Archives of Natural History
Archives of natural history is the journal of the Society for the History of Natural History, publishing papers on the history and bibliography of all branches of natural history.
Natural history is considered to include botany, general biology, geology, palaeontology, marine biology, mineralogy and zoology; the lives of naturalists, their publications, correspondence and collections; the institutions and societies to which they belong; and bibliographic studies of rare books, manuscripts and illustrative materials.
The journal welcomes articles on all these facets of natural history, including their cultural and social aspects, across all cultures.

Produced twice a year, Archives of natural history is published for the Society for History of Natural History by Edinburgh University Press and contains refereed, illustrated papers, short notes, book reviews and indices.
- Published bi-annually in April and October, the 2020 issues are 47 (1) April 2020 & 47 (2) October 2020.
Archives of natural history is freely available to members of SHNH – Society for the History of Natural History (print and online).
- Members have full online access to all previous issues dating back to 1936. To learn more about membership of the Society please visit our membership page.
- Non-members of the Society are able to access articles from Archives of Natural History on payment of an access fee.
- Subscriptions to Archives of Natural History are welcomed from libraries and institutions. For more information, please visit the Subscriptions page on the EUP website.
Freely-available online are:
- Book Reviews
- Virtual Issues on the themes of Women in Natural Sciences, Voyages of Exploration (Cook & Endeavour) and Additional Voyages.
- A cumulative index is available for the Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History and Archives of Natural History, volumes 1-38.
Submissions
The Editors welcomes the submission of articles to Archives of Natural History on the history and bibliography of natural history in its broadest sense, and in all periods and all cultures. Full instructions for submitting an article can be found here on the Edinburgh University Press ANH submission page.
All papers submitted must be original and will be subject to peer review before acceptance for publication. The peer-review process for Archives of Natural History is explained here.
The Editors can advise authors about the suitability and format of papers. Papers must be submitted via email to the Editors using the following email address: editor@shnh.org.uk. Detailed instructions on preparing a paper for email submission can be downloaded here – Instructions for authors.
Any paper that does not follow the style and format required for Archives of Natural History, as detailed in these instructions for authors may be returned to the author(s) for modification before being considered for possible publication.
COVID-19 STATEMENT
The editorial team for Archives of Natural History work traditionally from home offices; our publishing colleagues at Edinburgh University Press, where offices for health security reasons are now closed, are currently also working from home. Despite these admittedly difficult circumstances, the submission, review, editorial and publishing processes continue to function as normal. However, we recognise that the situation is changing on a regular basis and we would like to advise our colleagues and authors that in the case of experiencing difficulties for peer reviewing, editing and submission, please do contact the Editors at editor@shnh.org.uk. Meanwhile, we send our good wishes to all at risk, whether for health or professional reasons, from the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Archives of Natural History online
Volumes 1 – 47 published since 1936 are available online free of charge to members of the Society who have renewed their subscription for 2020- 2021. Non-members of the Society are able to access articles from Archives of Natural History on payment of an access fee. Book Reviews are freely available.
Archives of natural history Volume 47 (2020)
Archives of natural history, Volume 47 Part 1 (April 2020)
- M. SELLERS & S. HEWITT: Carlisle Museum’s Natural History Record Bureau, 1902–1912: Britain’s first local environmental records centre.
- TOOGOOD, C. WATERTON & W. HEIM: Women scientists and the Freshwater Biological Association, 1929–1950.
- GULLIVER: Gabrielle Vassal (1880–1959): collecting specimens in Indochina for the British Museum (Natural History), 1900–1915.
- PRESTON: The abortive edition of John Martyn’s Methodus plantarum circa Cantabrigiam nascentium (c.1729).
- W. LACK: The botanical illustrations of Franz Scheidl (fl.1770–1795).
- G. MOORE: John Robertson Henderson (1863–1925): Scotland, India and anomuran taxonomy.
- G. MOORE: The Goodsir brothers from Fife, Scotland: contributions to anatomy, marine zoology and Arctic exploration in the nineteenth century.
- J. LAMBKIN: Robin John Tillyard’s 1936 Queensland excursion: uncivilized towns, unmitigated discomfort and fossil insects.
- E. JACKSON: William Yarrell (1784–1856), friend and adviser to Charles Darwin.
- LEVINGS: Edward Flanders Ricketts and the marine ecology of the inner coast habitats of British Columbia, Canada.
- CORNISH, P. ALLAN, L. GARDINER, P. NICOL, H. PARDOE, C. SHERWOOD, R. WEBSTER, D. YOUNG & M. NESBITT: Between Metropole and Province: circulating botany in British museums, 1870–1940.
- STONE: Robert McCormick’s geological collections from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, 1839–1843.
- FISHBURN: The private museum of John Septimus Roe, dispersed in 1842.
Short Notes
- R. B. WILLIAMS: Helena Willoughby’s English translation of Lamouroux’s Histoire des polypiers coralligènes flexibles and her new word “polypidom”.
- C. NELSON: Catesby’s North American images in The Gentleman’s Magazine, 1751–1755.
Obituary
- TORRENS & P. WYSE JACKSON: Gordon Leslie Herries Davies (1932–2019).
Archives of natural history, Volume 47 Part 2 (October 2020)
- E. C. SMITH: Provincial mycology and the legacy of Henry Thomas Soppitt (1858–1899) (W. T. Stearn Prize 2019)
- WU & C. ZHENG: Transmission of Renaissance herbal images to China: the Beitang copy of Mattioli’s commentaries on Dioscorides and its annotations
- F. RICHES: A recently discovered hand-coloured geological map of Norfolk and Suffolk attributed to Richard Cowling Taylor (1789–1851)
- A. WESTON, M. YARWOOD, D. A. WHISSON & M. R. E. SYMONDS: Persistent spatial gaps in ornithological study in Australia, 1901–2011
- & A. HOLLIER: Aloïs Humbert (1829–1887), the first professional curator of natural history in Geneva
- STONE: Robert McCormick and the circumstances of his Arctic fossil collection, 1852–1853
- J. LINDSAY: The limits of imperial influence: John James Audubon in British North America
- TÖPFER: Great auk (Pinguinus impennis) eggs in Bonn: correspondence between Emile Parzudaki and Robert Champley
- BERRENS: Naming an unknown animal: the case of the sloth (Folivora)
- WOODMAN, J. G. MEAD and M. R. McGOWEN: “Mostri Marini”: Constantine S. Rafinesque’s names for three of Antonino Mongitore’s Sicilian whales
- G. MOORE: Frederick William Flattely (1888–1937): naturalist and “Renaissance man”
- E. C. SMITH: Narrative histories in mycology and the legacy of George Edward Massee (1845–1917)
- M. BROWN: Harry Pasley Higginson and his role in the re-discovery of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus)
- R. BIRKHEAD, G. AXON and J. R. MIDDLETON: Restoration of two great auk (Pinguinus impennis) eggs: Bourman Labrey’s egg and the Scarborough egg
Obituary
- DOUGLAS: Raymond George Coulter Desmond, MBE, FLS Honoris causa (1925–2020)
Book Reviews, Indexes to Volume 47 and Referees