Category Archives: Printing and Publishing

The Naming of Plants

Posted on 23/01/2020 by carolinemmurray

Richard Chandler Alexander Prior (1809–1902) does not (yet) appear in the pages of the ODNB, though his day may come. He knew and corresponded with many of the great scientists of the nineteenth century; he was a physician whose health … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Biography, Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged botany, English plants, Linnaean system, nomenclature, taxonomics | 2 Comments

1687 and All That

Posted on 05/10/2019 by carolinemmurray

If Francesco Morosini is remembered worldwide today, it is probably for the collateral damage caused when a stray Venetian cannon ball hit the gunpowder store which the Turks had so thoughtfully placed in the Parthenon during the siege of Athens. … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing, Venice | Tagged Athens, Candia, cat, Crete, Francesco Morosini, Parthenon | 11 Comments

A Secret Garden

Posted on 15/09/2019 by carolinemmurray

Of course, a great many gardens in Venice are secret – that is, invisible to the normal passer-by in the calle. But the garden of Palazzo Soranzo Cappello is probably the most famous secret garden in the city (with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, Gardens, History, Italy, Literature, Natural history, Printing and Publishing, Venice | Tagged gardens, Henry James, Palazzo Soranzo Cappello, The Aspern Papers, Venice | 3 Comments

The Great Belzoni

Posted on 23/07/2019 by carolinemmurray

… is today hung on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum – or, at any rate, a spectacular likeness produced after his death is. I mentioned this fascinating character several times in my previous blogging persona, but his arrival in Cambridge … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Biography, Cambridge, Exploration, History, Italy, London, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged Archaeology, Egypt, Fitzwilliam Museum, Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Henry Salt, Rameses II, Rameses III, river Nile | Leave a comment

The Loss of the ‘Royal George’

Posted on 09/05/2019 by carolinemmurray

Was Proust the first or merely the best to describe the extraordinary moment when a completely forgotten incident in your life rises fully formed in your memory? In my most recent incident, it was a phone call at work about … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Exploration, France, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged diving, H.M.S. Royal George, H.M.S. Victory, Nelson's Column, Portsmouth, salvage, shipwreck, William Cowper | 16 Comments

A Life in Footnotes

Posted on 15/04/2019 by carolinemmurray

I mentioned some time ago that I was going to investigate (at my usual superficial level, naturally) the life and career of the physician Francesco Travagino (sometimes Travagini), who appears to have taken advantage of a space on somebody else’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, History, Italy, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged Federico Gualdi, Francesco Travagino, Henry Oldenburg, hermetic knowledge, Ragusa earthquake, Royal Society | 2 Comments

Plant of the Month: April 2019

Posted on 10/04/2019 by carolinemmurray

Which came first, fritillary as the name of a plant (Fritillaria meleagris, the snake’s-head fritillary, also known as chess-flower, Lazarus-bell, leper-lily, frog-cup, or drooping tulip), or fritillary as the name of a butterfly? It seems that the plant has priority, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, Gardens, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged botany, bulbs, crown imperial, flower painting, fritillary, John Gerard, John Parkinson, Maria Sibylla Merian | 3 Comments

Object of the Month: March 2019

Posted on 20/03/2019 by carolinemmurray

May I strongly recommend the new exhibition in the Fan Gallery at the Fitzwilliam Museum (it’s on until January 2020, so you have plenty of time)? It is a selection of the fan collection of the Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd, given … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, Cambridge, France, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged botanical fan, Erasmus Darwin, Fan Museum, fans, Fitzwilliam Museum, Sarah Ashton | 4 Comments

Ruskin at Two Hundred

Posted on 05/03/2019 by carolinemmurray

To London last week for a few days of Culture. I decided to go down the night before my first assignation, rather than turn up at Two Temple Place (which does not have cloakroom facilities) with two stuffed gorillas and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Botany, History, Italy, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing, Venice | Tagged architecture, botanical drawing, Charles Fairfax Murray, George Allen, H.R. Newman, J.M.W. Turner, John Bunney, John Ruskin, Octavia Hill, Old Master copies, Ruskin at Walkley, Samuel Prout, Two Temple Place, Venice | 4 Comments

Plant of the Month: February 2019

Posted on 21/02/2019 by carolinemmurray

I had always thought that Garrya elliptica, usually at its most spectacular at this time of year, was an Australian plant. I have no idea why … In fact, it comes from a quite restricted strip of coastal western America, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Botany, Exploration, Gardens, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged botany, David Douglas, Garrya elliptica, John Lindley, Sarah Ann Drake, taxonomy | 1 Comment