The bookshelves are laden with a kind of fossil lasagne, where layers of academic tomes and paperwork are muddled up with relics from a lost world. Among the highlights are an ancient insect, with its delicate wing veins and mottled colouration clearly visible, the remains of a vampire squid with its black ink sacs so well-preserved they still contain melanin, and strange ancient worms related to those found today on coral reefs. In the corner is an antique wooden chest with drawers that – I hope – contain all kinds of other exciting petrified remains. The place feels like a cross between a museum and a library.