A Summer spent visiting museums has left me a little hooked on historical natural illustration (amongst many, many other things).
The American Museum of Natural History are posting images from their archives on a few pinterest boards, the Vertebrate Zoology Anatomy Illustrations board is probably the pick of the bunch.
![thebes](https://i2.wp.com/www.danconnolly.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/thebes.jpg?resize=622%2C864)
It looks like they rotate the images they have up on the board periodically. The Natural Histories board also has a few nice pics.
Also worth mentioning, you can pick up Art of Nature by the Natural History Museum (London) for £4 here. The illustrations are grouped by continent and it’s a good mix of people, plants and animals (certainly worth £4!).
Currently in my Amazon basket I’ve also got Curious Beasts, a collection of animal illustrations from the 15th-19th centuries produced by the British Museum. I missed the exhibition when it came to the Midlands though I was lucky enough to catch a similarly themed exhibition in Copenhagen a few years ago (complete with mermaid skeleton), I imagine I’ll know a few of the prints already but even if not I’m fairly sure it’ll be up my street.