The Charles Darwin Correspondence Project

On July 20th, we visited Cambridge University, and had a brief introduction to the Darwin Correspondence Project at the Cambridge University Library. The Darwin Correspondence project was founded in 1974, with the goal of finding and publishing transcripts of all letters to and from Charles Darwin during his life. There are many challenges in undertaking such an ambitious project. Not only did the researchers have to track down every letter that Darwin had written, but they also had to attempt to put all the correspondence in chronological order, which was a challenge because many of the letters did not bear dates, but merely denotations such as “Sunday afternoon.” After collecting all the letters and piecing together the chronological puzzle, researchers faced the daunting task of deciphering the handwriting of the letters and transcribing them. Darwin had infamously illegible handwriting, but as the experts at Cambridge told us, with enough practice, reading it becomes much easier. According to the project’s website, they have located around 14,500 letters exchanged by Darwin with over 2,000 people around the world. The letters are being published in hardcopy, as well as online, chronologically by year.

The website states, “Darwin's correspondence provides us with an invaluable source of information, not only about his own intellectual development and social network, but about Victorian science and society in general.” It is true that his letters and private notes, of which the University has many, provide much insight into his ideas and scientific work, as well as his social relationships. I find his correspondence with Alfred Russel Wallace to be particularly interesting; because of the somewhat awkward and uncomfortable situation Darwin found himself in after Wallace sent him his ideas on natural selection, it is really fascinating to read the letters between the two men. There is a sense of self-conscious politeness in many of the letters from Darwin to Wallace, and he seems to choose his words delicately.

One question that arose in my mind as we listened to the archivists tell us about the project is the issue of privacy. Professor Durant posed a similar question later on, noting that many of the letters between Darwin and Huxley were quite intimate, as the two were close friends. The woman compared these letters to an email-type exchange, and I pondered how I would feel if my own emails were published in 200 years. I wonder whether Darwin ever thought that his most private letters and notes would be available to the masses as they are now, just a click away on a website.