(Part one of this article was published in White Admiral 72 which you can still read by clicking here ...... Editor )

We left the story of James Paget’s early life at the point where the manuscript of the book on the natural history of the Yarmouth area which he had co-authored with his older brother Charles was with the printer in Yarmouth and he was now travelling by coach to London to embark on a medical career at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

Publication of the Sketch of the natural history of Yarmouth and its neighbourhood

Upon arrival in London, the twenty year-old disembarked from the coach and was met by his older brother George, a doctor at Cambridge. It was George who had paid James’ entrance fees to St Barts because their impoverished father could not afford to. James entered St Barts on the third or fourth of October, 1834 and his life changed forever. Work at the hospital was hectic and because of his family connections, affable personality, eloquence and intelligence he became a much in demand guest at dinners and social gatherings. Later that month James and Charles’ book was finally printed. We are not sure of the size of the print run although we do know that four years later in 1838 there were 37 copies left unsold, 10 in Yarmouth and 27 in London. In a letter to his brother Alfred, James writes of his visit to their chosen publishers:

I went this morning to the places [Charles] mentioned. I could not help feeling rather queer, after having looked at about thirty booksellers’ and publishers’ names in Paternoster Row, where no other trade can live, & then going into half-adozen different counting-houses before I could find the right one, and being stared at by about 20 clerks and shopmen – discovering myself in the presence of one of the celebrated firm of Messrs. Longman, Rees, Orme and Brown, with a book of my own in my hand. I saw the last of these gentlemen, he showed a good deal of business civility, and said they had no objection to take 25 copies in the usual way, and try to sell them. Of course you are aware that they do not buy them.

The book was sold for half-a-crown which although cheap for that time might result in more copies being sold thereby generating more money for the family.

I have been unable to discover with certainty how the printed pages of text were covered. Before around 1830, books were generally published in paper “wrappers” or in “boards” (cardboard covered in paper) so that their wealthy purchasers could have them bound according to their own taste. Publishers’ cloth bindings were most commonly, from my own observations, in various shades of brown, and became usual from about 1830 although some important books were still being published in paper-covered parts until the 20th century. In 1834 when this book appeared it is almost certain that books were being published in both the new and old formats. I have been told, however, that a copy of the book which fetched over £400 in an auction in Norfolk in 2007 was bound in what was probably the original brown cloth (David Wilson, pers. comm.).

As was the custom, the brothers sent or personally gave copies of their book to wellknown naturalists. This brief letter by James accompanies a copy of the book sent to the botanist Dr. Hooker who was at that time widely regarded as the greatest English botanist and knew the study area well as he was of Norfolk origin:

My dear Sir,

Will you do my brother and myself the favour to accept the accompanying sketch, our maiden attempt as authors, and to treat with leniency the numerous defects which one so well acquainted with the subjects and localities it treats of as yourself must immediately discover.

By promoting their work in this way the brothers would have hoped that it would have a similar effect as a present-day, favourable review viz. the purchase of copies of the book; it also publicised the scientific credentials of the authors. This last for James would have been a very important first step towards recognition by the scientific community of which he aspired to become a respected member. Charles was engaged in trying to turn around the ailing Paget shipping and brewery businesses; self-promotion would not have been high, if at all, on his list of priorities. There is little doubt in my mind that, had it not been for James, the Sketch would not be in existence. Charles suffered from ill-health throughout his short life: he died in 1844 aged just 31 or thereabouts, and appears to have lacked the drive, initiative and self-confidence of his brother. I see him very much in the role of a highly competent, specialist contributor to what is essentially his younger brother’s book.

The Sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth and its neighbourhood is a slim 8vo (147 x 228 mm) volume consisting of a 32-page Introduction written by James Paget and an 88-page CataloNovember 19, 2011 9:17d that Charles was responsible for the entomological part of it, James for all the rest. James tells us that he considered the enumeration of the species nearly complete and that he had used not merely his own collections, but those of all the local naturalists with whom he came into contact.

The Introduction details the climate, geology and habitats of the area and discusses each of the six taxa catalogued. It is written in unambiguous, precise prose and there are indications even at this early age, of James’ powers of careful observation. The following passage talking about the grasses of the beach gives a flavour of his writing style:

[On] the beach and the hills of drifted sand, which form the marrams, but few plants indeed could be expected to flourish, owing to the great want of water, which in the heaviest rains is almost immediately filtered through, before it has remained sufficient time to be absorbed by their roots. They consist almost entirely of the marram and some grasses, which require but little moisture, and of others whose long roots penetrate to a sufficient depth below the sand to enable them to reach any which may exist. But in few parts of the vegetable kingdom are more interesting cases of the beautiful adaptation of the different parts of creation to be found than here. Were it not for the simple uninteresting-looking plant, the marram-grass just mentioned, it is probable that all the country along the coast must long since have been inundated or buried; its long creeping roots, extending in many instances for twelve or fourteen feet in length, at a distance of two or three inches below the surface, and crossing and matting with each other in every direction, effectually bind down the sand blown up from the beach; while the short strong foliage prevents its being blown over the land in the neighbourhood, which is thus maintained capable of high cultivation.

The Catalogue lists 766 animals (all five vertebrate classes and the insects), 729 flowering plants and 456 non-flowering plants. Its value lies in the fact that we know the brothers possessed all the important scientific works required for the correct identification of the species listed and that they submitted voucher specimens to experts for verification or exchange. We can therefore accept the majority of the species listed as being correctly identified according to the scientific knowledge of that time. We know from the Introduction that Charles had many insect specimens of whose identity he was uncertain; none of these were included although some queried names appear in his list – presumably those species which he was fairly confident were correctly named. However, careful readers of White Admiral will realise that the record of the beetle Panagaeus Crux-Major (sic) must surely be referred to Panagaeus bipustulatus F.

The page reproduced below is illustrative of the Catalogue’s format, in this case the start of the insect section which begins with a list of 408 beetles found in the neighbourhood. Where named localities are given, the Suffolk and Norfolk records are easily distinguished. Of particular significance on this page are the records of the very hygrophilous Carabus clathratus a large, distinctive beetle which occurs in swamps, bogs and saline coastal marshes where it often hunts underwater. It was first found in Britain at Halvergate Marshes, Norfolk in 1809 where it occurred over the next few years; putative records from the Burgh marshes and from Belton Bog would appear, therefore, to be not unexpected. Records from 1809-1834 are the only ones (excluding obvious importations) of this large, characteristic beetle which lie well outside its subsequently established range viz. north-east Scotland and throughout Ireland. The beetle occurs in most of Europe except western and southern parts. Insect recording in the Pagets’ time was still in its infancy and it is impossible to verify these early records because specimens from this era are often without data, but there are two possible lines of speculation upon these occurrences. The most obvious is that these were isolated, long-established populations of clathratus which became extinct after these captures were recorded. The second is that there might at this time have been short-lived populations in this area perhaps as a result of relatively recent migration or transportation to the port from the continent - certain populations have long-winged individuals which can fly. Many examples of Calosoma sycophanta - the next beetle on the list - were also turning up on this area of coast in this time period but not afterwards. These had all arrived from the continent but needed to reach woodland if they were to have any chance of establishing themselves; they didn’t. Immigrant clathratus, however, would probably have found themselves immediately at home in these coastal marshes. Much of James’ plant collection is incorporated in the main herbarium at Norwich Castle Museum but Charles’ insect collection appears no longer extant. It may have been disposed of when the Pagets left their fine house on the Quay. We know that the contents of the house which included many fine art objects especially paintings were auctioned separately in 1848. At that time insect and other specimen cabinets were beautiful pieces of furniture crafted in order that they would fit in unobtrusively with the rest of a wealthy person’s sumptuous furniture. Only when the doors were opened and the drawers pulled out would a cabinet’s purpose be revealed.

Late in life, whilst writing his memoir, James looked back to the time of the Sketch and reflecting upon it he wrote:

I am amused in thinking that of the mere knowledge gained in the study - the knowledge of the appearances and names and botanical arrangement of plants - none had in my after-life any measure of what is called practical utility. The knowledge was useless: the discipline of acquiring it was beyond all price.

These pages are not the place to detail the life of James Paget after 1834 but it was just such discipline coupled with a gift for original and often philosophical thinking allied to a tireless capacity for demanding work, which was to characterise James Paget’s brilliant career at St Barts as a surgeon and pathologist and lead to him becoming, together with the German Rudolf Virchow, one of the founders of scientific medical pathology. He moved in the highest echelons of intellectual social circles and, in this Darwin’s anniversary year, it is worth noting in conclusion, that he and Darwin became good friends, corresponding regularly on medical and other scientific matters of mutual interest.

Epilogue

Anyone who has found this account of the first twenty years of James Paget’s life interesting will not find his later life any less so. Although he understandably receives true acknowledgement of his achievements by being included in the Dictionary of National Biography, his relatively brief entry there cannot capture the true essence of this extraordinary man nor can the many sites on the web which adequately describe his life and achievements. Until a couple of years ago, my knowledge of the Pagets was largely confined to the contents of the Sketch and its importance (for me), as the first publication containing a local list of Suffolk beetles. It was then that I saw the following advertised on a website and purchased it:

Paget, Sir James (1901). Memoirs and Letters of Sir James Paget - edited by Stephen Paget, one of his sons. Longmans, Green and Co. London.

Copies are readily available and inexpensive - I paid £15 for mine. The greater part of its almost 440 pages deals with James Paget’s life post-1834 so if I have whetted anyone’s appetite I can assure them that they will not merely be re-visiting the events described and interpreted here since these feature in only the first forty pages. I recommend the book without reservation: it is a fascinating, insightful and sensitive account of a life well-spent.