TAXIDERMY AND THE COUNTRY HOUSE: Where natural history meets social history. By P.A. Morris.

2023 1st edition. 4to paperback (210 x 280mm). Pp284. Colour photographs and illustrations throughout, b/w photographs, bibliography.

Many country houses featured natural curiosities, gathered over several generations, and they often included taxidermy, mainly in the form of stuffed birds, sporting trophies and souvenirs of big game hunting in the Empire. The remaining collections represent an important aspect of the story of British natural history, as well as a record of how landowners and wealthy families interacted with wildlife and the countryside in the past, as a normal part of their every-day life. What little remains is slowly becoming better understood, both as an aspect of our social history and as a legitimate art form, allowing present-day visitors to better appreciate what country houses have and what they see.