The Academy of Natural Sciences
The subject of this special exhibit at the Academy of Natural Sciences is Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins (1807-1894), the creator of the world's first life-sized dinosaur scuptures (made for London's Crystal Palace in 1854) and the world's first articulated dinosaur display (created for the academy of Natural Sciences in 1868).
A family collection of the artist's sketchbooks and drawings will be highlighted in this exhibition. Also on display will be models of Hawkins's famous Crystal Palace dinosaurs and many of the scientific publications for which he provided illustrations. These publications —from the rare book collection of the Academy's Ewell Sale Stewart Library— include John Edward Gray's [i]Illustration of Indian Zoology[/i] (1830-34), Charles Darwin's [i]Zoology of the Voyage of[/i] HMS Beagle(1842) and Thomas Henry Huxley's [i]Evidence of Man's Place in Nature[/i] (1863).