...understated modest book. But it lives up to the ambition of its title and deserves to be recognized, in addition, as one of the finest (and most careful) cultural studies of Darwin that the growing Darwin industry has produced. This is a major book, one of the very few studies of Darwin that attends to the entire range of his writing. By virtue of what I would like to think of as Darwinian attention to the smallest details, it manages to read Darwin into his culture better than almost any other previous work.

These are large claims. Certainly, one has to defer to Gillian Beer's groundbreaking Darwin's Plots, which thrust Darwin into the heart of Victorian literature and culture. Since that indispensable book, however, cultural studies of Darwin have tended to focus on the "major" works, The Origin of Species (1859), The Descent of Man (1871), and to a lesser extent, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). Some few critics have found the last book, on worms, The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms with Observations on their Habits (1881), irresistibly charming. Who could resist a book with such a title? But as far as I can see, Smith has read everything, and done so with the sort of attention that allows him to recognize not only the nature of Darwin's arguments, but also the nature of his engagement with his culture, and in ways that nobody before him has done.

The quiet ambition and scholarly authority of the book emerge most clearly in the detailed and subtle reading of the images that populate Darwin's books, but these are never isolated readings. They connect Darwin with visual traditions and cultural contexts in ways that allow Smith to develop fascinating arguments about Victorian aesthetics as they are linked to social developments and epistemology. Since Ruskin...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



More articles from Wordsworth Circle
Keats and Romantic Celticism.(Book review), September 22, 2006
Keats's Boyish Imagination.(Book review), September 22, 2006
Leigh Hunt and the London Literary Scene: A Reception History of His M..., September 22, 2006
Dante and the Romantics.(Book review), September 22, 2006
Romantic Poetry and the Fragmentary Imperative: Schlegel, Byron, Joyce..., September 22, 2006

Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.

Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication name or publication date.

About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company analysis or best practices in managing your organization, Goliath can help you meet your business needs.

Our extensive business information databases empower business professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible, authoritative information they need to support their business goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting, company research or defining management best practices - Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.