The Life and Letters of F. J. A. Hort

The motto for a biographer should be nothing in excess, above all not too much of the biographer himself. This condition is admirably fulfilled in Mr. Arthur Hort’s personal contribution to the biography of his father. He has kept himself wholly in the background and has allowed the figure of his father to define itself by degrees, mainly in his own words. Fortunately a great number of Dr. Hort’s letters have been preserved, and a copious selection of these has been printed with brief connecting summaries by the editor. It is just these which we think could not have been better done. Easily, gracefully, clearly and reticently written, it seems to us that they at once leave nothing unsaid that ought to be said, and yet do not say a word too much. The heightening of the lights and the deepening of the shades, the general enforcing of the impression, is done by the father himself, and not by the son.