What do you think?
Rate this book
Alexander the Corrector: The Tormented Genius Whose 'Cruden's Concordance' Unwrote the Bible
Yet Alexander Cruden is remembered today not so much for his mighty work as for the widespread belief that he was mad. Born in Scotland in 1699, Cruden spent much of his life in and out of asylums. In fact, just weeks after completing his Conc
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1973
4 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 5, 2015
In the early 1700s, a Scotsman named Alexander Cruden (1699-1770) spent 12 years writing a Concordance to the Bible, a dictionary or gazetteer which was to serve as a guide to understanding the Bible—all the way from the meanings of words and phrases to detailed notes on concepts and facts. Cruden's Concordance is four times longer than the Bible itself. Its shortest, abridged version is over 500 pages long; the complete version is over double that length. In the 250 years since it was written, Cruden's Concordance has never been out of print—and has run into countless editions, including three during Cruden's own lifetime.
The interesting part—besides the fact that Cruden researched and wrote the entire Concordance all by himself, while working full-time as a proof-reader (or 'corrector') —is the life of Cruden himself. This diminutive, much put-upon figure may be familiar to Christian clergy and scholars through his monumental work, but he has been equally known as a madman. A man who was incarcerated in a lunatic asylum in his very early twenties, and went on—even after he had published his Concordance—to have his sanity brought into question again and again. And again.
Julia Keay, in her Alexander the Corrector: The Tormented Genius Who Unwrote The Bible tells the story of this fascinating man, all the way from his birth and early life in Aberdeen, to his career, his highs and lows, his death. This is a brilliantly told and researched biography, one which explores not just the astounding dedication and devotion of Cruden—one that drove him to take up the task of writing the Concordance—but also what made Cruden the man he was: his naïveté, his gentleness, his sudden and occasional intolerance of what he construed as evil or low. His love for the mysterious woman (whose identity Keay is able to unearth) because of whose incestuous relationships Cruden was first labelled insane, and whose life followed a path strangely coincident with that of Cruden. The causes that Cruden was to champion in his later life.
An amazingly gripping biography, this one had me engrossed from the moment I began reading it. The story of Cruden's life, of course, would in itself have made for interesting reading (it could be a potboiler on its own, it's so very eventful), but Keay's style of writing—empathetic, humorous at times, quoting every now and then from Cruden's own writings as well as earlier biographies—makes this even more of a pleasure to read. There are interesting insights into society, religion, medicine (especially relating to mental health) and prisons in 18th century England. There are also a number of (sadly, only black-and-white) reproductions of portraits, illustrations, and photographs pertaining to Cruden and his life.
Highly recommended, especially if you like biographies.
The interesting part—besides the fact that Cruden researched and wrote the entire Concordance all by himself, while working full-time as a proof-reader (or 'corrector') —is the life of Cruden himself. This diminutive, much put-upon figure may be familiar to Christian clergy and scholars through his monumental work, but he has been equally known as a madman. A man who was incarcerated in a lunatic asylum in his very early twenties, and went on—even after he had published his Concordance—to have his sanity brought into question again and again. And again.
Julia Keay, in her Alexander the Corrector: The Tormented Genius Who Unwrote The Bible tells the story of this fascinating man, all the way from his birth and early life in Aberdeen, to his career, his highs and lows, his death. This is a brilliantly told and researched biography, one which explores not just the astounding dedication and devotion of Cruden—one that drove him to take up the task of writing the Concordance—but also what made Cruden the man he was: his naïveté, his gentleness, his sudden and occasional intolerance of what he construed as evil or low. His love for the mysterious woman (whose identity Keay is able to unearth) because of whose incestuous relationships Cruden was first labelled insane, and whose life followed a path strangely coincident with that of Cruden. The causes that Cruden was to champion in his later life.
An amazingly gripping biography, this one had me engrossed from the moment I began reading it. The story of Cruden's life, of course, would in itself have made for interesting reading (it could be a potboiler on its own, it's so very eventful), but Keay's style of writing—empathetic, humorous at times, quoting every now and then from Cruden's own writings as well as earlier biographies—makes this even more of a pleasure to read. There are interesting insights into society, religion, medicine (especially relating to mental health) and prisons in 18th century England. There are also a number of (sadly, only black-and-white) reproductions of portraits, illustrations, and photographs pertaining to Cruden and his life.
Highly recommended, especially if you like biographies.
December 31, 2017
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2928445.html
Cruden's Concordance is an amazing work. For those who are not familiar with it, it's a listing of every word (apart from the most common) used in the Bible, in the context where it is used, working from the Authorised Version. It has never been out of print since it was first published in 1737. Alexander Cruden, who compiled it, wrote a great deal else, about the need to improve the nation's morals through correct spelling and grammar, and about several of his spells of incarceration for mental illness. Julia Keay argues that he was perfectly sane, and was a victim of local politics in Aberdeen and of his romantic rivals in London. I have to say that her case is not made out thoroughly convincingly. What is missing is a wider consideration of insanity in 18th century Britain (Cruden grew up in Aberdeen but spent most of his working life in London), and indeed a contextualisation of Cruden's work with his peers more generally would have been helpful - was he unusual in his obsession with the line-by-line approach to Scripture, or in the mainstream? did others agree with his notion of correcting the nation's morals by correcting its grammar? Overall the book leans too heavily on Cruden's own writing, though there is some interesting detective work about his youth in Aberdeen.
Cruden's Concordance is an amazing work. For those who are not familiar with it, it's a listing of every word (apart from the most common) used in the Bible, in the context where it is used, working from the Authorised Version. It has never been out of print since it was first published in 1737. Alexander Cruden, who compiled it, wrote a great deal else, about the need to improve the nation's morals through correct spelling and grammar, and about several of his spells of incarceration for mental illness. Julia Keay argues that he was perfectly sane, and was a victim of local politics in Aberdeen and of his romantic rivals in London. I have to say that her case is not made out thoroughly convincingly. What is missing is a wider consideration of insanity in 18th century Britain (Cruden grew up in Aberdeen but spent most of his working life in London), and indeed a contextualisation of Cruden's work with his peers more generally would have been helpful - was he unusual in his obsession with the line-by-line approach to Scripture, or in the mainstream? did others agree with his notion of correcting the nation's morals by correcting its grammar? Overall the book leans too heavily on Cruden's own writing, though there is some interesting detective work about his youth in Aberdeen.
August 8, 2018
This is the poignant story of a misunderstood man who, as far as Ms. Keay's meticulous research indicates, was unjustly committed to an insane asylum three and perhaps, four, times. Two of the committals were most likely in order to further the selfish ends of others. Cruden's first imprisonment in the mad house forever ruined his aspirations to become a minister of the gospel. Yet, had this not happened, the Christian world would have most likely been deprived Cruden's Complete Concordance of the Bible, which has proved to be an invaluable tool for Biblical research right up to the present day.
Ms. Keay's account unravels and pieces together a story that has been shrouded in mystery until very recently. Why was Cruden imprisoned? The evidence suggests that powerful people needed to shut him away because he had knowledge of a scandal that would have ruined a prominent Aberdeen family if it had been made public. Cruden's life crossed paths with the clergy, the academic world, royalty, and the horrific underworld of private, unregulated mad houses that imprisoned those deemed to be mentally ill. A must-read for anyone interested in the historic treatment of the mentally ill, in eighteenth century British history, or in eighteenth century evangelicalism.
Ms. Keay's account unravels and pieces together a story that has been shrouded in mystery until very recently. Why was Cruden imprisoned? The evidence suggests that powerful people needed to shut him away because he had knowledge of a scandal that would have ruined a prominent Aberdeen family if it had been made public. Cruden's life crossed paths with the clergy, the academic world, royalty, and the horrific underworld of private, unregulated mad houses that imprisoned those deemed to be mentally ill. A must-read for anyone interested in the historic treatment of the mentally ill, in eighteenth century British history, or in eighteenth century evangelicalism.
March 16, 2021
A sympathetically written account of the harrowing things that happened to the concordance compiler, Alexander Cruden. This book reads like a novel. It vindicates Cruden from the charge of madness (whatever that is) and shows him to have been a lowly Christian, highly intelligent and deeply concerned for the welfare of his fellow men in ways that put him so far ahead of his time that they added to the weight of “evidence” that had people tapping their heads rather than listening to him. Few of us these days are such “enthusiasts” for the gospel that people think we are beside ourselves like Cruden – and the world is poorer as a result.
September 4, 2019
Fascinating investigation into the life of a man of whom many assumptions are made. Keay shows a deep empathy for the humanity of Cruden, and balances that well with the majestic scholar of a Aberdeen.
August 28, 2021
It's a really good book that makes you very angry at what some people will do to other people.
October 12, 2023
Would recommend.
August 22, 2016
I'd never heard of Alexander Cruden before I stumbled upon this book in Book Grocer while I was waiting for a train. I learned that he was the author of another text I'd (embarassingly) never heard of: Cruden's Concordance, an index to every significant word used in the Bible (including the deuterocanonical books), first published in 1737. The monumental scale of this task is hard to grasp until you pick up a copy of the Old and New Testaments in the form beloved by modern printers: that is, on very thin paper and printed in 10-point (or smaller) Times New Roman. What you'll immediately grasp is just how many words there are. The achievement is even more impressive when you remember that Cruden was preparing this work in his spare time from working as a proof-corrector (in essence, a kind of human spell- and grammar-checker), with a dip-pen and by lamplight. Sadly, Cruden left no record of HOW he prepared this work, and Keay can only offer us a educated guess as to how it might have been done (pp.29-35).
It's much more than a biography of a book. Cruden is known to have been held in a mental asylum at least three (possibly four) times in his life. Keay uses these events as the guidepoints for much of the book, interpreting much of Cruden's life as an attempt to prove his own sanity beyond doubt. I'm not completely convinced by this as an interpretive approach. History-writing can be the art of extracting narrative from the details of the past (1), but I think Keay gives her subject's life more direction than is completely plausible. On the other hand, it lets her convert an otherwise potentially dry subject into a gripping tale of struggle, treachery, and people making choices. On balance I think Keay's choice of approach is justified. Sometimes it's better to have a historian's scrupulousness give way to the talents of the writer and the needs of a publisher.
One interesting possibility is whether Cruden ever considered emigrating to the new world, where his particular religious intensity might have been better appreciated (2) (it's possible that it would have been scandalised too). Keay makes no reference to it, so we can assume that if Cruden considered migrating he didn't consider it for long. The other question I ask myself is what he would have made of Christianity today. We can infer that he would have still regarded Catholicism and Orthodoxy as incomprehensibly flawed. Depressingly, he may well have sympathised with the crude venom of a Jack Chick. On the other hand, we can be sure that he would have been enchanted by the power of modern technology to organize and make accessible the world's information. Perhaps that too would have allowed him to imagine and see a world of ideas and knowledge more complex and multidimensional than he could ever have imagined in his own era (3). Cruden was a straightforward man, but Keay has certainly proved that he was also a man of great vision.
==================================
(1) Hayden White, 'The Question of Narrative in Contemporary Historical Theory', History and Theory 23 (1984) 1-33, pp.19-21.
(2) Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen, A Patriot's History of the United States (Sentinel: New York, 2007), pp.43-44
(3) Consider Christopher White, 'Seeing Things: Science, the Fourth Dimension, and Modern Enchantment', American Historical Review 119 (2014) 1466-1491.
It's much more than a biography of a book. Cruden is known to have been held in a mental asylum at least three (possibly four) times in his life. Keay uses these events as the guidepoints for much of the book, interpreting much of Cruden's life as an attempt to prove his own sanity beyond doubt. I'm not completely convinced by this as an interpretive approach. History-writing can be the art of extracting narrative from the details of the past (1), but I think Keay gives her subject's life more direction than is completely plausible. On the other hand, it lets her convert an otherwise potentially dry subject into a gripping tale of struggle, treachery, and people making choices. On balance I think Keay's choice of approach is justified. Sometimes it's better to have a historian's scrupulousness give way to the talents of the writer and the needs of a publisher.
One interesting possibility is whether Cruden ever considered emigrating to the new world, where his particular religious intensity might have been better appreciated (2) (it's possible that it would have been scandalised too). Keay makes no reference to it, so we can assume that if Cruden considered migrating he didn't consider it for long. The other question I ask myself is what he would have made of Christianity today. We can infer that he would have still regarded Catholicism and Orthodoxy as incomprehensibly flawed. Depressingly, he may well have sympathised with the crude venom of a Jack Chick. On the other hand, we can be sure that he would have been enchanted by the power of modern technology to organize and make accessible the world's information. Perhaps that too would have allowed him to imagine and see a world of ideas and knowledge more complex and multidimensional than he could ever have imagined in his own era (3). Cruden was a straightforward man, but Keay has certainly proved that he was also a man of great vision.
==================================
(1) Hayden White, 'The Question of Narrative in Contemporary Historical Theory', History and Theory 23 (1984) 1-33, pp.19-21.
(2) Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen, A Patriot's History of the United States (Sentinel: New York, 2007), pp.43-44
(3) Consider Christopher White, 'Seeing Things: Science, the Fourth Dimension, and Modern Enchantment', American Historical Review 119 (2014) 1466-1491.
April 3, 2013
Alexander Cruden (1699-1770) was the author of a concordance to the bible that is still in use. I heard about him as an eighteenth century person who loudly protested being wrongfully incarcerated in a lunatic asylum. Most references suggest that there was some reason to doubt his sanity. Roy Porter, for example, notes that one of Cruden's published protests 'did not,perhaps convince anyone of his normality, so obsessed was he with his won Job-like misfortunes." Until Julia keay's book no one has seriously reconsidered the question of his sanity and the circumstances of his incarceration. Keay's biography reads like a detective story as she hunts for clues to the real state of affairs. Cruden was certainly a very peculiar fellow, perhaps earning a diagnosis of Asbergers were he living in the 21st century. He was, however, hospitalized three times against his will. Keay develops ingenious theories about how this happened, and suggests that if he was a bit mad late in life, he may have been driven so by how he had been treated. Well, that's all I want to say about him. This book is a great read. I couldn't put it down. As someone who is interested in eighteenth century mental health practices I found the book wonderfully informative and so fiar as I could judge fair and accurate.
June 1, 2017
Well, there wasn't nearly enough detail on his actual assemblage of the concordance. What, exactly, was his system? How did he decide entry words? Did he use paper slips and work sequentially through the Bible? I was expecting a little more technical treatment of the a reference work.
But the story of Alexander's life was remarkable. The poor guy, he was SUCH a nerd that people felt free to use him as a scapegoat and deny him fundamental rights. He had to fight off involuntary commitment to the madhouse multiple times -- because once mad; always tending that way, in his unenlightened time. He was the subject of truly Dickensian plot turns in his strange but real life.
But the story of Alexander's life was remarkable. The poor guy, he was SUCH a nerd that people felt free to use him as a scapegoat and deny him fundamental rights. He had to fight off involuntary commitment to the madhouse multiple times -- because once mad; always tending that way, in his unenlightened time. He was the subject of truly Dickensian plot turns in his strange but real life.
October 10, 2007
If you liked The Professor and the Madman, you'll like this book. Ron Courter gave it to Alan and me, and I've already passed it on to Grandad, who ordered a copy for his friend Jack Jones. It's an amazing, well-written story. I'd never even considered the difficulty of creating a concordance of every word in the Bible back in the 1700's! I still can't figure out how he did it, or how he had the patience. You can't help but like the man, and leave the book absolutely appalled (once again) by the primitive conditions of mad houses and prisons in that time.
June 28, 2013
This might have been an outgrowth of her dissertation in history and from the viewpoint of history, she did an excellent job of researching her topic. The writing is uninspired and frequently poor even for academic writing. If you have an interest in the author or the massive book he created, by all means read this book. Or, if you have an interest in the historical period, 1700s in England or the treatment of those with mental illneses, it will be enlightening. It is not a book I would recommend for light reading or taking to the beach. PKG
July 22, 2009
This is a gem of a biography. Cruden's story is engagingly presented by Keay, who keeps the narrative flowing and gives you the flavour of life in 18th century London, warts (or madhouses and prisons) and all. It's hard to believe that a book about someone who wrote a massive concordance to the Bible could be a page-turner, but it is. Cruden is an appealing character, who constantly falls into troubles of one sort or another, but never seems to lose his optimism and faith.
March 31, 2013
After I got started I couldn't put it down. It was emotional while reading of his struggles and his tribulations and hoping that justice will prevail at the injustices that he went through. The way he carried himself through all this is inspiring. I am thankful to have got to know him through the words of this book and am thankful for all that Alexander has done for us in the Cruden's Concordance.
January 15, 2009
Review forthcoming, so this is just a placeholder: a *fantastic* book, absorbing and tender-hearted, lucidly written and intriguingly structured, including, among other delights, C18 London, strict Presbyterianism, perfect indexical geekery, secret incestuous liaisons and madhouse reform.
Recently picked this up in my favorite used bookstore, and it looks v. promising.
Recently picked this up in my favorite used bookstore, and it looks v. promising.
July 13, 2016
A good lesson reminding us that we have a treasure in jars of clay (2 Cor. 4). Cruden was such a jar. If he were alive today, he would almost certainly be diagnosed with at least one mental illness. Nevertheless he was used to complete a task of Herculean proportions. Note: If you're gonna read this, make sure you know what a concordance is before you start.
June 13, 2012
Fascinating story of a man devoted to the Lord and the study of Scripture who was incarcerated falsley on numerous occasions, but rallied to challenge the nation to return to godly standards and adopted the title "Alexander the Corrector."
June 26, 2017
To be falsely imprisoned once in a madhouse as the result of conspiracy is unfortunate; when it happens several times (first in Aberdeen and then on three occasions in London), is it reasonable to suspect that there must be some valid reason for the repeated confinements, despite the crude diagnoses of the period and the tragically misguided “treatments” to which those judged insane were subjected. Julia Keay, however, largely succeeds in debunking a long-held assumption that Alexander Cruden – whose concordance to the Bible has never been out of print in 250 years – was simply "mad".
Keay argues that a detail in Cruden's will is evidence that he knew a dark secret concerning his first love (of three, all unrequited), and that her locally powerful family had conspired to have him discredited and out of the way through the stigma of "madness" while he was still a youth. Some years later, an unscrupulous love rival for the hand of a London widow had Cruden committed to a madhouse in Bethnal Green – one of the book's central themes is how shockingly easy it was for someone with the right connections to have an enemy imprisoned in this way.
Yet Cruden's behaviour was eccentric and at times toe-curlingly inappropriate: an early position reading French aloud to Lord Derby was quickly terminated when it was discovered that Cruden had no idea how the language should be pronounced, yet he was unable to understand that he had been dismissed and he went to extremes to lobby his way back into the Lord's presence; in middle age he became fixated on the daughter of Sir Thomas Abney, sending her love letters and hanging around her church despite never having actually spoken to her – Keay says it would be "unduly harsh" to describe him as a "stalker", but stalking is exactly what he was doing. His later works include The Adventures of Alexander the Corrector, in which he told "the tale of his visit to the Chelsea madhouse" and "outlined his plans for correcting the morals of the nation" – perhaps not the most felicitous combination of topics. Cruden had a grandiose hope that the title of "Corrector" would be given to him as an official appointment, akin to the ancient Roman position of censor.
Although Keay does not make any kind of diagnosis, speculation that Cruden had what is now known as Asperger syndrome is a satisfying explanation both for his oddities and for his incredible achievement, a task comparable to Johnson’s Dictionary (completed 20 years later), but carried out without any assistance and completed while holding down a day job as a proofreader and (in a small way) as a bookseller.
A deeply religious man (rigidly moralistic, but also compassionate), Cruden’s labour on his Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures was compensation for his inability to achieve ordination. It also brought him notice and respect: he was never part of "literary London" ("neither Nichols [author of Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century] nor any other contemporary writer makes a single mention of Alexander Cruden; his name is not even dropped into a footnote"), but he was not socially isolated, either: early supporters included Edmund Calamy, and project was subscribed to by publishers that included Thomas Longman and the theological publisher Charles Rivington. Prominent individuals vouched for his sanity, including the antiquarian William Stukeley. His proofreading and indexing work was not just harmless drudgery, either – his projects included editions of the classics, as well as verbal and subject indexes to Milton’s Paradise Lost (the latter for an annotated edition by Thomas Newton).
Keay's biography also tells the story of Elizabeth Blackwell, the wife of the adventurer Alexander Blackwell, whose imposing father Reverend Thomas Blackwell had been the young Cruden's tutor at Marischal College in Aberdeen. Keay, however, puts forward the shocking thesis that Elizabeth was actually Alexander's sister. This is relevant to Cruden's story because it was an infatuation with Elizabeth Blackwell daughter of Reverend Thomas that was the apparent reason for his first confinement.
Cruden and Elizabeth met again by chance in London; they did not renew their acquaintance, although there was an odd parallel in their lives in that Elizabeth also found fame through a book: while her "husband" was in prison for debt she turned to botanical illustration, producing A Curious Herbal. Like Cruden, Elizabeth sought support for her project from prominent individuals, and one in common was the eminent physician Sir Hans Sloane. Alexander Blackwell eventually blagged his way into persuading the Swedish government that he was an expert in agriculture, and he ended up being executed in that country for supposedly plotting to make the Duke of Cumberland into the king of Sweden.
Elizabeth and Alexander Blackwell and Alexander Cruden all appear in Alexander Chalmers’s General Biographical Dictionary, published in the early nineteenth century, and Keay suggests that Chalmers, who was born in Aberdeen and had met Cruden as a child, knew more than he let on.
Keay’s biography is not short of farce and bathos – but it is also affectionate towards its subject and sympathetic and insightful over the frustrations, disappointments and indignities of Cruden's life. The surname "Cruden" will be familiar to anyone who has seen a vicar's bookshelf; this book reminds us of the passions that may lie behind even the driest reference endeavour.
Keay argues that a detail in Cruden's will is evidence that he knew a dark secret concerning his first love (of three, all unrequited), and that her locally powerful family had conspired to have him discredited and out of the way through the stigma of "madness" while he was still a youth. Some years later, an unscrupulous love rival for the hand of a London widow had Cruden committed to a madhouse in Bethnal Green – one of the book's central themes is how shockingly easy it was for someone with the right connections to have an enemy imprisoned in this way.
Yet Cruden's behaviour was eccentric and at times toe-curlingly inappropriate: an early position reading French aloud to Lord Derby was quickly terminated when it was discovered that Cruden had no idea how the language should be pronounced, yet he was unable to understand that he had been dismissed and he went to extremes to lobby his way back into the Lord's presence; in middle age he became fixated on the daughter of Sir Thomas Abney, sending her love letters and hanging around her church despite never having actually spoken to her – Keay says it would be "unduly harsh" to describe him as a "stalker", but stalking is exactly what he was doing. His later works include The Adventures of Alexander the Corrector, in which he told "the tale of his visit to the Chelsea madhouse" and "outlined his plans for correcting the morals of the nation" – perhaps not the most felicitous combination of topics. Cruden had a grandiose hope that the title of "Corrector" would be given to him as an official appointment, akin to the ancient Roman position of censor.
Although Keay does not make any kind of diagnosis, speculation that Cruden had what is now known as Asperger syndrome is a satisfying explanation both for his oddities and for his incredible achievement, a task comparable to Johnson’s Dictionary (completed 20 years later), but carried out without any assistance and completed while holding down a day job as a proofreader and (in a small way) as a bookseller.
A deeply religious man (rigidly moralistic, but also compassionate), Cruden’s labour on his Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures was compensation for his inability to achieve ordination. It also brought him notice and respect: he was never part of "literary London" ("neither Nichols [author of Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century] nor any other contemporary writer makes a single mention of Alexander Cruden; his name is not even dropped into a footnote"), but he was not socially isolated, either: early supporters included Edmund Calamy, and project was subscribed to by publishers that included Thomas Longman and the theological publisher Charles Rivington. Prominent individuals vouched for his sanity, including the antiquarian William Stukeley. His proofreading and indexing work was not just harmless drudgery, either – his projects included editions of the classics, as well as verbal and subject indexes to Milton’s Paradise Lost (the latter for an annotated edition by Thomas Newton).
Keay's biography also tells the story of Elizabeth Blackwell, the wife of the adventurer Alexander Blackwell, whose imposing father Reverend Thomas Blackwell had been the young Cruden's tutor at Marischal College in Aberdeen. Keay, however, puts forward the shocking thesis that Elizabeth was actually Alexander's sister. This is relevant to Cruden's story because it was an infatuation with Elizabeth Blackwell daughter of Reverend Thomas that was the apparent reason for his first confinement.
Cruden and Elizabeth met again by chance in London; they did not renew their acquaintance, although there was an odd parallel in their lives in that Elizabeth also found fame through a book: while her "husband" was in prison for debt she turned to botanical illustration, producing A Curious Herbal. Like Cruden, Elizabeth sought support for her project from prominent individuals, and one in common was the eminent physician Sir Hans Sloane. Alexander Blackwell eventually blagged his way into persuading the Swedish government that he was an expert in agriculture, and he ended up being executed in that country for supposedly plotting to make the Duke of Cumberland into the king of Sweden.
Elizabeth and Alexander Blackwell and Alexander Cruden all appear in Alexander Chalmers’s General Biographical Dictionary, published in the early nineteenth century, and Keay suggests that Chalmers, who was born in Aberdeen and had met Cruden as a child, knew more than he let on.
Keay’s biography is not short of farce and bathos – but it is also affectionate towards its subject and sympathetic and insightful over the frustrations, disappointments and indignities of Cruden's life. The surname "Cruden" will be familiar to anyone who has seen a vicar's bookshelf; this book reminds us of the passions that may lie behind even the driest reference endeavour.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews