Category Archives: Natural history

The Pliny of Switzerland

Posted on 09/05/2020 by carolinemmurray

I vaguely knew of Conrad Gessner (often spelled Gesner) as a botanist, but it wasn’t until I was tracing the taxonomy of the bluetit a few days ago that I became aware of his wide-ranging work across the fields of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Bibliography, Biography, Botany, History, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Bluetit

Posted on 28/04/2020 by carolinemmurray

One of the upsides of the lockdown (from my own purely selfish point of view) is that I have been able to spend much more time watching the birds in my garden, at a time of year when they are … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Gardens, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Plant of the Month: April 2020

Posted on 19/04/2020 by carolinemmurray

Greifswald, now in the province of Vorpommern-Mecklenburg in Germany, is one of those coastal cities in the Baltic which have always been part of the Debatable Land of north-central Europe. It is closer to Malmö and Copenhagen than to Berlin, … Continue reading →

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Jonas Webb, the Southdown Man

Posted on 03/04/2020 by carolinemmurray

I imagine that most people these days, if they have heard of Babraham at all, know it for the Babraham Institute, a research campus at which the nineteenth-century Babraham Hall (it had several antecedents) sits in the centre, and which, … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Cambridge, London, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

W.P. Milner

Posted on 31/03/2020 by carolinemmurray

Last autumn, I wanted some new/different narcissi for my pots. (Tulips were already organised via the annual terrifying over-spend at Chelsea: many thanks, Mr Blom, they are looking wonderful!) So I went off to the local garden centre, where I … Continue reading →

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Naturalists of the Three Counties

Posted on 23/03/2020 by carolinemmurray

It is an article of (my) faith that the ‘Three Choirs Counties’ – Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire – are the most beautiful and amazing part of England. Imagine my delight, therefore, when I discovered quite by chance all sorts of … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Quinquennium

Posted on 20/03/2020 by carolinemmurray

Well, the plan was to be writing from lovely Lucca to mark the fifth anniversary of La Vita Nuova, but fate has decreed otherwise. Instead, I sit contemplating the garden, and will shortly be going with Him Indoors on a … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, Italy, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Fede Galizia

Posted on 26/02/2020 by carolinemmurray

One of the perks of my part-time employment is that my job description includes an injunction to open the mail, which regularly contains interesting Stuff, not least the beautifully designed and printed catalogues of auction houses trying to tempt us … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Italy, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Plant of the Month: February 2020

Posted on 20/02/2020 by carolinemmurray

Looking back, I discover that I have never written a ‘Plant of the Month’ piece about clematis, which is very odd, given that they are my favourite plants and by far my worst botanical extravagance. At the present count, I … Continue reading →

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The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

Posted on 02/02/2020 by carolinemmurray

I have long been attracted by the above-named beast, which I came across for the first time in my previous existence, when skim-reading John Bell’s two-volume work of 1763, Travels from St Petersburg in Russia, to Diverse Parts of Asia. … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Exploration, History, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments