Category Archives: History

A Curious Herbal

Posted on 16/07/2017 by carolinemmurray

In Modena recently, we were having a nice mooch round the Biblioteca Estense in the Palazzo dei Musei, which also houses the Galleria Estense, the Lapidario Romano, the Musei Civici di Modena, and several other collections. (A tasting session for … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Bibliography, Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, London, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Hortus Academicus

Posted on 10/07/2017 by carolinemmurray

The botanic garden in Leiden is always associated with its hugely distinguished first director, Carolus Clusius, and sure enough, his bust is the first thing you see at the entrance. I wasn’t aware, however, until our recent visit, that other … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, Natural history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Object of the Month: June 2017

Posted on 28/06/2017 by carolinemmurray

It may be stretching a point to call a small fragment of a painting an ‘object’ – the more so as the small fragment depicts two apparently living animals who may or may not have actually been alive when they … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Idiots

Posted on 08/06/2017 by carolinemmurray

To add to the gaiety of the nation in these trying times, I have for some time now been tweeting (@Prof_hedgehog) a #WordOfTheDay drawn from Thomas Wright’s Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English: Containing Words from the English Writers Previous … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Bibliography, Biography, History, Literature, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Thunbergiana

Posted on 16/05/2017 by carolinemmurray

I was picking stems of my Deutzia to bring indoors (an activity which presents a rather more domesticated and delightful image of the châtelaine of Château Hedgehog than the reality), when it occurred to me that although I have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Exploration, Gardens, History, Natural history | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Not a Lion

Posted on 13/05/2017 by carolinemmurray

The Twitter community of medieval historians have a recurring thread called #notalion. I ventured a humble contribution myself after our jaunt to Lisbon last year, but today I have come across a horde (herd, pack, pride) of not-quite-lions, all conveniently … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Natural history | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

A Skeleton in the Cupboard?

Posted on 06/05/2017 by carolinemmurray

One of the things I’m doing at the moment is browsing through nineteenth-century issues of the Gardeners’ Chronicle (online – God bless the Biodiversity Heritage Library!), cross-checking references to the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. A lot of the material is … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, Natural history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Object of the Month: April 2017

Posted on 27/04/2017 by carolinemmurray

Over the Easter weekend, the children who live opposite were applying the life lesson of the Parable of the Talents to raise money for charity. Their school had given them £1, which they had to make grow, and the options … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Plant of the Month: April 2017

Posted on 24/04/2017 by carolinemmurray

The forget-me-not is one of those plants which are ‘only a …’. But like so many apparently over-familiar pieces of nature, it repays closer examination. It must be one of the most widespread (and toughest) plants in the northern hemisphere, … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Gardens, History, Literature, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Only Connect

Posted on 20/04/2017 by carolinemmurray

As I never cease to remind everyone, everything is connected to everything else. This was once quoted in the immortal Yes Minister: as I recall, Sir Humphrey asks Bernard ‘Who said that?’; Bernard: ‘The Cabinet Secretary?’; Sir H: ‘Almost right, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, Gardens, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments