The Life of Sir Charles J. F Bunbury, Bart

Abstract

SIR CHARLES BUNBURY was a naturalist of the old school; his chief interest, so far as science was concerned, was in botany and geology, his published papers being almost confined to palæobotany. He was an industrious diarist and letter writer, and having travelled extensively in Europe, South America, and Africa, he saw much worthy of record. He had an inexhaustible interest in all that is best worth seeing and knowing; interesting people, and all the aspects of nature and art, were industriously sought out and described. But it is on the lovable personality revealed in his letters and diaries that the attractiveness of the book in large measure depends. He seems to have been the most patient and even-tempered of travellers; his diaries hardly contain a querulous word. He may claim the sundial's motto, “Horas non numero nisi serenas.” He was fond of summing up the characters of those whom he met, and these notes, without being unduly laudatory, are free from any trace of ill-nature. These acute and genial sketches are, to our thinking, the best part of the book. The picture which he unconsciously gives of himself is that of a man of breeding and unpretentious distinction, a man one would imagine of quiet dignity, with a simple and direct nature and an affectionate heart. He observed well and described things pleasantly; his only fault as a correspondent seems to have been his lack of humour, but of this we need not complain, for there are no flat remarks intended for witticisms, nor is there anything that rings false or “smart” in his quiet, easy style.

The Life of Sir Charles J. F. Bunbury, Bart.

With an Introductory Note by Sir Joseph Hooker. Edited by his Sister-in-law, Mrs. Henry Lyell. With portraits and illustrations. 2 vols. Vol. i., pp. x + 371; vol. ii., pp. v + 411. (London: John Murray, 1906.) Price 30s. net.