Natural history and antiquities of Selborne c. 1876

This is the title page of Gilbert White's "Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne," printed in 1877. Dominating the page is an illustration of a bird perched upon a branch. The bird—a symbol rich with layered meanings across cultures and time. Birds, since antiquity, have been seen as messengers between worlds, bridging the earthly and the divine, a concept rooted in ancient shamanic traditions. Think of the dove, a symbol of peace in Christian iconography, or the raven, a harbinger of knowledge and doom in Norse mythology. This image is a reminder of how symbols never truly die; they transform. Like migratory birds, they traverse continents and epochs, adapting to new cultural landscapes while carrying echoes of their origins. The enduring image of the bird speaks to our collective psyche, a reminder of nature’s beauty and our intrinsic connection to the world around us.