Guide to the Charles Darwin / Evolution Collection

Processed by D. Tambo and E. Fields

Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library

Department of Special Collections

Davidson Library

University of California

Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Phone: (805) 893-3062

Fax: (805) 893-5749

Email: special@library.ucsb.edu

URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/

Guide to the Charles Darwin / Evolution Collection, ca. 1786-1968 [bulk dates 1840s-1920s]

Collection Number: Mss 28

Department of Special Collections

Davidson Library

University of California, Santa Barbara

Contact Information

Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/

Processed by:: D. Tambo and E. Fields
Latest Revision:: Feb. 13, 2012
Encoded by:: Jace R. Turner; A. Demeter

Descriptive Summary

Title: Charles Darwin / Evolution Collection

Dates: ca. 1786-1968

Bulk Dates: 1840s-1920s

Collection number: Mss 28

Creator: Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882

Extent: 5.8 linear feet (10 document boxes and 1 oversize box)

Repository: University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Dept. of Special Collections.

Santa Barbara, California 93106-9010

Abstract: The collection contains printed and manuscript materials, photo albums, correspondences, pamphlets, diaries, and various ephemera by and relating to Charles Darwin and others interested in natural history and the theory of evolution. Includes material by Bernard Darwin, Francis Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, Julian Huxley, John Stuart Mill, and Marie Stopes among others.

Physical location: Del Sur (Boxes 1-10) and Del Sur Oversize (Box 11).

Language: English

Access Restrictions

None.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

Preferred Citation

Charles Darwin / Evolution Collection. Mss 28. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Acquisition Information

Purchase from London bookseller, Peter Eaton, 1968.

History / Biography

Short biographical sketches are provided for some of the key figures represented in the collection.

Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. His father, Robert Waring Darwin (1766-1848), was a physician, the son of Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), a poet, philosopher, and naturalist. Robert established a successful medical practice in Shrewsbury where he was known for his kindness extended to the poor. He was financially quite successful and willing to support his sons in their various endeavors. Although not a prolific writer, he was elected to the Royal Society in 1788. Charles' mother, Susannah Wedgwood Darwin (1765-1817), was the daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, one of the founders of the Wedgwood pottery works and a supporter of the movement to abolish slavery in the British Empire. She died when Charles Darwin was eight years old.

At age sixteen, Darwin left Shrewsbury to study medicine at Edinburgh University. Repelled by the sight of surgery performed without anesthesia, he eventually went to Cambridge University to prepare to become a clergyman in the Church of England. After receiving his degree, Darwin accepted an invitation to serve as an unpaid naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle, which departed on a five-year scientific expedition to the Pacific coast of South America on December 31, 1831.

Darwin's research resulting from this voyage formed the basis of his famous book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Published in 1859, the work aroused a storm of controversy. Here Darwin outlined his theory of evolution, challenging the contemporary beliefs about the creation of life on earth. Later works included The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (1872), and many others. Darwin continued to write and publish his works on biology throughout his life. He lived with his wife and eight children at their home in the village of Downe, fifteen miles from London. Several of his children achieved great distinction of their own: George Howard Darwin (1845-1912), as a geologist and astronomer, Francis Darwin (1848-1925), as a botanist, and Leonard Darwin (1850-1943), as an economist. Charles Darwin died after a long illness on April 19, 1882, and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

A number of Darwin descendants are represented in the collection. Francis Darwin, Charles' third son, also was a botanist and naturalist. Although trained as a physician, he never practiced medicine. Early in his career, he worked as a research assistant for his father. He pursued an academic career at Cambridge where he was a Fellow of Christ's College and University Lecturer in Botany. He was appointed Reader in 1888 and retired in 1904. He published a number of works on botany and is perhaps best remembered for his editing of the basic biographies of his father: Life and Letters (3 v., 1887) and More Letters (2 v., 1903). Bernard Darwin (1876-1961), the son of Francis, was a writer with a special emphasis and interest in sports, particularly golf, which he covered for The Times (in London) and Country Life. He also contributed the introduction for the first edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1941) and with his wife authored a number of children's books, being particularly noted for the Tootleoo series.

The collection also contains material related to the Huxley family. Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895), was a biologist, zoologist, philosopher, and teacher. He was a staunch defender of Darwin and sometimes was referred to as "Darwin's Bulldog". Huxley had an important impact on the intellectual currents of the times through his writings on science, philosophy, religion and politics. Among his many works are: Evidence on Man's Place in Nature, a comprehensive review of what was known at the time about primate and human paleontology and ethnology, published in 1863, only five years after Darwin's Origin of Species, and Ethics and Evolution (1893). Huxley is credited with the invention of the term 'agnosticism' to describe his philosophical position: it expresses his attitude toward certain traditional questions without giving any clear delimitation of the frontiers of knowledge. In works such as Ethics and Evolution, moral order is contrasted with the cosmic order. Evolution shows signs of constant struggle, but rather than looking to it for moral guidance, he rejected "the gladiatorial theory of existence."

Julian Sorell Huxley (1887-1975), grandson of Thomas Henry, and brother of the writer Aldous was a biologist, writer, and teacher who achieved renown both as a scientist and for his ability to make scientific concepts clear to the public through his writings. Julian Huxley was born in London and educated at Balliol College, University of Oxford. He was one of the most highly visible scientists of the mid-twentieth century, popular as a radio and television panelist and as a lecturer. Like his grandfather, he was particularly interested in concepts of evolution and growth, dealing with them in the light of the philosophic problems generated by contemporary scientific developments. In his Religion without Revelation (1927), he suggested that humans could find an outlet for their religious zeal in contemplation of their own destiny, rather than in theistic creeds. In Evolution: The Modern Synthesis (1942), he made important connections between evolution and genetics.

A final group of manuscripts in the collection pertains to the work of the anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917). Tylor was most interested in tracing the evolutionary process in the areas of social customs and beliefs. He was a fervent Darwinian with an infinite respect for facts. Although based at Oxford, where he was professor of anthropology and keeper of the university museum, he and his wife Anna Tylor traveled extensively both for his health and his research. Their Quaker background is reflected in their concern for the impact of evolutionary thought upon religion. The collection includes correspondence between him and his wife and his brother Alfred Tylor, a geologist. Alfred's son, Joseph John Tylor, an engineer and Egyptologist, and daughter, Juliet Tylor are among other Tylor family members represented.

Scope and Content Notes

The collection was purchased from London bookseller Peter Eaton, who had accumulated the materials from various sources, including Julian Huxley's private library. Eaton provided several detailed lists of contents, copies of which have been included in the collection.

The collection contains six series relating to Charles Darwin and others interested in the theory of evolution:

Series I: Tylor Family (Boxes 1-3). Contains two subseries, the first of which is Books, described in the Eaton list "Diaries and Letters Belonging to Sir Edward and Lady Tylor" [copy in Box 1]. Includes diaries of Anna Tylor, wife of Edward Burnett Tylor, noted Oxford anthropologist and Darwinian. Also books of extracts and photo albums. The second subseries is Tylor Family Papers, described in the Eaton list: "Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, F.R.S. and Alfred Tylor: Manuscript Material and Letters"), which mainly contains correspondence among the various family members.
Series II: Manuscripts, Letters, and Ephemera (Boxes 4-6). Arranged alphabetically by surname of author/correspondent; described in the Eaton list of the same title [copy in Box 4]. Also contains some unlisted items apparently laid in books acquired as part of the collection; quotes are from the Eaton list. Includes material by Bernard Darwin, Charles Darwin, Francis Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, John Stuart Mill, Richard Owen, Herbert Spencer, and Marie Stopes.
Series III: Pamphlets and Other Uncataloged Printed Ephemera (Box 7). Arranged alphabetically by surname of author or by title, mainly uncataloged items from the printed portion of the collection. Includes material by Charles Darwin and Robert Waring Darwin.
Series IV: Julian Huxley Papers (Boxes 8-9). Includes manuscripts and articles by Julian Huxley, as well as his personal copies of writings by others, many inscribed to Huxley or with notes by him. Described in the Eaton list: "Sir Julian Huxley, F.R.S." [copy in Box 8].
Series V: Miscellany (Box 10). Includes extract book, newspaper clippings, material on the Darwin Centennial.
Series VI: Oversize Materials (Box 11). Engravings, including Charles Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, Herbert Spencer, and John Tyndall.

An article by Sherrill Mann and D. E. Fitch, "Darwin and Evolution" describes the collection in further detail and was published in the UCSB Libraries journal Soundings (Nov. 1969). A copy is filed, along with the guide, at the front of Box 1, in the collection.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.

Darwin, Francis, Sir, 1848-1925.

Darwin, Bernard, 1876-1961.

Huxley, Thomas Henry, 1825-1895.

Huxley, Julian, 1887-1975.

Tylor, Edward Burnett, Sir, 1832-1917.

Tylor, Alfred, 1824-1884.

Tylor, Anna.

Tylor, Joseph John, 1851-1901.

Beddard, Frank E. (Frank Evers), 1858-1925.

Naturalists--England--Correspondence.

Natural history.

Evolution (Biology)

Religion and science.

Evolution.

Evolution--Religious aspects.

Related Material

Related Material at UCSB:

The manuscript materials listed in this guide are part of a much larger printed collection which includes several hundred volumes of rare first and early editions of Charles Darwin's works and others supporting or opposing theories of evolution and related issues. These have been cataloged separately and can be searched in Pegasus, the UCSB online catalog.

Related Material at Other Institutions:

The Darwin Papers. Microfilm, from Research Publications International.
Huntington Library. Works of Charles Darwin, his contemporaries and followers. More than 1500 volumes, donated by Warren D. Mohr.
University of Virginia. Papers relating to the history of the theory of evolution, 1771-1921; 153 items (author listed as Charles Darwin). Chiefly correspondence by or about men who contributed to the development of the theory of evolution.
American Museum of Natural History. The AMNH Darwin Manuscripts Project: http://darwin.amnh.org/

Websites related to Darwin / Evolution:

Darwinian Homepage, BiologyBase, http://www.interaktv.com/DARWIN/Darwin.html
Darwin Papers, Cambridge University Library, http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/MSS/Darwin.html
Darwin Project, http://javalab.cs.uni-bonn.de/research/darwin/darwin_eng.html

Series I: Tylor Family

Books

Scope and Content Note

Also includes copy of Eaton list: "Diaries and Letters Belonging to Sir Edward and Lady Tylor"

Diaries of Anna Tylor

Scope and Content Note

Includes material on travels with husband EB Tylor to America, Russia, and a number of other European countries; also of their social life, including Oxford anthropological and wider circles. Some diaries contain notes from EB's journals, copied by his wife.

Box 1: 1

1846-1847

Box 1: 2

1848

Box 1: 3

1849-1850

Box 1: 4

1850-1851

Box 1: 5

1850-1858

Box 1: 6

1852-1853

Box 1: 7

1852

Box 1: 8

1853-1855

Box 1: 9

1853-1855

Box 1: 10

1855-1858

Box 1: 11

1856

Box 1: 12

1857-1858

Box 1: 13

1860-1861

Box 1: 14

1862-1864

Box 1: 15

1867-1868

Box 1: 16

1869-1873

Box 1: 17

1872-1881

Box 1: 18

1872-1875

Box 1: 19

1873-1876

Box 1: 20

1879-1881

Box 1: 21

1881-1899

Box 1: 22

1882-1885

Box 1: 23

1886-1888

Box 1: 24

1889-1890

Box 1: 25

1892-1893

Box 1: 26

1893-1896

Box 1: 27

1896-1899

Box 1: 28

1903-1906

Box 1: 29

1906-1910

Box 1: 30

1910-1913

Box 1: 31

1913-1920

Extracts (quotes from other authors)

Box 2: 1

v. 1, n.d.

Box 2: 2

v. 2, n.d.

Box 2: 3

v. 3, n.d.

Box 2: 4

v. 4, 1849

Box 2: 5

v. 5, 1855

Box 2: 6

1898-1899

Box 2: 7

Riddles, n.d.

E. B. Tylor Diaries

Box 2: 8

Notes and Sketches (describing trip to southern Italy), ca. 1858

Box 2: 9

1861 (includes record of his readings)

Box 2: 10

Museum House (Oxford) Guest Register, 1883-1915

Photo Albums

Box 2: 11

Tylor family (mostly carte de visite format, with note at back dated 1861)

Box 2: 12

Vol. VIII (mostly carte de visite format, several of Fox, Morse, and Tylor family members), 1875

Tylor Family Papers

Box 3: 1

Eaton List: "Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, F.R.S. and Alfred Tylor: Manuscript Material and Letters" (copy; includes information about items in this section of the Tylor Family series)

Correspondence

Alfred Tylor

Box 3: 2

To Juliet Tylor Morse, 1877-1878

Box 3: 3

To Sydney Morse, 1878

Box 3: 4

To Edward B. Tylor, 1857-1868

Anna Fox Tylor

Box 3: 5

To Mary Fox, 1861

Box 3: 6

To Sarah Fox, ca. 1861

Box 3: 7

To Juliet Tylor Morse, n.d.

Box 3: 8

To Edward B. Tylor, ca. 1857

Box 3: 9

To Isabella Harris Tylor, ca. 1861-1901

Edward B[urnett] Tylor

Box 3: 10

To Juliet Tylor Morse, 1868

Box 3: 11

To Alfred Tylor, 1861-1878

Box 3: 12

To Anna Fox Tylor, ca. 1857-1884

Box 3: 13

To Isabella Harris Tylor, 1901, n.d.

Isabella Harris Tylor

Box 3: 14

To Juliet Tylor Morse, 1877-1904

Box 3: 15

To Sydney Morse, ca. 1878-1886

Box 3: 16

To Alfred Tylor, ca. 1878-1883

Box 3: 17

To Anna Fox Tylor, 1877-1878

Box 3: 18

To Edward B. Tylor, 1857

Box 3: 19

To J. J. Tylor and W. A. Tylor, ca. 1868

J[oseph] J[ohn] Tylor

Box 3: 20

To Sydney and Juliet Morse, 1871, 1878

Box 3: 21

Correspondence and related material concerning the death of J. J. Tylor, 1901

Miscellany

Box 3: 22

A. E. and W. A. Tylor to Juliet Tylor Morse, 1877

Box 3: 23

To E. B. and A. F. Tylor, 1868, 1905

Box 3: 24

Legal Papers (mainly dealing with partnerships and other financial matters), 1839-1857

Box 3: 25

Ephemera (mainly notes and references to letters), 1857-1868

Series II: Manuscripts, Letters, and Ephemera

Box 4: 1

Eaton List: "Manuscripts, Letters, and Ephemera" (copy; includes information about items in this series)

Box 4: 2

Allen, Charles Grant Blairfindie (1848-1899), 1898

Box 4: 3

Argyll, Duke of, 1884

Box 4: 4

Bates, Henry Walter (1825-1892), 1891

Beddard, Frank Evers (1858-1925)

Box 4: 5

General, 1899-1902, 1919

Box 4: 6

Cambridge University Note Book (Zoology class by Prof. Minchin), Oct. 1904

Box 4: 7

News Cuttings (bound volume), 1887-1895

Box 4: 8

Boase, Henry Samuel (1799-1883), 1828

Box 4: 9

Bradley, G. G., 1882

Box 4: 10

Buckland, William (1784-1856), 1839, n.d.

Box 4: 11

Darwin, Bernard, 1850, [1855?]

Darwin, Charles (1809-1882)

Correspondence

Box 4: 12

1 ALS, 7 Oct. 1876

Box 4: 13

1 ALS, 16 Apr. 1879

Box 4: 14

University of Edinburgh (copies of lecture notices), 1825-1826

Box 4: 15

Journal (photostat), 1827

Box 4: 16

Signature (clipped), n.d.

Box 4: 17

"A Zoological Walk" (typescript), n.d.

Box 4: 18

Photograph (1 b/w, later in life) and signature, n.d.

Box 4: 19

Photographs (2 b/w, later in life), n.d.

Darwin, Francis (1848-1925)

Box 4: 20

Correspondence - 2 ALS, 1909, n.y.

Box 4: 21

Darwin Centennial (program and clipping), 1909

Box 4: 22

Farrar, Frederic William (1831-1903; Farrar suggested Westminster Abbey as Darwin's burial place; he was one of the pall-bearers and preached a notable funeral sermon on Darwin's work and character), [1903]

Box 5: 1-2

Gaynor, Alfred E. H. (includes birth record, handwritten drafts of a number of essays, and printed material; see Eaton description for further information), 1864, 1895, n.d.

Box 5: 3

Geikie, Archibald (1835-1924), 1895

Box 5: 4

Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich (1834-1919), 1879, 1892

Box 5: 5

Hamilton, Mary Agnes, 1943

Box 5: 6

Henslow, John Stevens, n.d.

Box 5: 7

Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1817-1911), ca. 1876-1921

Box 5: 8

Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895; includes correspondence and 1 carte de visite), ca. 1869-1880

Box 5: 9

Lankester, Edwin (1814-1874), 1847, 1865

Box 5: 10

Lyell, Charles (1797-1875), [1848?]

Box 5: 11

Marriott, R.A., 1918, 1929

Box 5: 12

Mill, John Stuart (1 carte de visite), n.d.

Box 5: 13

Murchison, [Roderick ?] (1 carte de visite), n.d.

Box 5: 14

Nettleship, Edward (1845-1913), 1910

Box 5: 15

Owen, Richard (1804-1892; includes correspondence and 1 carte de visite), 1842-1889, n.d.

Box 6: 1

Parsons, John Herbert (includes drafts of essays), ca. 1918-1949

Box 6: 2

Picton, [J. Allanson?], 1879

Box 6: 3

Powys, Theodore Francis (1875-1953; contains "Extract from long discussion with Huxley"), n.d.

Box 6: 4

Sedgwick, Adam (1785-1873), n.d.

Box 6: 5

Seward, Albert Charles, 1938

Box 6: 6

Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903; includes 1 AN, 1 carte de visite, and notes by J. Parke Kirkman, re Spencer's The Study of Sociology), 1884, n.d.

Box 6: 7

Stephen, Leslie (1832-1904), 1893-1894

Box 6: 8

Stirling, James Hutchison (1820-1909), 1878

Box 6: 9

Stopes, Marie Charlotte Carmichael (1880-1958; includes correspondence, offprints, and clippings, mainly relating to E. W. MacBride's review of Stopes' work), ca. 1927-1937

Box 6: 10

Thomson, Wyville, n.d.

Box 6: 11

Tyndall, John (newspaper clippings and 1 carte de visite), ca. 1882-1893, n.d.

Box 6: 12

Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823-1913; includes correspondence and 1 photograph), 1870-1910

Box 6: 13

Wilson, James Hewetson (translator of Adrien de Jussieu's Elements of Botany; contains scrapbook with correspondence, documents, and printed material), 1849

Box 6: 14

Miscellany (includes items laid in cataloged volumes), ca. 1895-1947

Series III: Pamphlets and Other Uncataloged Printed Ephemera

Box 7: 1

Andre, R. (and the late Charles Darwin), 1898

Box 7: 2

Anti-Evolution Pamphlets (includes items from Back to the Bible Publishers, The Bible Christian Unity Fellowship, Central Bible Truth Depot, The Evolution Protest Movement, and the International Christian Crusade), most ca. 1962-1968

Box 7: 3

Carr-Saunders, A. M., 1942

Box 7: 4

Darwin, Robert Waring - New Experiments on the Ocular Spectra of Light and Colours, 1786

Box 7: 5

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1797 ed. ("Animal" and "Natural History" sections)

Box 7: 6

Evolution Pamphlets (includes items from the Eugenics Review, The Society for the Study of Evolution, and press notices for Frances Swiney's Awakening of Women; or, Woman's Part in Evolution), ca. 1928-1947

Box 7: 7

Finch, A. Elley - The English Free-Thinkers of the Eighteenth Century, 1879

Box 7: 8

Haldane, J. B. S., 1926

Box 7: 9

Handbook of Conchology, 1839

Box 7: 10

Kropotkine, Pierre - The Place of Anarchism in Socialistic Evolution, n.d.

Box 7: 11

Library of Useful Knowledge - Outline of General History, Part I, 1828

Box 7: 12

Maumus, Abbe - La Cellule: Son Origine, 1912

Box 7: 13

Nineteenth Century (Review) - Articles

Box 7: 14

Pfaff, Friedrich, 1879, n.d.

Box 7: 15

Pycraft, W. P., 1931

Box 7: 16

Reclus, Elisee - Evolution and Revolution, 1892

Box 7: 17

Wallace, Alfred Russel - The 'Why' and 'How' of Land Nationalisation, 1883

Box 7: 18

Whittaker, E. T. - The Beginning and End of the World, 1942

Box 7: 19

Wilson, James M. - Problems of Religion & Science, 1903

Box 7: 20

Miscellany (includes an article by T. H. Huxley, "On the Advisableness of Improving Natural Knowledge"), n.d.

Series IV: Julian Huxley Papers

Box 8: 1

Eaton List (includes information about items in this series)

Manuscripts and Articles by Julian Huxley

Box 8: 2

"Eugenics and Society" (from Eugenics Review, with a few pencil markings), ca. 1936

Box 8: 3

"Evolution of Organisation by Joining Units in a Pattern" (typescript, with handwritten corrections), 1962

Box 8: 4

"Organized Thinking and Evolution" (galley proof of a review of C. H. Wadington, The Nature of Life, with handwritten corrections), ca. 1961

Box 8: 5

"Science and Religion" (typescript, signed by Huxley), n.d.

Box 8: 6

Fragments (two pages of a mimeographed piece entitled "Biology and Sociology" and several handwritten and typescript drafts of an unidentified piece beginning "In the last twenty-five years..."), n.d.

Box 8: 7

Notes (handwritten, in a variety of formats; many bibliographical references), n.d.

Articles and Related, by Others (arranged by surname of author; many with notes, underlining, and other markings by Huxley, and others with inscriptions or dedications to JH), ca. 1944-1965

Box 8: 8

A-D

Box 8: 9

E-F

Box 8: 10

G-I

Box 8: 11

J-L

Box 8: 12

Box 9: 1

N-P

Box 9: 2

Box 9: 3

Box 9: 4

T-V

Box 9: 5

Box 9: 6

X-Z

Box 9: 7

Book Reviews

Box 9: 8

Letters to Editors

Box 9: 9

Magazine and Newspaper Cuttings

Series V: Miscellany

Box 10: 1

Drawings by R. H. [?], n.d.

Box 10: 2

Extract book (mainly writings extracted from other sources), ca. 1856-1865

Box 10: 3

Newspaper clippings (mostly relating to Darwin), ca. 1880-1933

Series VI: Oversize

Box 11: 1

Charles Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, Herbert Spencer, and John Tyndall (set of 4 engravings)

Box 11: 2

"A Clinical Lecture by Charcot" (engraving)