Letterewe (https://letterewe-estate.com/) is a large estate in the NW Scottish Highlands situated on the north side of Loch Maree (opposite the Beinn Eighe NNR) c. 15 miles south of Ullapool. It is one of the wildest, most remote and least populated areas of the UK and owned by the van Vlissingen family, having been purchased by the Dutch multi-millionaire Paul van Vlissingen in 1978. Van Vlissingen was an enlightened conservationist who considered himself the ‘guardian’ of the estate rather than its owner and granted the ‘right to roam’ over its 340 km2 more than a decade before it became Scottish law in 2003. The author of this book spent three years at Letterewe studying the effects of red deer management on bryophytes and lichens for his doctoral dissertation. The scientific results of this study have been reported in several papers in academic journals (chiefly Plant Ecology & Diversity) and this book is a more personal account of the bryophytes and lichens of the area. It is intended primarily for visitors to the area with an interest in Natural History but will appeal to, and be appreciated by, a much wider audience.
It is immediately apparent that this is no ordinary book. The front and back covers feature only a highly magnified image of Lobaria (Lobarina) scrobiculata without any text (this is confined to the spine), which, at first glance, gives the impression of decorative marbled paper. This idiosyncratic approach to design is continued on the inside of the book: left-hand pages are left justified (as is usual) but right-hand pages are right justified, and this has been extenuated by forming the unjustified (centre) margins into smooth curves. The design of the book is credited to ‘IBO, Irma Boom, Eva van Bemmelen’. IBO is the Irma Boom Office and Irma Boom is an internationally renowned graphic artist specializing in book making, with a selection of her work being held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York (https://www.moma.org/artists/33693). This is much more than a book about bryophytes and lichens, it is a work of art in book form!
Approximately half of the book is composed of superb double-page images of scenery/habitat or highly magnified lichens and bryophytes. No scale is given for the photographs, which may cause problems for people unfamiliar with the species, but an idea of the degree of magnification is that the apothecia in the photograph of Ochrolechia tartarea are up to 5 cm across! The photographs, like the rest of the book, are printed on quite thick, matt paper (100g/m2 EOS) with the images reproduced at a relatively low resolution. This gives the images a rather hazy quality, as if being viewed through a typical west highland drizzle, but works well because of their large size. However, it does result in a lack of detail that is apparent if the images are viewed up close when the individual coloured dots are clearly visible to the naked eye. The photographs are as much artistic creations as scientific representations; some images have dead blades of grass crossing them at angles, another has a small grass plant in the centre, etc… Most photographers would have removed these before taking the photograph but here they form integral components of the composition and add to the ‘natural’ authenticity of the image.
The text is divided into seven chapters: Introduction, Wet heath and bog, Summit and flush, Ravine, Loch-edge and crag, Woodland, Liverwort heath, and a final chapter summarizing the results of the author's study of the impact of red deer management on the cryptogamic biota. Each chapter is between 10 and 18 pages long and each is followed by between 14 and 30 pages of double-page photographs. The text is written in the first person with anecdotes and experiences mixed in amongst information about selected lichens and bryophytes of each habitat. It is well written and easy and enjoyable to read. My overall impression is of someone in love with his subject being let off the leash of academic restraint and thoroughly enjoying, and making the most of, his freedom. Species and habitats for which photographs are provided are printed in green and references appear in much smaller type, presumably so as not to interrupt the flow of the narrative. The articles, books, etc. to which these references refer are grouped at the end of each chapter (before the photographs) but are not indented, which makes them somewhat difficult to separate.
The final c. 60 pages are given over to a list of species recorded from the Letterewe Estate, both by the author and by other visitors. A brief description of the habitat/substratum of each species is followed by a list of the tetrads from which it has been recorded. These are presented in two columns and although the left-hand column is (usually) left justified, the left margin of the right-hand column is often curved, slanted or undulating. This is not a problem and doesn't affect the readability of the text, and adds to the sense that there is more to appreciate here than just the text. Several species are accompanied by small photographs but, because of the low resolution at which they are reproduced, they are too small to be of any practical value.
As a scientist I have minor quibbles (there is no index, perhaps the photographs could have been presented differently) but from an artistic perspective the book is an unqualified success. It is beautiful to handle, continually interesting and a joy to own. Letterewe Estate, IBO and the author are to be congratulated on a highly successful collaboration that has resulted in a synthesis of art and science that will be widely appreciated outside the bryophyte and lichen communities, and will help to bring these organisms to a wider audience.
