It’s the third day of #ColorOurCollections, a week-long special collections coloring fest we’ve organized on social media. Yesterday, we reached more than 125 participating cultural institutions! (See our growing list.)

Every day on our blog, we will feature #ColorOurCollections coloring sheets from our library, along with content from participants worldwide. You can also download our full #ColorOurCollections coloring book.

Today’s coloring sheets come from the works of the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, who documented living (and mythical) things of all sorts, from gentle, clover-eating rabbits to fearsome dragons. Aldrovandi (1522–1605) was a professor at the University of Bologna, and in 1568 he founded a botanic garden there. His interest in the natural sciences led him to gather specimens across Italy for study and inclusion in his natural history museum. Pope Gregory XIII, a relative, provided financial support for his works, but just four volumes were published before his death. Both books featured here, Serpentum et draconum historiae libri duo… and De quadrupedib.’ digitatis viviparis…, were published posthumously.

Rabbit in Ulisse Aldrovandi, De quadrupedib.’ digitatis viviparis …, 1637. Click to download the PDF coloring sheet.

Dragon from Ulisse Aldrovandi, Serpentum, et draconum historiae libri duo, 1640.

Our featured coloring books of the day come from two institutions that, like us, focus on the history of medicine.

The Dittrick Museum’s coloring book may be the first one ever made to feature a picture of lice removal (from Hortus sanitatis, 1491). It also has other images from works of anatomical and natural history.

Lice removal. 1491. Hortus sanitatis. Mainz, Jabob Meydenbach. Courtesy of the Dittrick Museum.

We love the coloring book from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)’s Historical Collections & Archives. Who can resist the skull on the cover, from Antonio Scarpa’s 1801 Saggio di osservazioni e d’esperienze sulle principali malattie degli occhi?

Scarpa, Antonio. Saggio di osservazioni e d’esperienze sulle principali malattie degli occhi.Pavia: B. Comino, 1801. Courtesy of OHSU Special Collections & Archives.

Yesterday’s shared coloring sheets also featured bookbinding and typography. The American Bookbinders Museum offered five images from its collection, including this pattern from Der Buchbinder:

From Der Buchbinder.

UW-Milwaukee Special Collections featured typography on its Tumblr, historiated initials from a 1902 printing of The Psalter or Psalms of David from the Bible of Archbishop Cranmer. You can download these initials, along with another whole coloring book from the university.

Historiated R by C. R. Ashbee for his 1902 Essex House Press printing of The Psalter or Psalms of David from the Bible of Archbishop Cranmer. Courtesy of UW-Milwaukee Special Collections.

We also have to point out our only French participant thus far, Bibliothèque Bourguignonne. Their Pinterest album features some truly adorable chickens, including this one:

Coq Padoue argenté. Basse-cour, faisanderie et volière : l’élevage à la Croix-verte, Autun, par Et. Lagrange,… Nouvelle édition. 1892. Courtesy of Bibliothèque Bourguignonne.

Keep following #ColorOurCollections on social media (don’t forget Facebook!), and keep an eye on our Pinterest boards, which feature images to be colored and colored-in sheets. On Friday, our final #ColorOurCollections post will include a list of all of the coloring books created and shared by participants.