Stories
- Article
Hunting lost plants in botanical collections
A bark specimen at Kew recalls the story of a South American man who harvested the most potent source of the only effective malaria treatment available in the late 1800s. Killed for his work and forgotten by history, Manuel Mamani was a victim of the colonial juggernaut.
- Article
Fantastic beasts and unnatural history
Find out how a 17th-century compendium of the natural world came to present fantastical beasts –like dragons – as real, living creatures.
- Article
Unravelling genetic origins from the potato to cinchona
Starting with the humble potato, Nataly Allasi Canales reveals how researchers unearth the genetic origins of modern plant varieties, and explains why their work is so important for biodiversity.
- Article
Would you like to buy a dinosaur?
Two remarkable letters and a drawing of a plesiosaur by Mary Anning offer a tantalising portal into the exciting world of fossil hunting and discovery of the 1800s.
Catalogue
- Books
- Online
Specimen for subscribers.
Date: 1726- Books
Specimen characterum Arabicorum.
Date: 1595- Books
Specimen days in America / by Walt Whitman.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892.Date: 1887- Books
- Online
Specimen de acetificatione / ... Submittit Johannes Lepechin.
Lepechin, Johannes.Date: [1766]- Books
- Online
Specimen historiae plantarum. Plantae typis aeneis expressae.
Reneaulme, Paul de, 1560-1624.Date: 1611