Natural history

Born of the desire to describe, classify and understand the natural world, natural history developed from Antiquity onwards before flourishing in the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment. Scholars, travellers and collectors progressively enriched our knowledge of animals, plants, minerals and distant lands. From Pliny the Elder to Buffon, and on to the great naturalists of the 19th century, the discipline accompanied the great scientific discoveries. Its books, often magnificently illustrated, bear witness as much to the evolution of knowledge as to the enduring fascination exerted by nature.