The Beagle Record

This 1979 volume gathers together an account of the voyage of HMS Beagle round the world in 1831–6, taken from the letters of Darwin and Fitzroy, Darwin's diary, and the books about the voyage published by Darwin and FitzRoy in 1839. It is illustrated by the pencil drawings and watercolours made by the Beagle's official artist, Conrad Martens, but pictures made on board by other members of the crew are also included. The bulk of the illustrations were previously unpublished, as were the letters written by Captain FitzRoy and Conrad Martens. Most of the other written sources were out of print. The book tells the story of the Beagle in the words of the participants as recorded at the time, and illustrates it with a selections from the original pictorial records.