Explore the British Library Collections

Rainforests

British Library Sound Archive (playlist, 60 minutes)

Travel to the lush rainforests of the Amazon, Costa Rica and Madagascar with an hour of immersive field recordings from the British Library Sound Archive made in rainforests and tropical forests around the world. Selection and mix by Cheryl Tipp & Greg Green.

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Many of these recordings are being digitised as part of Unlocking our Sound Heritage, a major preservation and access project supported by a £9.5m National Lottery grant. The funding will enable the formation of the first ever national network of ten sound preservation centres which will come together with the British Library to save almost half a million rare and unique recordings that are threatened by physical degradation or stored on formats that can no longer be played. Unlocking our Sound Heritage forms part of a core British Library programme, Save Our Sounds, which pledges to preserve the nation’s sound heritage.

At the Water’s Edge

British Library Sound Archive (playlist, 58 minutes)

From wallowing hippos in a Zambian river to seabirds sheltering in a Shetland cove, this mix focuses on animals that make their homes alongside bodies of water.

Want to hear more? These examples are from the British Library’s extensive collection of over 250,000 recordings of animals and habitats from across the globe.

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Selection and mix by Cheryl Tipp.

Maps as armchair travel: Thomas Tuttell's Celestial Globe

Travel beyond our world altogether and discover this beautiful celestial globe from 1700.

Travel into space as curator Tom Harper introduces his favourite item in the British Library collection: Thomas Tuttell's Celestial Globe (video, 3.24’)

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This papier-mache globe, created in London in 1700, depicts all the known stars and constellations at the time. Find out more here.

You can take a closer look at this object and other globes by exploring our interactive 3D models online.

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Medieval Bestiary

(online resource)

A bestiary is a book of real and imaginary beasts. Open up this 13th century example, which is one of the earliest to feature vivid paintings of animals. These lavish illustrations would have made this a costly book to produce, and was likely made for an aristocratic, or even royal, owner.

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Explore more virtual books and manuscripts here.

Cosmos, Voyager and the Golden Record: Ann Druyan in conversation with Brian Cox

(video, 50 minutes, 35 seconds)

Hear from Ann Druyan, one of the most important space science communicators of all time. Watch this special event when she met Professor Brian Cox to talk about life, the universe and nearly everything in between.

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