + XVI from William Saville-Kent (UK, 1845-1908) _The Great Barrier Reef of #Australia: Its Products and Potentialities_ (1893)
archive.org/details/grea...
#SciArt #CoralReef

Seen at the Cape May Fall Birding Festival: "The Little Book of Fungi."

I'm very pleased to see that the Little Books of Nature series from @princetonupress.bsky.social is still going strong.

Learn more about these informative little books: www.wellreadnaturalist.com/2024/03/litt... #Booksky

Historical illustration titled "Mémoire aptérologique" depicting various detailed anatomical views and species of arachnids. The plate features multiple colored and black-and-white drawings of mites and ticks, highlighting body shapes, legs, and sensory appendages. Central images show full-bodied arachnids in red, yellow, and brown hues, with fine details on legs and hairs. Surrounding illustrations present close-ups of claws, mouthparts, antennae, and hairs labeled with letters and numbers. The bottom includes scientific names and figure references, emphasizing a systematic study of arachnid morphology and taxonomy. The style is meticulous and typical of 18th-century scientific plates.

🕸️ Mémoire aptérologique

[Source]

Detail of a sawfish illustration in sZakariya al-Qazwini's 'Aja'ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara'ib al-qat wa Mawjudat (The Wonders of he Creatures and the Marvels ofasit, Creation), an important work of Islamic cosmography which was probably first written in the 1260s, and for centuries after was reproduced across the Islamic world. This illuminated manuscript was made in Wasit, Iraq in 1280 CE and is the earliest known surviving version. Image: cropped portion of a page with Arabic script (mostly black, some text highlighted in red) and a monochrome illustration of a sawfish framed in a red rectangle. LOC collection https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_08962/?sp=136&st=image

Cropped image of a page from an illuminated manuscript with Naskh script and an illustration of what was originally a sawfish, but in later versions and like this one often looked more like a swordfish as the "blade" was drawn without the "teeth" details seen in the earliest known version. Opaque watercolor, ink, gold and silver on paper; DIMENSIONS (of full page): H x W: 32.7 × 22.4 cm (12 7/8 x 8 13/16 in) Freer Gallery of Art F1954.62 https://asia.si.edu/object/F1954.62/

#InternationalSawfishDay:
Here’s a #sawfish in the earliest surviving version of al-Qazwini's 'Aja'ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara'ib al-Mawjudat (aka The Wonders of Creation), Wasit, Iraq, 1280 CE.
In later versions, it was often depicted more like a #swordfish (2nd image, Iraq or E. Türkiye, 15th c. CE).

An historic illustration of of two brown stripy butterflies and a caterpillar on a plant with white flowers.

🌱 Help secure the future of the Biodiversity Heritage Library! 🙏
Your donation will keep biodiversity knowledge open, connected, and growing, and fund the dedicated staff who make it all possible. 📖 👩‍💻 🌱 🌏 🧪
🔗 Donate: ancrywkv.donorsupport.co/page/BHLDona...
#BHLTransition #ILoveBHL

To celebrate #WorldMushroomDay, here's a Lingzhi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum). #SciArt by E Ovsiannikov from Beiträge zur Pflanzenkunde des Russischen Reiches (1857). Digitised for #BHLib by Harvard University Botany Libraries @harvardlibrary.bsky.social www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/43058694 🍄 🧪

Mysterious Mushrooms: New Books About the Fabulous Fruit of the Fungi • The Revelator These 10 books celebrate and educate us about Earth’s most fascinating gift to humans and wildlife.

Mysterious Mushrooms: New Books About the Fabulous Fruit of the Fungi https://therevelator.org/mushroom-books-2025/

A spacious library room with tables displaying open historical books, manuscripts, and documents under bright linear ceiling lights.

Last week our Library & Archives team welcomed 60 students from Graphic Comms at the University of Southampton to explore themes around plant histories, challenging perspectives through engagement with the archive. We look forward to seeing their interpretations of the display we prepared! #KewLA

In WILDNESS, author Lydia Willsky-Ciollo presents Henry David Thoreau as a theologian of the divinity present within all creatures and within all facets of nature. Learn more about WILDNESS and its particularly American theology in our Book Trailer! youtu.be/ZUrsxB9MYos

The Wake of HMS Challenger: How a Legendary Victorian Voyage Tells the Story of Our Oceans' Decline by Gillen D’Arcy Wood. A scientific adventure story that dramatizes how profoundly our oceans have changed over the past 150 years.

In The Wake of HMS Challenger, Gillen D’Arcy Wood looks afresh at this legendary scientific odyssey and shows why, 150 years later, its legacy looms larger than ever.

Arrives next week on Oct 21! Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Ever wondered what stories lie behind Kew’s collections? 🌍
Today’s the day to find out – it’s #AskAnArchivist Day! Our archivists are here to answer your questions about rare books, explorers’ journals and the care of centuries-old plant records.

Ask below 👇
#AskAnArchivist #KewArchives

Book review: “Urban Plants” by Trevor Dines Earlier this year I received an unexpected invitation from Bloomsbury Publishing to attend a book launch at Philip Mould’s gallery in London. Looking at the details I immediately said yes, be…

Review of "Urban Plants" by Trevor Dines, the latest addition to Bloomsbury's British Wildlife Collection.

What did I think of the book? Find out here: jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/10/16/b... #ecology #biodiversity #botany #wildlife #plants #NatureWriting

Nature book challenge. A book per day in no particular order, until you've shared ALL of the best nature books in your personal library. No explanations, no reviews.
#Books #Nature #Naturewriting #naturebooks #conservation #naturebookchallenge #booksky
#MycoBookClub

What a Mushroom Lives For: Matsutake and the Worlds They Make by Michael J. Hathaway

On #NationalMushroomDay in the US, save 70% on Michael J. Hathaway's What a Mushroom Lives For!

Discover how the prized matsutake mushroom is remaking human communities in China—and providing new ways to understand human and more-than-human worlds.

Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Following that last repost with some planktonic copepods from Alister Hardy's classic 'The Open Sea - the World of Plankton' (1956), illustrated by the author.

The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, under the command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., during the years 1832 to 1836 London: Published by Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill, 1839-1843. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48899156

The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, under the command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., during the years 1832 to 1836 London: Published by Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill, 1839-1843. (source: https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48899156) #nature #illustration #art

Illustration from "The Animal Kingdom" (London, 1827-1835) depicting four detailed drawings of different arachnids, specifically harvestmen. Each arachnid has a segmented body and long, thin legs, with variations in leg length and body shape. The species are labeled as 1. Pycnogonum grotesipes, 2. Pyc. littorale, 3. Pyc. sanguineum, and 4. Nymphon gracile. The drawings emphasize anatomical features such as jointed legs, claws, and body segments, reflecting an early 19th-century scientific study of arachnid morphology. The paper shows slight aging with minor spots.

🕸️ The animal kingdom
London: Printed for G.B. Whittaker, 1827-1835.

[Source]

BRITISH PUFFBALLS EARTHSTARS A N STINKHORNS AN ACCOUNT OF THE BRITISH GASTEROID FUNGI D N Pegler T Læssøe B M Spooner

Nature book challenge. A book per day in no particular order, until you've shared ALL of the best nature books in your personal library. No explanations, no reviews.
#Books #Nature #Naturewriting #naturebooks #conservation #naturebookchallenge #booksky
#MycoBookClub

They don't title books like they used to... #ImpingementOfMan

Why look: a box of some sort of newish, bookish things arrived this morning. Seems to be about spinosaurid #dinosaurs... coauthored with @davehone.bsky.social... and published by Bloomsbury. Available 6th of November In the UK; then worldwide in early 2026.

Reading the rocks by brenda maddox life by richard fortey earth by richard fortey

Earth and fossil bundle, $15 plus shipping (US only)

The Tree by colin tudge lives of teh trees by diana wells the wood for the trees by richard fortey

Tree and forest bundle, $15 plus shipping (US only).

The Tree and Lives of the Trees are both former library books, yet in excellent shape.

Cover of "Endless forms: The secret world of wasps" by Seirian Summer. White cover with wasp wings outstretched on it.

Biology. Everything you didn't know about wasps and the study of wasps. I learned things and ended up with a more positive outlook on wasps.

Author: @waspwoman.bsky.social

#bookskt #invertebrates

"The Deorhord" is as entertaining as it is informative. @hanavideen.bsky.social brings life to the stories behind the words in a way that is a true delight to read. I very much recommend it to all philologists, etymologists, "word nerds," and of course, natural history enthusiasts. #Booksky

Historical scientific illustration titled "Diptera, Pl. X" from "Insecta Britanica: Diptera," 1851-56, depicting detailed black-and-white line drawings of various British two-winged insects (Diptera). The plate features full-body views of multiple fly species with wings spread, alongside detailed close-ups of anatomical parts such as eyes, wings, legs, antennae, and larval stages, each numbered for reference. The style is precise and technical, aimed at entomological study, showing wing venation patterns, body segments, and appendages clearly on a light beige background. Publisher imprint "Reeve & Nichols" appears at the bottom.

🪲 Insecta Britanica: Diptera. v.1.
London: Reeve and Benham, 1851-56.

[Source]

If you love moth trapping, or any other study of natural history (a particular group or perhaps everything), and you are curious about how it all works but don’t have a strong scientific background you really should read this book. You will be both amazed and probably slightly worried. Give it a go.

Photo of "Atlas of Macroscopes: Interactive Data Visualizations" by Katy Borner, Elizabeth Record, and Todd Theriault. The cover features a colorful visualization of data as depicted in the book.

In "Atlas of Macroscopes," @katyborner.bsky.social, Elizabeth Record, and Todd Theriault take readers on a fascinating data adventure through the lens of macroscopes, which offer illuminating and holistic views of our ever-changing world: mitpress.mit.edu/978026204992...

Interviews Q&A with Dr. Toshimitsu Fukiharu, author of Mushroom Botanical Art Tuesday 1 March 2022 Dr. Toshimitsu Fukiharu is a curator and senior rese...

Oh, this must be my cue to repost the interview I did with the author 😁

▶️ mycobookclub.blogspot.com/p/interviews...

Mushroom Botanical Art | PIE International The bestselling collection of botanical drawings of mushrooms is now available in a new English edition!!

pie.co.jp/book/i/5475/...