The Origin of the Silver Eel

Author: Maria Sledmore

Publisher: Guillemot Press (2021)

Following centuries––millennia even––of philosophers, fishermen, and scientists struggling to solve the mystery of the origins of the European eel, Anguilla anguilla, in 1862 David Cairncross believed he had uncovered the extraordinary truth. His conclusion was as bizarre as it is compelling.

The Origin of the Silver Eel is a tiny classic of nature writing, a joyful, exuberant and personable study in conviction and error. Here it is presented in a unique edition, brilliantly and fully illustrated by John Kilburn.

The Origin of the Silver Eel was commissioned by the Sustainable Earth Institute as part of the Suitcase Full of Eels project.