CALL FOR PAPERS The Language of Nature SHNH International Summer Meeting and AGM Thinktank, Millennium Point, Birmingham Tuesday 13 June 2023 (with visits planned for 14 June)

January 15, 2023

Abstracts for 20-minute papers should be submitted to Dr Elle Larsson, Meetings Secretary at: meetings@shnh.org.uk. Please include a title, an abstract (up to 250 words) and a speaker biography (up to 100 words). The deadline for submission is 17 March 2023. Successful papers will be selected to cover a range of topics and on the […]

SHNH Early Career Researcher Symposium Announcement & Programme, Thursday 23 February online. A conference expressly to showcase research into the history of natural history being done by doctoral and early careers researchers across the globe

January 3, 2023

For this symposium we have welcomed papers from across the field which speak to any aspects of the history of natural history. The speakers have been drawn from individuals registered for PhD programmes or within 3 years of being awarded their doctorate. Speakers have been convened into sessions of related 15-20 minute papers with a […]

Announcing the 2023 SHNH Natural History Book Prize shortlist (Thackray Medal)

November 7, 2022

Helen Cowie, Victims of Fashion: Animal Commodities in Victorian Britain Cambridge University Press, 2021 In this innovative study, Helen Cowie examines the role of these animal-based commodities in Britain in the long nineteenth century and traces their rise and fall in popularity in response to changing tastes, availability, and ethical concerns. Henrietta McBurney, […]

CALL for PAPERS for ‘Early Career Researcher Symposium – showcasing research into the history of natural history’ Online, Thursday 23 February 2023

October 24, 2022

The Society for the History of Natural History is a diverse community of people united by an active interest in the study of natural history through time, believing that a greater awareness of how nature has been considered, documented, valued and exploited by societies and individuals worldwide leads to a deeper understanding and celebration of […]

Announcing the 2023 SHNH Natural History Book Prize longlist (Thackray Medal)

July 22, 2022

Roy and Lesley Adkins, When There Were Birds (Little, Brown, 2021) When There Were Birds is a social history of Britain that charts the complex connections between people and birds, set against a background of changes in the landscape and evolving tastes, beliefs and behaviour Kathleen Brosnan and James Akerman, Mapping Nature […]

Archives of Natural History Volume 49, part 1 is published. See list of Articles and Book Reviews below. Featured article is ‘John Kay’s The craft in danger (1817): graphic satire and natural history in nineteenth-century Edinburgh’ by Wendy McGlashan

July 3, 2022

Mo Koundje (“Mok”): the life of a western lowland gorilla (c.1929–1938) Rebecca Machin 49(1), pp. 1–11 Abstract | Full Text | References | PDF/EPUB A bonnacon’s defensive tactics in medieval natural history John Block Friedman 49(1), pp. 12–26 Abstract | Full Text | References | PDF/EPUB Edward Morgan (c.1619–c.1689) and his hortus siccus: an early […]

SHNH AGM NOTICE – 30 June 2022 at 16:00 BST & Presentation of Awards and Medals: Founders’ Medal – Theodore W. Pietsch; President’s Award – Madeline Hutchins; Natural History Book Prize – Jordan Goodman

June 6, 2022

Dear Member, SHNH President Gina Douglas Hon FLS We look forward to meeting you at our virtual Annual General Meeting on 30 June (4.00 pm London time / 16:00 BST); and extend a special welcome to our new members and international members. We have much to celebrate in 2022 as we recently held our first […]

Society for the History of Natural History 2022 awards announcement. Founders’ Medal – Theodore W. Pietsch; President’s Award – Madeline Hutchins; Natural History Book Prize – Jordan Goodman

May 11, 2022

SHNH Founders’ Medal 2022 SHNH is delighted to award the prestigious SHNH Founder’s Medal this year to Professor Theodore “Ted” W. Pietsch. The Founders’ Medal is awarded to persons who have made a substantial contribution to the study of the history or bibliography of natural history through a sustained record of high-quality publications, and a […]

SHNH Meeting (online) – 11 May 2022 2.00pm : Pioneer Naturalists: Champions of Conservation and Environmental Engagement

April 14, 2022

Programme 2.00-2.10 Welcome and introduction 2.10-2.30 Carlo Bovolo University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy Protecting Mountains: Hunting, Naturalists and Nature Conservation in 19th Century Piedmont 2.30-2.50 Nathan Smith University of Cambridge Mycological Collections as Legacy in Early Twentieth Century Yorkshire 2.50-3.10 Ian Beavis Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery, Conserving Arcadia – Naturalists and Campaigners […]

Congratulations to Jordan Goodman, winner of the SHNH Natural History Book Prize (Thackray Medal) for ‘Planting the World: Joseph Banks and his Collectors’

March 10, 2022

It was a bumper year for nominations and no fewer than eight books were put up for the award. The Awards Panel unanimously agreed however, that Planting the World was the clear winner. The work tells the story of how Sir Joseph Banks sent collectors and gardeners overseas to find and acquire plants new to […]

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