Natural History

What is natural history?

Natural history is the study of the natural world: rocks, fossils, landscapes, plants and animals. It grew hugely popular in Victorian Britain, when collectors filled cabinets and museums with specimens.

What are good gifts for natural history lovers?

Botanical prints, landscape designs, books on fossils and Earth’s history, and anything inspired by Victorian collectors make great natural history gifts. See Prehistoric History Gifts for dinosaur-themed ideas.

Who was Mary Anning?

Mary Anning was a fossil hunter from Lyme Regis in Dorset. Around 1811–12, when she was about 12, she and her brother uncovered an ichthyosaur skeleton, and her later finds helped shape our understanding of prehistoric life.