Why didn't *we* think of taking our "luncheon hour" at the end of the day, like Attendant Parker? #OpportunitiesMissed #ThrowbackThursday #NaturalHistoryMuseum

From 1881 until 1971, firemen warders patrolled NHM buildings and grounds day and night. The Chief Officer of the London Fire Brigade made regular inspections of the equipment, which were recorded in a logbook. #MuseumArchives #ArchivesOfInstagram #NaturalHistoryMuseum #ThrowbackThursday

Library & Archives Open Day (free) 19 September 2025 When: 10.00 - 16.00 Where: Lasting Impressions Gallery (red zone) Our team have developed four themed displays: 🐋 Whales, science and conservation 🌱 Ordering and naming nature ✏️ Writing from the field ❄️ Polar expeditions #NaturalHistoryMuseum

Dunk, turn, dunk, turn, dunk…If you're doing one textblock, why not do eight? G.A. Olivier's Entomologie (Paris 1789-1808). #MarbledMonday #MarbledPaper #SpecialCollections #BlueSkyBooks

Library & Archives Open Day (free) 19 September 2025 When: 10.00 - 16.00 Where: Lasting Impressions Gallery (red zone) Our team have developed four themed displays: 🐋 Whales, science and conservation 🌱 Ordering and naming nature ✏️ Writing from the field ❄️ Polar expeditions #NaturalHistoryMuseum

For #ThrowbackThursday, we thought we'd share this, uh, intriguing picture of ornithologist and former Director of Tring Museum, Ernst Hartert (1859-1933). #Birds #Ornithology #MuseumArchives @nhm_tring

Delighted to have come across this lovely book for a patron visit - Isabella Sinclair’s Indigenous Flowers of the #Hawaiian Islands (1855). The first book published with colour images of Hawaiian flowering plants. A great blog here blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2019/03/isab... #rarebooks #flowers

For anyone needing a little lift today, here’s a link to the botanical drawing #master that is Georg Ehret (1708-1770) and some of his watercolours held by nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social all freely available to view and make you #smile nhm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fu... #botanicalart

With children across the country heading #BacktoSchool, school visits to the Museum will soon be back in full swing. These visits were kickstarted by Jacqueline Palmer’s Children’s Centre in the 1950s which hosted school groups and the Museum’s own club for young naturalists.

Mycologist Arthur Peck (1870-1940) was such a fun guy (sorry, not sorry) we've added his 150+ images of British fungi to our Digitised Special Collections buff.ly/DwrpsMW. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #SpecialCollections #NatureInArt #Photography #SciArt #Mushrooms Alt text: Reel of sepia photos of fungi

We've digitised 155 African sketches of Thomas Baines (1820-1875). ⬆️ Use the link in our bio to explore this collection and many others. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #LibrariesOfInstagram #DigitisedCollections #SpecialCollections #Art #NatureInArt #Africa Alt text: Watercolours of Southeast Africa.

Our collections are full of surprises. This manuscript is a medical herbal. But there a monster be… #FolkloreThursday #NaturalHistoryMuseum #Manuscripts #SeaMonsters #SpecialCollections #ZoologicalArt #Monsters #BlueSkyBooks Alt text: Reel of an early herbal with a drawing of a sea monster.

Our new temporary display shows off some of our wonderful stamp collection in our Reading Room display case. Our small but varied collection of postage stamps contains several thousand from around the world. Many have been acquired through donation; all are subject-relevant and in mint condition.

Recent additions to our library collections. ⬆️Learn more about our collections and how to visit us via the link in our bio. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #ModernCollections

Surely one of the most exquisite zoological publications of the nineteenth century: Richard Owen's Monograph on the Aye-Aye (1863), with plates drawn by Joseph Wolf and lithographed by James Erxleben. Also a key statement of Owen's conception of evolution. (The @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social copy.)

Thomas Hawkins's colossal book Memoirs of Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri (1834), 2nd edn, with pencil for scale. Trust Hawkins to quote himself in the epigraph. Richard Owen's copy in the @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social.

The Museum's 1974 exhibition "British Birds by British Artists" was a celebration of British birds. These postcards of a butcher bird and fulmar, produced to accompany the exhibition, are two of fifty now in our Archives. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #BritishBirds #Ephemera #NatureInArt #MuseumArchives

Our South Kensington Museum, including our gardens, will be closed on 3 October 2025 as we are hosting a charity gala. 🦖 We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to welcoming you another time.

What have we spotted on the bookshelves today? 'The brook and its banks' by J G Wood (1908) #NaturalHistoryMuseum #ModernCollections #Rivers #Nature #Heron #RiverBank #Shelfie #BookCovers #BookSky #BlueSkyBooks ⬆️Learn more about our collections and how to visit us via the link in our bio.

Our new paper is out in @anatrecord.bsky.social! We examined variation in the maxillary dental arcade of 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴 by integrating evidence from virtually reconstructed mandibles. Open access thanks to @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social Read it here: doi.org/10.1002/ar.7...

💫New Blog Post!💫 Our last blog for July's theme #EYANature explores the archives of the Natural History Museum. Check it out to discover more about their fascinating collections 🌱 @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social #ExploreYourArchive www.exploreyourarchive.org/a-cathedral-...

It's super fun to see people sketching in the museum! I'd add suggestions for the mineral gallery and the marine invertebrates gallery for less-commonly sketched specimens and less-crowded places to go! if you decide to sketch a mollusc, post it and tag me, i'd love to see it!

Do you or someone you know, love to draw? We love to see visitors immersed in sketching and drawing especially in the school holidays. You can find many opportunities to be inspired and engage with the Library and Archives collections in the public galleries. Get your sketchbook out!

Very little is known of Lady Mary Acheson (1787?-1843), later Lady Bentinck, but her excellent taste in art has left us with 61 finely executed watercolours of Himalayan birds. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #SpecialCollections #SciArt #NatureInArt #ZoologicalArt #Himalayas #BookSky #DigitisedCollections

Reverend J. G. Wood, born #OTD in 1827, published dozens of popular books on natural history. To celebrate his 198th birthday, here are a few of our favourites... #Bookbindings, #IllustratedBindings, #Victorian, #SpecialBooks, #TradeBindings Alt text: Reel of Victorian bookbindings [has audio]

You can also now see it as part of the Richard Owen: A Natural Legacy display in the @nhm-london.bsky.social ‘s free Images of Nature gallery alongside other original #illustrations from Owen’s fascinating drawings collection #naturalhistory #art #gallery #echidna #anatomy

Some birthday facts and faces of Sir Richard Owen, founder of the Natural History Museum, London who was born #OTD in 1804. A very Happy Birthday to anyone else with a birthday today! #NaturalHistoryMuseum #Palaeontology Alt text: Reel of portraits of Professor Richard Owen [has sound]

It's #WorldEchidnaDay so here's a drawing by Joseph Wolf (1820-1899) of this extraordinary egg laying mammal. It was published by Richard Owen in the Philosophical Transactions (Pl.39, 1865). If you look closely, you can see a young baby in the pouch and a small outline sketch of it! buff.ly/8ErERyK

Need a new holiday read? Do you love art, the natural world or science? Here are some great suggestions for you, written by our Museum science colleagues, and featuring our Library and Archive collections. For sale in the Museum shop, online, and in wonderful bookshops. #NaturalHistoryMuseum

Out now! The Summer issue of the Museum's Magazine, free to Museum members, and to subscribers of Apple News+ and Readly. Also available to buy in the Museum shop. L&A highlights: 🔎Find out about the new display celebrating Sir Richard Owen in our free Images of Nature gallery, opening 18th July.

A peek on the returns shelf to see some of the items Museum staff have been returning recently... 🔎📚 #NaturalHistoryMuseum #Shelfie #ModernCollections #Geology #Australia #Bournemouth #Tibet #Himalayas #Alps #Karakoram #Darwin #Fossils #CoralReefs #LibrariesOfInstagram #Bookstagram #InstaBooks

The archive is full of unexpected encounters. Whilst we read letters for their contents, in some cases the reverse is just as compelling. This letter sent by geologist Arthur F Bather to model-maker Vernon Edwards, was scribbled on the back of a flyer advertising a demonstration held #OTD in 1911.

Made from 100% endpapers and artworks from @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social collections.

Because nature, libraries, and people are diverse. Happy Pride month! #pride #PrideMonth #LGBTQ

Coenraad Temminck's (1778-1858) Les Pigeons text was accompanied by illustrations by French artist Pauline Knip (1781-1851). Giving her full control over the engraving and printing process, she controversially re-titled the work “Les Pigeons par Madame Knip”, crediting him by misspelling his name!

A smidgen of pigeon for National Pigeon Day. ⬆️Learn more about our collections and how to visit us via the link in our bio. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #SpecialCollections #Birds #NationalPigeonDay #NaturalHistoryIllustration #NatureInArt #SciArt

Some more recent additions to our library book and journal collections 🎉 ⬆️ Use the link in our bio to learn more about our collections and to arrange a visit. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #NewAdditions #Entomology #Botany #Plants #Insects #LibrariesOnInstagram #Science

New original Audubon plate on display 🎉 If you are visiting the Museum, here is an extra reason to head over to the Treasures Gallery (free). On view is the latest plate from our 'Birds of America' (1827-1838) by John James Audubon (1785-1851). #NaturalHistoryMuseum

We're hiring! The deadline is fast approaching - 8 June 2025! #NaturalHistoryMuseum #GLAMJobs #LibraryJobs #ArchiveJobs

We've digitised our John Abbot (1751-1840) paintings of the birds of Georgia (1827). Abbot was born on May 31 (parish records)/June 1 (Abbot's choice) -- see yesterday's post for his insects! #SpecialBooks #NaturalHistoryMuseum #DigitalHumanities Alt text: Reel of drawings of birds from Georgia.

John Abbot (1751-1840) spent most of his life collecting and drawing the #birds and #insects of Georgia. He was born on either May 31 (parish records) or June 1 (Abbot's choice). See his birds tomorrow! #SpecialBooks #NaturalHistoryMuseum #otd Alt text: A reel showing drawings of insects

Today I give you happy anteaters, a happy chameleon and a happy (dancing?) sloth all courtesy of volume 1 of @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social coloured copy of Albertus Seba’s wonderful/curious masterpiece Locupletissimi rerum naturalium thesauri (1734-65). “Accurata” is also in the title.. #rarebooks

For 🌱 #InternationalBiodiversityDay, explore the earliest published #NaturalHistory book, Pliny's Natural History (1469) 📖 www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/52290882 ‪digitized for #BHLib by @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social #ILoveBHL 🧪

It's #Caturday! The Pampas Cat (Leopardus colocola pajeros) is a small wild cat native to South America. #SciArt from "The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle" (1839) by Charles Darwin. In #BHLib via @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social 📖 www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40299871 🧪

We're not asking you to *judge* a book by its cover (this one has some lovely artwork inside), just that you don't look past it! #Bookbinding #SpecialBooks #NaturalHistoryMuseum #Bookbindings #Doublure #FineBinding Alt text: A video on the terminology, relative cost, and practice of binding books.

Some recent additions to our library journal collections 🎉 ⬆️ Use the link in our bio to learn more about our collections and to arrange a visit. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #NewAdditions #Entomology #Botany #Plants #Insects #Science

We're hiring! SENIOR DIGITISER, Library and Archives 🔎Based: South Kensington, London 🔎Fixed term contract (23 months) 🔎Hours per week : 36 🔎Closing date: 08/06/2025 ⬆️Full details: see link in bio. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #GLAMJobs #LibraryJobs #ArchiveJobs Alt text: Reel of man digitising artwork.

‪Palaeoart enthusiasts will know about Alice B. Woodward, but you hear much less about her sister Gertrude (1854–1939), a prolific illustrator of scientific papers on subjects like the Terra Nova Expedition and Piltdown Man. Lots of letters and originals are held by @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social .

“There once was a Derry down Derry, who like to see little folks merry…” Did you know Edward Lear (1812-1888) was an artist as well as a poet? He painted and lithographed birds for his monograph ‘Illustrations of the Family Psittacidae’, which was published in 1832 when he was just 20 years old.

Dippy, a replica Diplodocus skeleton, is one of the most iconic exhibits in museum history, and it’s been wowing visitors since day one. A grand ceremony was held on 12th May 1905, to unveil the cast to a crowd of three hundred who had assembled in the Reptile gallery. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #Dippy