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The lost story of the Shetland Female Emigration Fund
Read more: The lost story of the Shetland Female Emigration FundVéronique Molinari explores how four people united forces to help young Shetlanders emigrate to Australia
How colonial violence in Tasmania helped build scientists’ reputations and prestigious museum collections
by Jack Ashby, University of Cambridge Readers are advised this article contains the names of Aboriginal people who have died, and mentions attempted genocide, violence towards and offensive language about Aboriginal peoples. We might imagine that scientists gain recognition thanks…
The Importance of Legacy in the Histories of Mycologists
By Nathan Smith How many animals can you name? How many plants? The answer to both questions is probably quite a few and, indeed, the total would probably number in the hundreds for both were you to sit down and…
The Poisonous Flowers of H. Rider Haggard’s Cleopatra: Part One
By Jemma Stewart H. Rider Haggard’s Gothic Garden In the Gothic Studies articles ‘Blooming Marvel’ and ‘She shook her heavy tresses’, I assess the ways in which floral symbolism (or floriography) in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) and H. Rider Haggard’s…
Cute Ecologies: Beatrix Potter, Mushrooms and Miniature Worlds
Once known primarily as the author of ‘twee’ children’s books about fastidious mice and naughty rabbits, Beatrix Potter has gained recognition in recent years for her wide-ranging accomplishments as a conservationist, mycologist and scientific illustrator. In the 1890s, before embarking…
A watercolour of a stranded sperm whale from the late seventeenth century
In their article from the Archives of natural history, Klaus Barthelemess and Ingvar Svanberg discuss a painting from a manuscript album, known as Kungsboken. This contains various documents of military relevance assembled during the rule of the Swedish kings Charles…
From the Archives – Patron’s Review – The role of the moving image in natural history
Images of natural history, whether stationary or moving, have the capacity to affect the emotions of an audience. Through the creation of narratives, anthropomorphic reflection and knowledge transfer, they have the power to change perceptions and behaviour. In our featured…
A taxidermist’s working life in the 19th Century
An April article in Archives of natural history gives a fascinating insight into the life of Charles Francis Adams, a young American who prepared, stuffed and mounted the skins of birds and mammals for display. It also details the early…