WAS the godfather of British ornithology a bit of a society gadabout?
William Yarrell (1784-1856) loved partying - especially at occasions where good food and fine wines were plentiful.
He was a keen theatre-goer, lover of popular music, played the piano and greatly enjoyed playing cards and other board games.
This much we learn from A Newsworthy Naturalist: the Life of William Yarrell by Christine E. Jackson.
What about his character?
"There is no doubt he was a paragon of virtue,"she writes. "He was liked not because he was upright at a period when that was much appreciated but because he was kind with a sense of humour and fun."
The author insists that Yarrell was not a 'prig', but, notwithstanding her reference to his diverse interests and social life, she cannot prevent herself from presenting him as one of life’s 'worthies'.
The focus of her book falls largely on his capacity for making sense of colossal amounts of wildlife research - both his own and that of friends and associates, then editing the data to publish two breathtakingly impressive works, History of British Birds and History of British Fishes.
A Newsworthy Naturalist also contains an authoritative section on his main professional activity as a partner in partner in Jones and Yarrell, a flourishing advertising agency and supplier of books and journals to customers which included Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament.
Ms Jackson is a librarian by background. As might be expected, her research is meticulous and her approach leaning more to the academic than the anecdotal.
She has written a superb study of Yarrell and rescued his legacy from oblivion.
But has she really got inside inside his personality and explored the full depth of what made him tick? Maybe she could have been a tad more speculative.
Somehow one is left with the impression that there is another book yet to be written about the remarkable Mr Yarrell.
* Published at £25 by John Beaufoy Publishing, A Newsworthy Naturalist is available wherever good books are sold as well as from online outlets.
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