Recently we had a lovely donation of old natural history books – and so we are off to the countryside, books in hand.

The donation came after someone’s father died and he was clearly someone who had a particular interest in butterflies and moths (more on that another time.)

But not exclusively as this little book shows:

It is good to know that the young ladies of England have the appropriate study of botany to keep them from going wild…

Mind you the book plate suggests that it was rather better used by a (young) man.

Now this one is also clearly intended for the amateur but I do have to question how simple the simple method is….

And then there is this little delight.

Knowing the difference between a hippo and a rhino, a crane and a heron and a frog and a toad is always handy – not that in the 1800s you were likely to see any hippos or rhinos unless you were a very intrepid traveller.

But what is interesting is the introduction and the owner’s name.

So, it was bought in 1858.

Darwin published Origin Of The Species in 1859.

I wonder if the un-named author/editor would have changed their views on nature being the proof of the wisdom of the Deity….