Great to see more copies of Syme's book being digitised. Each is unique and many, like this one, are annotated. I discuss Charles Darwin's copy and its relevance to the Beagle voyage in my recent article for the BJHS: doi.org/10.1017/S000...

What was the first book you fell in love with? Tell us about it at writingbolton.org/community/first-book. Your response could be published on the Writing Bolton website, and could feature in a printed anthology. #ReadingBolton #BoltonStories #NationalReadingYear2026

Anatomical illustration of the heart with flaps raised to expose the left and right ventricles, in René Descartes ‘De Homine’. Published posthumously in 1662 due to fear of the Roman Inquisition, it is believed to be the first European textbook on physiology

Cobaea scandens from ‘Fragmenta botanica, figuris coloratis illustrata’ by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. Viennae, Austriae: Typis Mathiae Andreae Schmidt, typogr. Universit., 1809. UW-Madison Special Collections. #botanicalart #flowerillustration #Cobaeascandens

Fresh Wood Ashes, Breast of the Robin round the Red, Common Calcedony -- What's your Werner Grey colour today? Follow the link in our bio to see more of Werner's Nomenclature of Colours in our Digitised Special Collections. #NatureInArt

From James Sowerby's British Mineralogy (1802–1817). Despite his scientific leanings, Sowerby was first and foremost an artist, adept in describing and demonstrating how complex questions of perspective, scale, and color functioned in individual objects: publicdomainreview.org/collection/s...

Hand-colored copper engraving of fish from the 2nd edition of ‘Poissons, ecrevisses et crabes, de diverses couleurs et figures extraordinaires …’ by Louis Renard, published in Amsterdam in 1754. I saw this when I visited the National Library of Scotland. #naturalhistory #sciart #fishart

Get your weekend off to a great start by catching up on 'the Indiana Jones of the plant world' (and our past President!) Sandy Knapp on Private Passions. As well as her music choices, she discusses how plants names are decided and her research into plants named after women.

🧵 Join us next week for a slow reading workshop on Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of All Things, putting the wonderful Alma Whittaker at the heart of our conversation...

📣 Call for Papers! Join us for the Women’s History Network Annual Conference, celebrating 100 years of The Women’s Library. Open to scholars, independent researchers & heritage practitioners. Full info: womenshistorynetwork.org/whn-annual-c... Deadline: 29 March 2026 #WomensHistory #GenderHist

‘Sarah Stone’s Unseen World’ Highlights #Avian #Paintings by an 18th-Century Talent #art #birds #WomanArtist #18thCentury Link for more photos and information about her amazing #watercolor paintings: www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/02/sara...

🌷🌿 Tickets are now available for In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World. Opening 19 March, this exhibition will take you from Oxford to the farthest corners of the world and back, uncovering the global stories behind some of Britain’s most beloved blooms. Details: www.ashmolean.org/exhibition/i...

What happens when humans are classified? On 19 March, 6pm to 8pm, we’re launching Homo Sapiens | Classifying the Human Animal at the Society, with a panel discussion exploring Carl Linnaeus’ classification of humans and its enduring impact on ideas of race and difference. Book now: buff.ly/frgzC9H

Deadline approaching! Pls RT! CALL FOR PAPERS “Embodied Knowledge Practices in the Early Modern World” Conference at the University of Amsterdam ~ Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies Monday, 15 June 2026 1/6 @asecsoffice.bsky.social @bsecs.bsky.social @thebsls.bsky.social

Pervenche Desséchée, or “Dried Periwinkle” from ‘Les fleurs animées’ or ‘The Flowers Personified,’ illustrated by French caricaturist J. J. Grandville. First published in 1847, but this is a later 1867 edition published in Paris by Garnier Frères. #botanicalillustration #rarebooks

Sasha Archibald explores the love and longing contained in the pressed and illustrated pages of 19th-century seaweed albums, including “the most ambitious album of all” by Charles F. Durant: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/love-and-longing-in-the-seaweed-album #seaweed

🚨We have a SUPER exciting announcement!🚨 Our next Summer Meeting will be at @zslofficial.bsky.social on the theme of The Zoological Society of London at 200: Science, Society, and the Natural World 🥳 📅1-3 July 2026 🗺️Zoological Society of London Find out how to submit 👇🏻 shnh.org.uk/all-events/c...

🔗 Just in case you missed our big news at the end of 2025, our plans to reunite and transform The Portico moved a step forward, following planning approval from Manchester City Council...

Cyclamen bring welcome colour to winter! Did you known a common name for cyclamen is sowbread or swinebread? Pigs are fond of eating the roots! 🐷 📷 Illustration from ‘The Flowering Plants of Great Britain’ (1855) by Anne Pratt [Baring-Gould Library 0691] #FlowersOnFriday #FridayFlowers #RareBooks

The University of Glasgow is 575 years old today! We're joining in with the celebrations here at ASC 🎂 #UofG575 #TeamUofG

What's the Value of Early Career Arts & Humanities Research? I wrote about this for the @sahavoice.bsky.social blog, drawing on my experience as Director of @sgsah.bsky.social over the past few years saha.scot/the-value-of...

Interested in turning your PhD into a book? 📚 Join this half-day hybrid event on 16th Jan exploring multiple routes from thesis to publication, with Booker-shortlisted author Sarah Bernstein and leading scholars. Includes a proposal workshop! #PhDtoBook Sign up: tockify.com/sgsah/detail...

We are delighted to announce that the BSPS will be running a doctoral scholarship competition in 2026! The competition will open in February, and the deadline will be 27 March. www.thebsps.org/funding/doct...

Now open: 2026 AHRC CDA PhD Studentship 🎓 A collaborative project with @stir.ac.uk & @stirlingcht.bsky.social exploring built heritage, housing & climate justice, focusing on tenants in historic tenements. 🗓️ Closing date: 23 Jan 2026 🔗 Find out more: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Join art historian @giovannialoi.bsky.social for an online talk on the enduring legacy of Cabinets of Curiosities. From early modern Wunderkammern to contemporary art, he explores how collecting and wonder continue to shape how we understand the world. Thurs 29 Jan | 6:30pm-7:30pm buff.ly/SKvWTwN

Fascinating article here by @joycedixon.bsky.social -

🚨Special announcement: our annual conference will be 3–4 Sept 2026 at LSE Library, in collaboration with @lselibrary.bsky.social, & Friends House, London. Theme: Celebrating the Centenary of the Women’s Library: One Hundred Years of Women’s History. Call for Papers coming mid-Jan! #WomensHistory

A post I wrote recently for the @chromotope.bsky.social Chromobase, on the aesthetic implications of Patrick Syme's colour charts in Victorian Britain: chromobase.huma-num.fr/narratives/o...

Applications for our UofG Library Visiting Research Fellowships close on 5th January 2026, so don't delay! ⏳ We’re welcoming applications from scholars from across the globe to work with our unique research collections. Apply now: glasgow.ac.uk/library/rese... #UofGLibraryFellows

Happy New Year #18thCists #skystorians! We can't wait to welcome you to @pembrokeoxford.bsky.social NEXT WEEK for #BSECS2026. You can register FOR THE CONFERENCE ONLY [no accommodation or meals] at the registration desk from 8am, 7 January. Programme available here: www.bsecs.org.uk/conferences/...

Le Rollier à longs brins (Coracias caudatus) by Jacques Barraband for ‘Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers, suivie de celle des toucans et des barbus’ by François Levaillant. Paris: Chez Denné le jeune, 1806. University of Chicago Special Collections. #rarebooks #birdart

Delighted to have an article published in The British Journal for the History of Science, on Charles Darwin's chromatic vocabulary on the Beagle voyage. With enormous thanks to @sgsah.bsky.social, @edincollegeofart.bsky.social, @sochistnathist.bsky.social

Thanks @philipcball.bsky.social for the lovely endorsement!

Heading home from the workshop ‘The Hand-Colouring of Natural History Illistrations in Europe, 1600-1850’. Huge thanks to @sochistnathist.bsky.social, @bsecs.bsky.social, @uni-konstanz.de and @tuberlin.bsky.social for making it possible.

⏰ Reminder: The deadline to submit your proposal for the BSHS Annual Conference 2025 at the University of Cambridge (8–10 July 2025) is TOMORROW! 💡 Individual papers & sessions on any HSTM topic are welcome. 📅 Friday, 10 Jan 2025 🌐 Submit here: conference.bshs.org.uk 🔁💚

✨We're #Hiring! ✨ Our new role, Head of Membership and Development, will be responsible for the development of our community of members, comprising Fellows and Associates, and play a vital role in helping to build a vibrant, active and engaged community. Learn more here: www.linnean.org/the-...