Category Archives: Natural history

Plant of the Month: August 2018

Posted on 27/08/2018 by carolinemmurray

This month, I give you Gladiolus murielae, for no better reason (or, in my opinion, the extremely cogent reason) that I have, after several years of trying, actually got it to flower this year! Admittedly, one flower and one bud … Continue reading →

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Doomed to Find a Premature Grave

Posted on 06/08/2018 by carolinemmurray

These portentous words appear in the introduction to the 1834 English edition of Letters from India by the French natural historian Victor Jacquemont (1801–32), ‘Travelling Naturalist to the Museum of Natural History, Paris’. If his name is remembered now in … Continue reading →

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Plant of the Month: July 2018

Posted on 27/07/2018 by carolinemmurray

I had vaguely hoped that during my recent sojourn in Florida I might see a catalpa in (almost) its native habitat. Its usual southernmost range is further north in the state, but I had plans to visit botanic gardens, until … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Biography, Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, London, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

(Yet) Another Artist Of Whom I’d Never Heard

Posted on 05/07/2018 by carolinemmurray

Well, had you (assuming, of course, that you are not an expert in eighteenth-century French flower paintings) heard of Gerard van Spaendonck? You will gather from his name that he was not French – he was born in 1746, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, Cambridge, France, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Object of the Month: May 2018

Posted on 19/05/2018 by carolinemmurray

How many bear jugs does one person need in his or her life? The answer, in the case of Dr J.W.L. Glaisher (about whom I have written before), appears to be at least twelve. This is the number bequeathed by … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cambridge, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Chelsea Physic Garden

Posted on 25/04/2018 by carolinemmurray

Well, I made it to the one-day exhibition on Philip Miller at the Chelsea Physic Garden, and it rained only at the end of our stroll around, and then not much. We were greeted at the entrance by welcoming staff, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Fool’s Gold

Posted on 19/04/2018 by carolinemmurray

The other day, I came across the name of Giambattista Angello, described as a Venetian alchemist in London. Always keen to follow the path of the legendary all-purpose cure, theriaca, around Europe, I pursued him, though I was slightly puzzled … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Exploration, History, Italy, Natural history, Printing and Publishing, Venice | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 →

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Preferences

Posted on 01/04/2018 by carolinemmurray

Or are they prejudices? Did I not warm to Bologna because of the oppressive feel of the red stone buildings and the gloomy arcades, or because I don’t much like the paintings of the Bolognese school, or because I lost … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, Italy, Natural history | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Plant of the Month: March 2018

Posted on 27/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

The primroses are out in splendid fashion this year – two severe blasts of snow appear not to have cramped their style (let’s see what the third, allegedly due later this week, will do). Quintessentially plants of woodland and hedgerow, … Continue reading →

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