iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Will Beharrell

The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Can you be our hero? Some of our rare book holdings that have shaped our understanding of biodiversity and inspired generations of naturalists are at risk. These include some of science's most compelling accounts of travel and exploration. Small or big, everything matters! More here bit.ly/45wG7YG

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

“It tires me a great deal to sit to anyone, but I should be the most ungrateful and ungracious dog not to agree” September's Treasure of the Month is our most famous portrait of Charles Darwin, which is now part of UNESCO's Memory of the World. buff.ly/hQkkwPX

Collier's 1881 portrait of Charles Darwin, who stands in a large brown overcoat against a brown background. He is holding a hat and has a white beard and downcast expression.

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Look at this beauty, freshly returned from conservation! “Fleurs, fruits et feuillages choisis de la flore et de la pomone de l'Ile de Java” (1863) by Berthe van Nooten is one of my favourite items in the @linneansociety.bsky.social library, with firework fruits and flowers on every page.

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

What if they’re the same people…

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Natural history friends! Join SHNH (@sochistnathist.bsky.social) for our annual prize-giving this Wednesday. We’ll zip through the AGM business in the first half, and then have brief talks from our medalists in the second. We would love for you to join us 😊 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shnh-annua...

eventbrite.co.uk

SHNH Annual General Meeting and Prizegiving 2025

Please join us for the Society for the History of Natural History's AGM, followed by a presentation of the Society's awards and prizes.

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

And not really pronounce it like either.

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

These subtle drawings of koalas are by John William Lewin (1770 – 1819). #wildkoaladay The pencil drawings are part of a folder in our archives (MS-630), containing a selection of Lewin's sketches and watercolours of Australian wildlife and thought to have been drawn between 1800-1817.

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

🌿 It’s Lily of the Valley Day: a French tradition where the flower is given on 1 May for luck. We’re marking it with Gilbert White’s May diary entry noting his first sighting 🌸 and a delicate botanical watercolour from our Naturalists’ Notebooks exhibition.

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Charles Darwin's archive has been recognised on the UNESCO International Memory of the World Register, which protects invaluable records that tell the story of human civilisation. www.linnean.org/news/2025/04...

Charles Darwin's signature on the Linnean Society Roll and Charter

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Birch twigs adorned with colourful feathers are a traditional Swedish Easter decoration, brightening up the dinner table. Illustration by J. Terrier from 'Faune de la Senegambie' by Alphonse Trémeau de Rochebrune, 1883-1884. www.magnoliabox.com/...

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SHNH @sochistnathist.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

In 1694 #OTD the naturalist George Ewards was born. Known by some as the father of British ornithology, Edwards travelled through Europe producing colourful drawings of birds as he went. He finally published A Natural History of Uncommon Birds, which was subsequently referenced by Linnaeus. (📸BHL)

A beautiful historic illustration of a wood duck.

A colourful illustration of a blue-and-yellow macaw.

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SHNH @sochistnathist.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Frederik Ruysch was born #OTD in 1638. Ruysch was primarily an anatomist, experimenting with and testing new ways to preserve and embalm specimens which could then be further used for study and teaching. But he also studied animals and was the first to describe the vomeronasal organ in snakes.

A page of a book showing the heads and skull structures of lots of different types of Australian snakes.

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RaySocietyBooks @raysocietybooks.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

The Ray Society is now on Bluesky! Most recent publication ‘Biology, evolution and genetic review of the chemosymbiotic Bivalve Family Lucinidae’ by John Taylor and Emily Glover RRP £98 from the Ray Society and NHBS websites.

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

How has the humble notebook been an essential tool for celebrated thinkers throughout history? Our upcoming free exhibition, Naturalists' Notebooks, explores how naturalists recorded our world from the 18th century to today. Open Tuesday 11 March until Saturday 20 September 2025. bit.ly/43kBXmC

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

I should say by way of clarification: I loved my school, and most of my teachers were wonderful. I don’t hold them responsible for the restrictions placed on their teaching by bigoted politicians. I haven’t set foot in a classroom in a long time, but I hope things are better now x

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Oh gosh, I’m so sorry to hear this. I’m thankful I never experienced physical violence at school, but S28 allowed an anti-LGBT environment to thrive unchecked. It ruined many young lives, and certainly delayed my coming out by at least 5 years. The damage that law did was immense.

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

I wrote a thing about growing up gay in West Berkshire for LGBT+ History Month and Newbury Pride. You can read my shapeless musings below 👇

A newspaper-style graphic with a photo of man in the top right. The text reads:

My name’s Will, I’m Newbury Pride’s Secretary, and I’m so happy to be celebrating LGBT+ History Month here in my hometown.

The landscape for LGBT+ people has changed beyond recognition in my lifetime. Not just the well-publicised victories along the road to legal equality in the age of consent, civil partnerships, adoption, and most recently marriage, but also the widespread acceptance among the general public that LGBT+ people deserve equal treatment and respect (a 2019 poll suggested nearly 86% of Britons believe homosexuality should be accepted by society, about as unanimous a figure as you can hope to achieve on any topic in a free country).

The change, even from my childhood, could not be more profound. I was educated in Newbury, and I’m sorry to say my secondary school environment was virulently homophobic. Sexuality and gender-based bullying was commonplace, and the existence of Section 28—a de facto ban on all discussions of LGBT+ relationships in the classroom—hobbled teachers’ ability to properly support their LGBT+ students. Many people seem surprised when told this piece of legislation—far from being a relic of the 1980s and 90s—remained on the statute books until 2003 in England. I was 15 when it was finally consigned to the dustbin of history, its damage already done.

It wasn’t until university that I felt free to tell the truth about my sexuality; I came out at the relatively late age of 19. I still maintain that coming out was one of the few unambiguously good and sensible decisions I ever made, and the day I came out was one of the happiest of my life.

My hope is that every LGBT+ person gets to experience that happiness, at least once. One of my main motivations for joining Newbury Pride was to create a safe environment for others to experience the happiness and relief I once felt.

LGBT+ History Month is a great time to be thankful for the progress we’ve made, and…

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

And I’d be fascinated to see pictures of your examples (again, not to trouble you unduly! 🙂).

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Thanks so much for this Yvonne! Not to trouble you further, but I’m struggling to find descriptions of this process online (searches for “Curly Wurly Stick” mostly returning material about a certain chocolate bar!).

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

It’s been in the Society a while: we were given it in 1849. But this “sword cane” rumour had been lingering for a while and we had an opportunity this week to put it to bed.

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

It would probably be worth searching the Linnaean correspondence to see if it’s mentioned anywhere. Just need to find the time!

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

My instinct—as yet unsupported by evidence—is that it was a gift, maybe from after his ennoblement in the 1760s. It feels like a decorative cane for an older man than a young man’s practical hiking pole. But as I say, no evidence yet!

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

The Linnaean provenance is pretty good, but the legend that he whittled it himself on his Lapland journey in 1732 is almost certainly apocryphal (he describes that stick in his account, and it doesn’t sound like this one).

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Isn’t it lovely! I’d love to find out more about how it was made.

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

I shouldn’t keep you in suspense. No sword! But it’s still a beautiful object, and a fascinating morning. We hope to write up our findings in a blogpost very soon 🙂

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

I run some funny errands for the @linneansociety.bsky.social. Today’s was taking Carl Linnaeus’s walking stick to the V&A to be x-rayed (we thought there might be a sword inside it)…

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Katie Birkwood @girlinthe.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Over the last many months I've been working on two new terms for the RMBS controlled vocabularies thesaurus. They're for use when cataloguing books with plants (or other organic bits and bobs) pressed inside them, and they're currently open for comment. (Links in next post) #GLAMS 📚 #RareBooks

rbms.info

New Term: Pressed plants [CVRMC] | RBMS Controlled Vocabularies Community Discussion

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

This #BlueMonday, a few 'blue' pages from one of our most popular books 'Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions' (1843) by pioneering photographer Anna Atkins. Also watch our librarian, Will Beharrell's @willbeharrell.bsky.social, talk on the Society’s copy youtu.be/bTK_YU75Wbc

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SHNH @sochistnathist.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

🚨 Registration now open for our Early Career Researcher Symposium on 20 February! 🚨 Join online to listen to talks ranging from the Language of Flowers to the Secret Face of Isaac Newton 🌸🕵️ For more information, including full programme & how to book your FREE ticket 👇 shnh.org.uk/shnh-early-c...

shnh.org.uk

SHNH Early Career Researcher Symposium 2025 - Society for the History of Natural History

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 programm...

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

It’s a very large translation of Linnaeus’ Systema Naturae (and other bits and pieces) into Dutch, done by a man called Houttuyn in the late 18th century.

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

My proudest professional achievement. Only six boxes of reshelving.

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SHNH @sochistnathist.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

The latest edition of Archives of Natural History is online! 🙌 Just in time for some festive reading, it covers everything from controversial ducks 🦆👀 to the early 20C trading of African wildlife 🦁🦒 Have a peruse for yourself! 👇 www.euppublishing.com/toc/anh/51/2

A greenbackground containing the words "The society for the history of natural history" and "Archives of Natural History, volume 51, part 2, october 2024".

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Let’s end our nature-inspired #Christmas lights trail at our Piccadilly neighbour’s magical woodland window display. Central to the design at #FortnumAndMason is this lovely fox, who can also be found running around our library in Mivart’s ‘Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes’ (1890). #London #Nature

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

You’re welcome! There will be a quiz ha.

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Lots of wonderful nature-based Christmas decorations in #London this year, like this stunning peacock in Berkeley Square…but something looks familiar… Ah yes, this gorgeous plate from D’Orbigny’s ‘Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle’ (1843-49). #ChristmasLights #Nature

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Have the Christmas lights in #London been taking inspiration from our collections? Here’s the stunning underwater display by Dior on Bond Street and our wonderful 'Hippocampus' specimens. #Christmas #Nature

Christmas light display above shop showing seahorses and undersea scene

Two 18th century preserved seahorse specimens

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

I make a few embarrassing mistakes, but hopefully it works as a simple “show and tell” 🙂

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Our Collected Archives are now on our online archive catalogue! They include the commonplace books of Lady Pleasance Smith, and a draft manuscript of ‘A History of the Fishes of the British Isles’ by ichthyologist Jonathan Couch bit.ly/4g5btZY

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Will Beharrell @willbeharrell.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

I am officially Done With Work for 2024! Look after the library while I’m gone 😁

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