The Trustees of the British Museum declined to buy the panels of the Franks Casket #OTD in 1858. ‘They had never committed a greater act of folly,’ said the Keeper of Manuscripts. The museum’s Augustus Wollaston Franks – it is named after him – bought it instead. 📸British Museum

Maria of Burgundy on an allegorical sea voyage to her wedding with Maximilian I, attacked en route by Louis XI of France, represented as a #whale. #medievalsky #historicalwhale 📖Jean Molinet, Le Nauffraige de la Pucelle (15th c.); BnF, Français 14980, f. 16r; gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...

#Visboeck | Een in 1577 bij Saaftinge aangespoelde walvis, een orca en 2 andere afbeeldingen uit handschrift van Adriaen Coenen over zeewezens, 1579💧Alle 479 prachtige pagina’s kun je inzien via: www.kb.nl/ontdekken-be... Nationale Bibliotheek @kb.nl

Today, according to The Voyage of Saint Brendan, the saint and his brothers would have landed on the back of Jasconius the giant fish en route to finding the promised land of the saints. Some manuscripts of this work incorporated planned illustrations, others had enthusiastic readers...

In 1626, a Cambridge fishwife sliced open a cod, only to find a gelatinous, half-dissolved manuscript inside. It was published the next year under the name "Vox Piscis or, the Bookfish." At this point, why not get your news from inside a dead fish? #earlymodern #bookfish archive.org/details/bim_...

Sensation am Meeresgrund: In Norwegen haben Archäologen eine 1.000 Jahre alte Walfalle entdeckt – massiv gebaut als etwa 25 Meter langes Steinband. Es ist der erste physische Beweis einer solchen Struktur (Bildergalerie). 🇳🇴 www.nordisch.info/archaeologie...

This is the scapula of a fin #whale which stranded in 1365 on the Baltic island of #Usedom. It is on display in the #Ozeaneum in #Stralsund. Bones of this whale once where on display in many places. 1/7 📸 my own #histwhale #oceanspast #medievalsky

When you thought #whale watching would be relaxing… 📖Venationes ferarum, avium, piscium, pugnae bestiariorum & mutuae bestiarum (1580) 💻https://www.europeana.eu/de/item/9200518/ark__12148_btv1b550059821?page=109 #histwhale #melvillemonday

This is a #broadsheet announcing the #stranding of a whale in Ireland in 1692. It is said that 20 men could fit in its mouth. What a lovely, scaly dragon #whale! #histwhale #oceanspast www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb0...

In 751, a #whale came ashore near #Bangor (Northern Ireland). Its specialty: three golden teeth, valued at 50 ounces each. How were they used? Two were sent to churches for admiration; the third was given to bridge builders as payment by the king’s son. #WorldWhaleDay 🖼️BL, Royal MS 13 B VIII, f. 16v

Seeing this depiction of a pilot #whale in an 'indigenous' context is absolutely fascinating! Originally, it was an illustration of an animal that washed ashore near #Zandvoort (NL) in 1594. www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o... #histwhale #oceanspast #melvillemonday

The #whales are back at the #IMC in Leeds! 🐳 Many thanks to our wonderful speakers for accepting the invitation! Details of our two panels are available here: imc-leeds.confex.com/imc/2026/pre... #IMC2026 #medievalsky #oceanspast #histwhale

Doubting men raking patient #whale? (Allegorical) depiction of whaling from the ‘Ci nous dit’ #histwhale #illumination #medievalsky portail.biblissima.fr/ark:/43093/m..., f. 33r (France 14th c.)

In 1458, a #whale beached itself at the mouth of the River #Llobregat and was declared a harbinger of King Alfonso V of Aragon’s imminent death. And honestly, just look at that face — this whale was clearly up to something fishy... #histwhale dogc.gencat.cat/.content/con..., S. 515.

On a recent trip to see a friend in historic #Greifswald NE #Germany, we discovered the unexpected in an ancient RC Church, a lifesize 16thC mural of a whale washed up nearby in 1545 and celebrated in a beautiful modern blue glass window in a side chapel. More info in last photo #StainedGlassSunday

un-land, n.n: false land. (UN-LOND / ˈʌn-ˌland) Image: De bestiis et aliis rebus; France, c. 1230; @labnf.bsky.social lat. 2495B, f. 46v. #OldEnglish #WOTD

‚Orca‘ in the ‚Liber de natura rerum’ of Thomas of Cantimpré. The text describes this seemingly friendly fellow as a huge mass of flesh with terrible teeth. The artist did not take these characteristics into account #medievalsky #orca patrimoine-numerique.ville-valenciennes.fr/ark:/29755/B...

The best drawing of an orca I have ever seen! In 1817 Bernard O'Reilly travelled to Greenland and through the North West Passage. His travelogue (whose authenticity has been questioned) contains this great picture wiki.app.uib.no/marinelexicon/…)

Dear #MedievalSky & #SkyStorians, could you help, please? I am looking for depictions of orcas from before 1700 I already know: Olaus Magnus, Sebastian Münster, Pierre Belon, Guillaume Rondelet, Conrad Gessner, as well as the ones on bestiary.ca (s. pic) & the mural in Greifswald Thanks in advance!

Who could fail to recognise the #whale ( #cetus ) with its characteristic shape and scales? #melvillemonday #historicalwhale Jacob van Maerlant, Der naturen bloeme (1300); Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Ms. germ. f. 52 digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?...

I finally made it to Olaus Magnus's Carta Marina. The map was printed in Rome in 1539 while Olaus Magnus, the Archbishop of Uppsala, was in his exile there. 1/10

🚨🐳We’re putting together a panel on #whales in medieval #literature for #IMC2026! Two papers are already confirmed: Icelandic sagas and English poetry. We’re looking for one more speaker to join us. If your research touches literary traditions too, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please DM.

Currently travelling on the night train via Stockholm to the #ESEH2025 conference in Uppsala. I am very grateful for the opportunity to discuss initial ideas on how stranded #whales were used by pamphlet authors of different denominations in their arguments. #envhist www.conftool.pro/eseh2025/ind...

Drawings of right and sperm whales, accompanied by the coordinates at which they were sighted. #Log of the ship Indian Chief by Thomas R. Bloomfield (1842–1844). #whale #historicalwhale #oceanspast 🌐https://archive.org/details/ms220log119/page/n3/mode/2up

Great excitement in 1617: whale beached near Scheveningen, and all the best people are out to have a look. Immortalized in paint by Esaias van de Velde, who was born OTD in 1587.

Warning: Probably the grumpiest #dolphin in the world. Adriaen Coenen, Walvisboek (1584-1585); dams.antwerpen.be/asset/jUZJkH...

A very handy looking fish.... BL Add MS 11390, f.50v

The fish are alive with the sound of music! BL Sloane 3544; Bestiary; 13th century; England; f.42v

Initial 'S'(alvum me fac) at the beginning of Psalm 68, depicting Jonah being hurled into the sea and then sitting on a purple fish. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 075; Glossed Psalter (Glossa ordinaria); 13th c; England; f.122r @parkerlibcccc.bsky.social @corpuscambridge.bsky.social

Actually, I was looking for a picture of a whale in Ulisse Aldrovandi's De piscibus (1613), but then I came across this one: a harbour #seal ('vitulus marinus'). 📖 historica.unibo.it/entities/pub...

A whale of good news! 🐳 Today I signed a contract with the @uniwalespress.bsky.social to write the book "Introduction to the Medieval Whale"! I am very grateful for the opportunity. Excited to dive into the depths of medieval whale history. Join the voyage! 🖼️Bodleian Library MS. Ashmole 1511, f. 86v

The uterus of a #dolphin, even with fetus 🐬 Illustration from 1558! 📖 Gessner, Historiae animalium, lib. 4, p. 381

Today my research project on the "History of the Whale in Flanders, the Netherlands and Northern Germany (c.1300-1600)" starts. I will be looking at the management and use of (mostly stranded) whales in non-whaling societies 🖼️A. Coenen, Walvisboek (1584-85); Antwerp, Erfgoedbibl. Hendrik Conscience

A 1794 Japanese artist gave the beauty of this #humpback #whale three pages. Let’s give them more than just pages—let’s protect their oceans #WorldWhaleDay #SaveTheWhales 🌐https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN3303600015&view=overview-tiles&PHYSID=PHYS_0068&DMDID=DMDLOG_0021

For #WorldWhaleDay, the medieval bestiary version of a #whale. 🐳 Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1511 (The Ashmole Bestiary), folio 86v. England, first quarter 13th century. digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/faef... See ALT for more info!

Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the whales, for today is their special day! This engraving of a 'Common Whale' [bowhead whale] and narwhal can be found in 'Animated Nature Vol. 2' (1821) by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. 📷 Reserve 590 BUF #WorldWhaleDay #RareBooks

Whales and dolphins from "Johnson's Household Book of Nature, Containing Full and Interesting Descriptions of the Animal Kingdom," edited by Hugh Craig, New York, 1880. #WorldWhaleDay #whales #naturalhistory

Whales from ‘Naturhistorischer Bildersaal des Thierreiches: nach William Jardine, nebst einem Vorworte von Karl Vogel' by Friedrich Treitschke, Pesth: C. A. Hartleben, 1840-43. These illustrations are also found in ‘The Naturalist’s Library.’ #WorldWhaleDay #whales #historyofnaturalhistory

Who’s an adorable little whale? You are! [From a ca. 1830 chapbook: A Short History of Birds and Beasts]

"Fishes [are] reptiles which swim [...]. Although they can dive into the depths, they can still move in a creeping motion as they swim." Now you know. 🖼️📖Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 764, f. 106r-v (Bestiary, ca. 1226-1250); digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/e6ad...

Drawing of a #shark. This was made at the behest of the encyclopaedist Conrad #Gessner in the mid-16th century on the basis of a skeleton. #oceanspast 📖Gessner, Historia animalium, lib. 4 (1558), p. 207; daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0008/bsb...

Having a whale of a time! Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 764; Bestiary; 13th century; England; f.107r @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social

In 1545, a killer #whale washed up in the #Baltic Sea near #Greifswald (DE) This led to the first scientific description of the species in Europe. The stranding is also associated with the death of Martin #Luther 1/9 #whalehist 🖼️http://www.marien-greifswald.de/index.php/rundgang.html

#Moonfish, caught by a dutch fisherman in 1560 and drawn by Adriaen #Coenen, fishmonger and author of three 'fish books' Moonfish/ #Sunfish are rare in the North Sea. Three(!) are recorded 1560-83 1/6 🖼️https://galerij.kb.nl/kb.html#/nl/visboek/page/154/zoom/2/lat/-59.355596110016315/lng/20.7421875

Hug the #whale day! 🖼️Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 412, fol. 244v (Northern France, ca. 1285); gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...

This is ‘Miss Clara’. This #rhinoceros came to Europe from India in 1741, where she was shown in many places and became very famous. I saw the bronze figure (c. 1770) in the museum today and then followed some of Clara’s tracks. 1/9 🦏 #Birmingham, The #Barber Institute, attr. to P.A. v. Verschaffelt

Saint #Anthony preaches to the #fish #Fresco in the Basilica of Sant'Antonio in #Padua (1519) His 'audience' seems a little weird, but very attentive. How did this preaching come about? Could there be a real natural phenomenon behind the miracle? (I was just curious) 🧵1/7 🖼️wikimedia

Initial 'E'(t) at the beginning of Jonah depicting the prophet Jonah emerging from the whale while holding onto the initial #BLMontpellierBible4772 BL Harley MS 4772; the ‘Montpellier Bible’, vol 1; 1st quarter of 12th century; France, S.E.(?Lyons); f.289r

Enchanting illustrations 🦜 17th century #manuscript of the Four #Gospels 📖 The #Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern Manuscripts, @unibirmingham.bsky.social epapers.bham.ac.uk/105/index2.h... #skystorians

The three-part #whale. This book entitled 'Geishi' (Blubber) was produced in #Japan in 1794. It contains large format drawings of 15 species of whales. Here: a right whale. I am absolutely fascinated by it (and wish I could read Japanese) #whalehist digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/...