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sochistnathist.bsky.social
SHNH
@sochistnathist.bsky.social
3.2K followers 300 following 74 posts
The Society for the History of Natural History | https://shnh.org.uk/

Archives of Natural History published by Edinburgh University Press | https://www.euppublishing.com/loi/ANH
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thelabandfield.bsky.social
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/...
September 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
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sansculottid.es
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
An old time-y illustration of a Bitter orange.
September 11, 2025 at 10:00 PM
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brycchancarey.bsky.social
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...
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. ...
shnh.org.uk
September 4, 2025 at 4:01 PM
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pemberleybooks.bsky.social
🌿 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
September 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
sochistnathist.bsky.social
📢 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...
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.
September 12, 2025 at 12:52 PM
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sochistnathist.bsky.social
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...
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...
shnh.org.uk
August 25, 2025 at 7:35 PM
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biodivlibrary.bsky.social
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
September 1, 2025 at 5:21 AM
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lukaslarge.bsky.social
Agaricus arvensis by Hans Walty - Swiss National Library, GS-WALTY-A-1-82 #FungiFriends #MushroomMonday commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CH...
Illustrations of a white mushroom
September 1, 2025 at 7:39 AM
sochistnathist.bsky.social
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...
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...
shnh.org.uk
August 25, 2025 at 7:35 PM
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friendsofdarwin.bsky.social
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...
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...
friendsofdarwin.com
August 24, 2025 at 3:18 PM
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whitehorsepress.bsky.social
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
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
www.historyextra.com
June 19, 2025 at 7:59 PM
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romanceofbooks.bsky.social
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
August 24, 2025 at 5:08 PM
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biodiversitypix.bsky.social
🐸 Bilder-Atlas zur wissenschaftlich-populären Naturgeschichte der Amphibien in ihren sämmtlichen Hauptformen
Wien: Kaiserl. Koenigl. Hof- und Staatsdr., 1864

[Source]
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.
August 24, 2025 at 6:23 PM
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liamsims.bsky.social
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.
August 18, 2025 at 11:57 AM
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jackdashby.bsky.social
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...
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.
theconversation.com
August 14, 2025 at 6:48 AM
sochistnathist.bsky.social
Five more days to get your entries in! 👇🏼
sochistnathist.bsky.social SHNH @sochistnathist.bsky.social · Jul 24
🚨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...
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.
August 10, 2025 at 9:49 PM
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biodivlibrary.bsky.social
⏳ 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 🧪
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…
blog.biodiversitylibrary.org
August 4, 2025 at 12:27 AM
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arthistoryanimalia.bsky.social
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
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”
August 10, 2025 at 7:29 PM
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sochistnathist.bsky.social
🚨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...
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.
July 24, 2025 at 2:04 PM
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wellreadnaturalist.bsky.social
Huzzah! The new issue of @sochistnathist.bsky.social's "Archives of Natural History" arrived today. #HistSci
July 26, 2025 at 7:32 PM
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andreahart.bsky.social
Currently prepping these wooden beauties for a new display on Richard Owen’s science, art and legacy going into the NHM’s Images of Nature gallery tomorrow! #woodengraving #megatherium #bones #specialcollections
July 17, 2025 at 2:00 PM
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richardfallon.bsky.social
I was fortunate enough to look through Richard Owen's sea-serpent-related clippings and notes yesterday in the @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social. Came face to face with this goofy king of the deep. Shades of the infant form in Shin Godzilla.
Clipping from the Illustrated Police News, 20 May 1876. An engraving of a Goggle-eyed terrorising the ship Hydaspes. Googly-eyed infant Godzilla.
July 23, 2025 at 7:40 AM
sochistnathist.bsky.social
🚨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...
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.
July 24, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by SHNH
liamsims.bsky.social
Another little lunchtime discovery: a Greek New Testament (London, 1664) inscribed by botanist, physician and poet Erasmus Darwin in 1773. His grandson was Charles Darwin. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Kkk.738. Tagging @jillwhitelock.bsky.social.
July 24, 2025 at 1:15 PM
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disabilitystor1.bsky.social
I’ve been working on this publication since 2018 in one way or the other, and it’s a delight to hold the physical copy of the paper in Osiris, volume 40, 2025 in my hands.
if you would like to read the histories of guide dogs beyond the Europe and North America into Japan and Australia—here it is.
A color photo of a the cover of Osiris volume 40, titled Animal mobility’s. Edited by Tamar Novick, Lisa Onaga, and Gabriel N Rosenberg. The cover includes an Ann Mac Coy painting The Night Sea at Life A color photo of the journal open to the first pages of my article ‘My eyes and my Friend: the mobilities and immobilities of guide dogs in the Twentieth century.’ It is seared on a heated pad seated on my lap.
July 24, 2025 at 1:32 PM