Category Archives: Museums and Galleries

When It’s Gone, It’s Gone …

Posted on 11/04/2018 by carolinemmurray

I was slightly disconcerted to note that a small new display which opened yesterday at the Fitzwilliam Museum is available only until 22 April; and even more so that an exhibition opening at the Chelsea Physic Garden on 15 April … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Cambridge, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hans Hoffmann

Posted on 05/04/2018 by carolinemmurray

One of the benign prerogatives of the University of Cambridge is that department and faculty librarians needing to de-access duplicate or redundant books are required to offer them first to the University Library, then to other department libraries. What is … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Botany, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Burkat Shudi

Posted on 15/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

I had been vaguely aware for some time that there existed in London in the eighteenth century a harpsichord-maker called Burkat Shudi. On 12 March I noticed that his date of birth was 13 March 1702. On 13 March I … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Cambridge, London, Museums and Galleries, Music, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Chapmen

Posted on 08/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

Looking the other day at the brief record of the bankruptcy of Christian Schindler, who may have been the ‘Honest Man’ commemorated by his friends at St Martin within Ludgate in 1830, I was struck by how many of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, France, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mr and Miss Morris

Posted on 10/02/2018 by carolinemmurray

I did something the other week which I’d never achieved before: I went to the end of a London Underground line! I have to say that I was a bit disappointed that the Victoria Line remained resolutely Underground until Walthamstow … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, History, Literature, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Legacy of Sir J.E. Smith

Posted on 08/02/2018 by carolinemmurray

A terrific bargain available once a month in London is a ‘Treasures Tour’ and visit to the Library of the Linnean Society, in Burlington House, Piccadilly. (I have now managed one way and another to get inside the Royal Astronomical … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Gardens, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Object of the Month: January 2018

Posted on 28/01/2018 by carolinemmurray

On 21 January, already deeply memorable as a family birthday, I was looking for a picture of a squirrel, since some Power had Decreed that it was also Squirrel Appreciation Day. The photo I found was a rather bad (full … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cambridge, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Small But Perfectly Formed

Posted on 19/01/2018 by carolinemmurray

When I was unexpectedly cast upon the shore of the Island of Leisure, nearly three years ago now, one of the resolutions I made to myself in contemplation of the Rest of the Journey of My Life was that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Exploration, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

The Consequences of Varicella (Part 2)

Posted on 07/12/2017 by carolinemmurray

Continuing (rather belatedly – I’ve been busy with retail) the exploration of a small area of the East End of London by foot and buggy – we lose our way, but are guided onward by the pinnacles of an extraordinary … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Museums and Galleries | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Death on the Ice

Posted on 09/11/2017 by carolinemmurray

Can I enthusiastically recommend the current (until 7 January 2018) ‘Death in the Ice’ exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich? It contains some fantastic Stuff (including artefacts found in the ongoing investigations of the recently discovered wrecks of … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Biography, Exploration, History, Museums and Galleries | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment