"This is a book that required a great many research hours, the kind of volume you may be glad someone took the time to compile."
The Quarterly Review of Biology
This is the ultimate guide to the life and work of Charles Darwin. The result of decades of research through a vast and daunting literature which is hard for beginners and experts alike to navigate, it brings together widely scattered facts including very many unknown to even the most ardent Darwin aficionados. It includes hundreds of new discoveries and corrections to the existing literature. It provides the most complete summaries of his publications, manuscripts, lifetime itinerary, finances, personal library, friends and colleagues, opponents, visitors to his home, anniversaries, hundreds of flora, fauna, monuments and places named after him and a host of other topics. Also included are the most complete lists (iconographies) ever created of illustrations of the Beagle, over 1000 portraits of Darwin, his wife and home as well as all known Darwin photographs, stamps and caricatures. The book is richly illustrated with 350 images, most previously unknown.
Sample Chapter(s)
Introduction
Contents:
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- The Entries:
- Iconography of the Beagle
- Iconography of Charles Darwin
- Iconography of Down House
- Iconography of Emma Darwin
- Bibliography
Readership: Specialized readership. It will be of interest to historians, scientists, book collectors and people interested in Darwin and evolution. General Readers.
"This 'Companion' is magnificent, there is no other word for it."
Gordon Chancellor
Editor of Darwin's Beagle Notebooks from the Voyage of the Beagle
"Darwin once remarked to his cousin that he was 'like Croesus overwhelmed with my riches in facts.' With this authoritative compilation, everyone fascinated by the great naturalist can also be a millionaire."
Jim Secord
University of Cambridge
"Wow! This stunning companion to Darwin's life and work covers a vast array of topics, much more than one could ever imagine. It will be an invaluable resource for years to come. A special bonus is the comprehensive list of all known portraits, drawings, monuments, and photographs of Darwin that provides remarkable insight into how he became a scientific icon. There is more here than even Darwin would have known about himself."
Janet Browne
Author of Charles Darwin: A Biography
Harvard University
"This is a book that required a great many research hours, the kind of volume you may be glad someone took the time to compile."
The Quarterly Review of Biology
"The lengthy iconography (list of portraits) assembled by John van Wyhe is a great resource, perhaps the largest ever compiled for a scientist, including over 1000 works portraying Charles Darwin … Whatever you want to know about Darwin is probably somewhere in this book, if you can locate the entry. This is a reference book and, at first glance, seems unsuitable for pleasure reading. However, it can be quite enjoyable in small bites, say five pages daily. In about three months, you will be much wiser about Darwin. Anyone who writes about Darwin needs this book at their fingertips."
Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture