Life
Through a Lens
Photographs from the Natural History Museum
1880 to 1950 Susan
Snell and Polly Tucker
Foreword by David Bellamy
Visit the Natural History Museum - 100 years ago. Featuring a wealth of stunning black-and-white photographs from the Museum's vast collection, this unique book offers a real flavour of life at one of London's oldest and most famous visitor attractions, from Victorian times until just after the Second World War.
We focus on the unusual events that have taken place over the years, the characters working at and visiting the Museum, and of course the awe-inspiring specimens. Ranging from the amazing to the amusing, the images are evocative and brimming with period detail. The authors are senior archivists and well placed to share their knowledge of the stories that lie behind the silver-nitrate surface of the old photographic prints.
The walls of the Natural History Museum have been the backdrop for thousands of photographs over the years. Photographers have been inspired by the rare specimens, the sheer scale of the dinosaurs, the distinctive architecture and the range of people working here or just passing through. Over the years the Museum has built up a unique photographic archive that is of great historic importance.
The Museum was established at about the time that the new technology of photography was becoming increasingly popular. The time span covered in the book saw the development of a whole variety of cameras, from bellows to box brownies, taking photographs using plates and film.
Published by the Natural History Museum.
Key
features
- Superb
photographs
- Broad
appeal based on one of London's best-known visitor attractions
About
the authors
Susan Snell and Polly
Tucker are senior archivists at the Museum and
have an in-depth knowledge of the history of the building,
its collections and people.
Foreword
by David Bellamy
"A strange and wonderful collection, that's what a museum should be all about and this book, the latest production from the 'world's greatest cathedral of natural history' lives up to those great expectations..."
Full foreword text
Reviews
"...a fascinating collection of the curiosities and everyday museum life of yesteryear...this book demonstrates the timeless appeal and value of the Natural History Museum." BBC Wildlife Magazine
Related
titles
The Natural History Museum publishes a range of Books about the Museum and its work, including publications on the design of the building and the story of the collections.
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