ALEXANDER THE CORRECTOR
By Julia Keay
HarperCollins. 269 pages. £16.99
ISBN 0 00 713195 X
If you enjoyed Simon Winchester's The Surgeon of Crawthorne, you'll love Alexander the Corrector - the 'tormented genius who unwrote the Bible'. Written in a similar vein (Simon Winchester has given the book a commendation), this is the story of Alexander Cruden who compiled Cruden's Concordance, which, though 2.5 million words long, is still in print 300 years later.
Generations have accepted the diagnosis that Cruden was mad, but Julia Keay restores his reputation by grippingly retelling the story of this lonely and misunderstood genius, who was put away as a cover for the wrongs and wilfulness of others. He was a man of his times who longed to prove himself, a biblically principled student, an avid distributor of tracts, a man of prayer (he died while praying), and a devoted servant of the Lord.
Born in Aberdeen in 1699, as a young man he was cast into an asylum for reasons that at the time were considered too shocking to reveal. The incarceration ruined his plans to become a clergyman. It was the start of a life of disappointment and difficulty. Despite that, he accomplished monumental achievements of compiling concordances on the Bible and the works of John Milton. As he said of himself: 'I am somewhat of a disposition that if I had a 100 hairs to hang by and 99 should fail, I would endeavour to hang on by the hundredth, and if that should fail I then submit to the will of God'.
This is biography at its best-a good read, which is both enjoyable, illuminating and edifying. I felt gratitude to Julia Keay who re-introduced me to Alexander Cruden. He was a godly man, who followed the Lord and his Word, but did not fit the mould. Such individuals may be unique, but I would like to see more of them!
