Tag Archives: Edward Lear

Menageries 4: Knowsley and the mad botanicals

More on menageries….real and imaginary. The early 19thc saw a shift from menageries as showcases for curiosities to the beginnings of the zoological garden as a base for science. At the same time that the royal menagerie in the Tower was … Continue reading

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Tiglath-Pileser I & the passion he shared with William Robinson

It’s not every day that an exotically multi-syllabled king of ancient Assyria gets mentioned in the context of Brtain’s historic parks and gardens.  But I was writing a  lecture about  early plant hunting and decided to start with evidence from antiquity when … Continue reading

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