Darwin, Charles Robert: letter ([1850])

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0096 AL44a
Held at	: Senate House Library, University of London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/our-collections ›
Full title	: Darwin, Charles Robert: letter ([1850])
Date(s)	: [1850]
Level of description	: fonds
Extent	: 2 leaves
Name of creator(s)	: Darwin | Charles Robert | 1809-1882 | scientist and naturalist

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Charles Darwin was born in Shropshire and educated at the University of Edinburgh and Christ's College, Cambridge. After graduating he spent two years exploring the coasts of South America, Australasia as a naturalist on HMS Beagle; the observations that he made during the voyage later led him to formulate his influential theory of evolution by natural selection, now regarded as the foundation of modern biology and one of the most important ideas in science. After returning to Britain he continued to research and published many books, including On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871).

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Letter from Charles Robert Darwin of Down, Farnborough, Kent to an unnamed member of the Council of the Palaeontographical Society [the Secretary, J S Bowerbank], [Feb or Mar 1850]. Thanking him for the loan of Pollicipes cornucopia. Referring to the Society's acceptance of his (Darwin's) proposal [an offer to prepare a monograph on the 'British Fossil Cirripedia']; stating that the plates are being prepared by James de C Sowerby, who will be the best man to engrave them. Concluding: 'I suppose I was admitted a member of the Palaeont. Soc. and shall sometime here when and where I can pay my subscriptions, etc.' Autograph, with signature. The events mentioned date the letter to later than 22 Feb 1850, when Darwin's monograph proposal was accepted, and before 15 Mar 1850, when he was proposed to serve as a member of the Society's Council.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

See hard copy catalogue.

Conditions governing access:

Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Please contact the University Archivist for details. 24 hours notice is required for research visits.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

Finding aids:

Typescript list available in the Library's Palaeography Room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

See archivist

Immediate source of acquisition:

Bought from Tregaskis in 1912 (about 2 months after Ludlow's books were sold at Hodgson's).

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Anya Turner.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
July 2008