About this event

  • Date and time Thu 16 Apr 2026 from 10:45am to 12:45pm
  • Location Royal Society of Medicine
  • Organised by Senior Fellows Forum

Registration, tea and coffee: 10:45am
Welcome and introduction: 11:30am
Lecture: 11:40am
Close of meeting: 12:45pm
Optional lunch: 1:00pm

Assembled by the great Swedish naturalist and ‘father of taxonomy’ Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century, the Linnean Society’s rare books, manuscripts and specimens are one of the world’s great natural history collections. In this talk we will learn how this irreplaceable resource for students and scholars of the natural sciences made the perilous voyage from its native Sweden to its current, somewhat unexpected home: a bombproof vault beneath the teeming shoppers of Piccadilly. 

Please note that registration will take place between 10:45am and 11:30am. To allow to minimise waiting, we kindly ask that you do not arrive before 10:45am.

This event is available to attend in person or virtually. Please select your preference below.

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Key speakers

Mr Will Beharrell

The Linnean Society of the London

Speaker's biography

Will Beharrell is the Librarian of the Linnean Society of the London, the world’s oldest active learned society devoted to biology and natural history. He cares for the Society’s beautiful library in Mayfair, and has a particular interest in the curation of its sizeable rare and early-printed books collection.
Before coming to the Linnean Society, Will spent much of his career in Oxford. After studying English Literature at Merton College he retrained as a librarian, qualifying from UCL in 2014. He worked in a variety of roles for All Souls, Merton, The Bodleian Libraries, and Magdalen College before joining the Linnean Society in 2019. 
Away from the Linnean, Will is a trustee and Secretary of the Society for the History of Natural History, a Council Member of the Ray Society, and a member of the Archive, Heritage Library & Museum Service Advisory Committee at the Royal College of Physicians.

Location

Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, Marylebone, London, W1G 0AE, United Kingdom

Disclaimers:

Registration for this event will close on Wednesday 15 April at 1:00am (GMT) for the in-person event and on Thursday 16 April for the live stream. Late registrations may not be accepted.

The agenda is subject to change at any time

All views expressed at this event are of the speakers themselves and not of the Royal Society of Medicine, nor the speaker's organisations.

We are only able to share presentations that we have received permission to share. This is at the presenter and the RSM’s discretion.