The essay places the project of the Notizie naturali e civili su la Lombardia of Carlo Cattaneo in the context of the natural sciences of the 1830s and 1840s in Milan and Lombardy, focusing on those botanists, geologists, zoologists and mineralogists, who contributed to the Notizie, from Vincenzo Cesati to Giuseppe Balsamo Crivelli, from the brothers Antonio and Giambattista Villa to Giulio Curioni. Cattaneo’s project is analyzed in relation to relevant scientific institutions of Milan of the time, such as, among the others, the civic Museum of Natural History of Milan, founded in 1838 thanks to Giuseppe De Cristoforis and Giorgio Jan. The essay briefly retraces the initial stages of the planning and the foundation of the Museum.
Keywords: Natural Sciences, Carlo Cattaneo, Notizie naturali e civili su la Lombardia, Civic Natural History Museum of Milan.