What's on

Furloughed on half pay following the end of the war with France, Captain Hugh Clapperton (1788–1827) looked to augment his income with an intrepid exploration into the African interior.

In this week's guest blog, Beth Howell reveals the fascinating contents of an unassuming volume of poisonous and noxious plants.

What is the secret of good writing for children? Is there even such a thing as a children's book? As an adult alert to the child within, Lewis Carroll knew instinctively how to write for children and adults simultaneously.

Lighthouse keepers were certainly used to living in isolation; in this week's guest blog Edward Maunder tells the story of John Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse, situated 9 miles south of Rame Head off the Cornish coast.

If you are beginning to tire of the present lockdown you may perhaps find some solace in this little book of travels in the boudoir, or how to travel the world without leaving the house - something, it would seem, that women especially were rather good at in the early 19th century.

The third President of the United States of America is best known for drafting the Declaration of Independence that galvanised the British colonies in their fight to become a new nation. At home he immersed himself in science, engineering, architecture and book collecting – even rescuing one of the world’s greatest libraries.

Philip Henry Gosse's invention of the aquarium was 'instantly accepted by naturalists and amateurs alike, and became to the one a portable studio of biology, to the others a charming and fashionable toy'.

Sir John Hawkins' greatest literary achievements were thwarted by bad timing and, according to some accounts, by the 'paltry malice, and base tricks' of his mean-spirited contemporaries.