RaySocietyBooks
@raysocietybooks.bsky.social
The Ray Society a 180 yr old non-profit charity named after eminent naturalist John Ray (1628-1705) publishes natural history works often unavailable elsewhere.
raysociety.org.uk
raysociety.org.uk
Pinned
Excited to announce a forthcoming public'n ‘Marine crabs and lobsters from Gulf of Mexico and adjacent waters, Florida to Belize: Darryl L.Felder's magnus opus in 3 vols 'A colour-illustrated catalogue and keys to reptant decapod crustaceans'. More posts coming with vol content.
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
February 8, 2026 at 3:23 AM
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Retro palaeoart: Polish (1929, interwar) popular science palaeontology book "O czym mówią kamienie?" ("What do rocks tell us"), with charming illustrations. Written by Józef Siemiradzki, a Professor of Geology at the University of Lviv.
February 3, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Retro palaeoart: Polish (1929, interwar) popular science palaeontology book "O czym mówią kamienie?" ("What do rocks tell us"), with charming illustrations. Written by Józef Siemiradzki, a Professor of Geology at the University of Lviv.
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Just a little taster of our January newsletter!
Read more: tr.ee/5ZzBoji4ea
Sign up for future newsletters: tr.ee/QH4U0c8BJx
@pelagic.bsky.social @oxfordunipress.bsky.social @speciesrecovery.bsky.social
Read more: tr.ee/5ZzBoji4ea
Sign up for future newsletters: tr.ee/QH4U0c8BJx
@pelagic.bsky.social @oxfordunipress.bsky.social @speciesrecovery.bsky.social
February 3, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Just a little taster of our January newsletter!
Read more: tr.ee/5ZzBoji4ea
Sign up for future newsletters: tr.ee/QH4U0c8BJx
@pelagic.bsky.social @oxfordunipress.bsky.social @speciesrecovery.bsky.social
Read more: tr.ee/5ZzBoji4ea
Sign up for future newsletters: tr.ee/QH4U0c8BJx
@pelagic.bsky.social @oxfordunipress.bsky.social @speciesrecovery.bsky.social
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Our Feb Public Meeting will feature author, Renee Bergland and her book, “Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science”. The preceding business meeting will include board elections. Learn more on our website: mnatheists.org/2026/02/feb-...
February 1, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Our Feb Public Meeting will feature author, Renee Bergland and her book, “Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science”. The preceding business meeting will include board elections. Learn more on our website: mnatheists.org/2026/02/feb-...
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
I'd like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to @royalsociety.org for regularly publishing such interesting and educational notes as the one here. Such is a particularly welcome and productive use of social media platforms, and I hope they long continue in this practice.
Born #OnThisDay in 1790 was palaeontologist Gideon Mantell FRS. His discovery and study of Iguanadon fossils marked the start of scientific research on dinosaurs. A dinosaur species from Europe first identified as a species of Iguanadon is now named Mantellisaurus in his honour.
February 3, 2026 at 6:55 PM
I'd like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to @royalsociety.org for regularly publishing such interesting and educational notes as the one here. Such is a particularly welcome and productive use of social media platforms, and I hope they long continue in this practice.
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
New #ebook at Project Gutenberg: Country rambles in England by J. L. Knapp https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77852
February 3, 2026 at 10:20 PM
New #ebook at Project Gutenberg: Country rambles in England by J. L. Knapp https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77852
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
February 4, 2026 at 5:23 AM
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
I've been waiting a long time for this book and it is now published - fantastic - great group to get into and this book will make it easy for you - climate change messengers
February 2, 2026 at 10:15 PM
I've been waiting a long time for this book and it is now published - fantastic - great group to get into and this book will make it easy for you - climate change messengers
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
As it is #NationalHedgehogDay here’s a fine watercolour by Ferdinand Bauer, MS. Sherard 238 Pl. 6 @bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Happy snuffling to all who celebrate!
Bodleian Library Ms Sherard 238 Pl. 6
View high resolution digitized images of Bodleian Library Ms Sherard 238 Pl. 6 Erinaceus Europaeus
digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk
February 2, 2026 at 4:20 PM
As it is #NationalHedgehogDay here’s a fine watercolour by Ferdinand Bauer, MS. Sherard 238 Pl. 6 @bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Happy snuffling to all who celebrate!
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the hedgehogs, for today is their special day!
For National Hedgehog Day, here is an engraving from the book 'The Illustrated Natural History' by J. G. Wood, published in 1863.
📷 Reserve 590.2/WOO
#NationalHedgehogDay #HedgehogDay #RareBooks
For National Hedgehog Day, here is an engraving from the book 'The Illustrated Natural History' by J. G. Wood, published in 1863.
📷 Reserve 590.2/WOO
#NationalHedgehogDay #HedgehogDay #RareBooks
February 2, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the hedgehogs, for today is their special day!
For National Hedgehog Day, here is an engraving from the book 'The Illustrated Natural History' by J. G. Wood, published in 1863.
📷 Reserve 590.2/WOO
#NationalHedgehogDay #HedgehogDay #RareBooks
For National Hedgehog Day, here is an engraving from the book 'The Illustrated Natural History' by J. G. Wood, published in 1863.
📷 Reserve 590.2/WOO
#NationalHedgehogDay #HedgehogDay #RareBooks
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Then the fantastic range of sometimes wonderfully niche books we have now.
A selection from my bookshelf.
3/3
A selection from my bookshelf.
3/3
February 1, 2026 at 5:23 PM
Then the fantastic range of sometimes wonderfully niche books we have now.
A selection from my bookshelf.
3/3
A selection from my bookshelf.
3/3
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
…to the early 20th C and Landsborough Thomson ~1910 “Birds of Britain and their nests”. British birds ✔️ but only male birds presented ❌. Some great art but this Hen harrier looking quizzical to me - perhaps drawn from a taxidermy bird?
2/3
2/3
February 1, 2026 at 5:20 PM
…to the early 20th C and Landsborough Thomson ~1910 “Birds of Britain and their nests”. British birds ✔️ but only male birds presented ❌. Some great art but this Hen harrier looking quizzical to me - perhaps drawn from a taxidermy bird?
2/3
2/3
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Pleased to contribute this weeks “Nature Notes” for the Wharfedale Naturalists - available online at www.wharfedale-nats.org.uk/nature-notes
Bird books before field guides.
From fantastic paintings but of exotic birds from the 19thC e.g. Cuban trogon by Elizabeth Gould…
#naturewriting
1/3
Bird books before field guides.
From fantastic paintings but of exotic birds from the 19thC e.g. Cuban trogon by Elizabeth Gould…
#naturewriting
1/3
February 1, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Pleased to contribute this weeks “Nature Notes” for the Wharfedale Naturalists - available online at www.wharfedale-nats.org.uk/nature-notes
Bird books before field guides.
From fantastic paintings but of exotic birds from the 19thC e.g. Cuban trogon by Elizabeth Gould…
#naturewriting
1/3
Bird books before field guides.
From fantastic paintings but of exotic birds from the 19thC e.g. Cuban trogon by Elizabeth Gould…
#naturewriting
1/3
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
‘Studies in Animal Life’ by George Henry Lewes. London: Smith, Elder, 1862.
I saw this wandering around UW-Madison’s Memorial Library.
#naturalhistory #insectart #publishersbinding #sciart #insectillustration
I saw this wandering around UW-Madison’s Memorial Library.
#naturalhistory #insectart #publishersbinding #sciart #insectillustration
February 1, 2026 at 6:33 PM
‘Studies in Animal Life’ by George Henry Lewes. London: Smith, Elder, 1862.
I saw this wandering around UW-Madison’s Memorial Library.
#naturalhistory #insectart #publishersbinding #sciart #insectillustration
I saw this wandering around UW-Madison’s Memorial Library.
#naturalhistory #insectart #publishersbinding #sciart #insectillustration
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
It's #WorldWetlandsDay today! While considering what we can all do to protect these vulnerable ecosystems, we're sharing some botanical illustrations of marsh flowers from 'English Botany', a collaborative work between James Sowerby and Sir James Edward Smith.
February 2, 2026 at 12:58 PM
It's #WorldWetlandsDay today! While considering what we can all do to protect these vulnerable ecosystems, we're sharing some botanical illustrations of marsh flowers from 'English Botany', a collaborative work between James Sowerby and Sir James Edward Smith.
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
A butterfly colored by hand on a copperplate engraving after art by amateur naturalist Edward Donovan.
It’s from his “The Natural History of British Insects (1792–1813)” He was born in Cork, Ireland, originally surnamed O'Donovan, but moved to London and anglicized his name. Pity. 🦋
It’s from his “The Natural History of British Insects (1792–1813)” He was born in Cork, Ireland, originally surnamed O'Donovan, but moved to London and anglicized his name. Pity. 🦋
February 2, 2026 at 1:40 PM
A butterfly colored by hand on a copperplate engraving after art by amateur naturalist Edward Donovan.
It’s from his “The Natural History of British Insects (1792–1813)” He was born in Cork, Ireland, originally surnamed O'Donovan, but moved to London and anglicized his name. Pity. 🦋
It’s from his “The Natural History of British Insects (1792–1813)” He was born in Cork, Ireland, originally surnamed O'Donovan, but moved to London and anglicized his name. Pity. 🦋
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Great Silver Water-beetle (see last repost) in plates from William Fowler's British Coleoptera vol.1 (1887) & John Clegg's Freshwater Life of the British Isles (1952). This beetle is not really silver but appears so underwater due to the bubble of air it carries with it.
January 31, 2026 at 9:46 PM
Great Silver Water-beetle (see last repost) in plates from William Fowler's British Coleoptera vol.1 (1887) & John Clegg's Freshwater Life of the British Isles (1952). This beetle is not really silver but appears so underwater due to the bubble of air it carries with it.
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Our #Bookofthemonth for January: Lichens of Britain and Ireland: An Introductory Guide by Frances Stoakley and Dr Rebecca Yahr. Filling a desired niche, it's a really useable and accessible guide for beginners and a faithful field guide for all! www.summerfieldbooks.com/product/lich...
January 28, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Our #Bookofthemonth for January: Lichens of Britain and Ireland: An Introductory Guide by Frances Stoakley and Dr Rebecca Yahr. Filling a desired niche, it's a really useable and accessible guide for beginners and a faithful field guide for all! www.summerfieldbooks.com/product/lich...
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
The natural history of British fishes: London: Printed for the author, and for F. and C. Rivington, 1802-08. (source: https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/5897262) #nature #illustration #art
January 28, 2026 at 9:09 PM
The natural history of British fishes: London: Printed for the author, and for F. and C. Rivington, 1802-08. (source: https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/5897262) #nature #illustration #art
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
The British bagworm moths (showing winged males & mostly wingless females) & their cases, illustrated in Moths & Butterflies of Great Britain & Ireland vol.2 (1985)
January 28, 2026 at 9:02 PM
The British bagworm moths (showing winged males & mostly wingless females) & their cases, illustrated in Moths & Butterflies of Great Britain & Ireland vol.2 (1985)
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
The British bagworms (Psychidae) depicted in Charles Barrett's British Lepidoptera vol.2 (1895)
January 28, 2026 at 9:11 PM
The British bagworms (Psychidae) depicted in Charles Barrett's British Lepidoptera vol.2 (1895)
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Until Richard South's hugely popular Moths of the British Isles (first published 1907) fixed the boundary between macro and micro moths, the Psychidae (bagworms) used to be part of the Macrolepidoptera, as here in Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the Palaearctic Region.
January 28, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Until Richard South's hugely popular Moths of the British Isles (first published 1907) fixed the boundary between macro and micro moths, the Psychidae (bagworms) used to be part of the Macrolepidoptera, as here in Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the Palaearctic Region.
Reposted by RaySocietyBooks
Because @exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social asked so nicely - here are a few of the illustrations of seashells from the eight volume conchology series by the unknown author with the lovely handwriting 🐚
📖ref BL.48A: Conchology, by Anonymous c.1816
📖ref BL.48A: Conchology, by Anonymous c.1816
January 29, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Because @exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social asked so nicely - here are a few of the illustrations of seashells from the eight volume conchology series by the unknown author with the lovely handwriting 🐚
📖ref BL.48A: Conchology, by Anonymous c.1816
📖ref BL.48A: Conchology, by Anonymous c.1816