Under The Microscope

CHARLES DARWIN'S LETTERS (A SELECTION) Edited by Frederick Burkhardt; Cambridge University Press, 1996; 249 pp; $49.95

Reviewed by Jim Thomas

This is a delightful book. The letters start in 1825 with the 16-year-old Darwin enrolled as a medical student in Edinburgh writing home to his much loved father and finish with a letter to T.H. Huxley sent in 1859, the year the Origin of Species was published.

The selection comprises over 200 letters and this number successfully gives a full insight into Darwin's personality as a naturalist and family man. The success of the selection also resides in the elegant structure of the book around the letters. From cover design, to one page prologue, to the explanatory notes and biographical register at the end -- all are succinct and easy to use.

There are only three illustrations: a map of the Beagle voyage inside the back cover, a watercolour portrait of Darwin, and best of all a family tree inside the front cover, restricted to the immediate relations of Darwin and his wife, cousin Emma Wedgewood. Brilliantly placed and repeatedly referred to with ease, it conveys a story by itself. Just read down the list of Darwin and Emma's children.

Don't expect revelations of a moment in Darwin's life when he had an inspirational flash on his theory of natural selection. These are letters, not extracts from a diary or workbook. Well, what can you expect? You get a book of Darwin's letters chosen from The Correspondence of Charles Darwin together with a minimum of concise help to understand same and a foreword by Stephen J. Gould. What more could anyone want?

Jim Thomas is a veterinarian with a particular interest in animal welfare issues.