Collections of Letters
An introduction by R. B. Freeman
Only works containing important or large series of letters are included here. De Beer (in F1595) gives about thirty further references to publications which contain one or a few letters, but his list is far from complete. The three basic biographical works, which contain many letters, have been treated separately above (Nos 1452, 1548 & 1552). An authoritative list must await the publication of the projected Collected letters.
[This was R. B. Freeman's introduction to the printed Darwin letters in his 1977 bibliography of published Darwin writings. Since this was written The correspondence of Charles Darwin (1985-2023) appeared which produced an authoritative list of all the then known letters to and from Darwin as well as thirty volumes of transcribed correspondence enriched with superb editorial notes and appendices. Hundreds of published Darwin letters, including very many not previously recorded, are in Darwin Online and are listed on the Publications page. Some of the main publications are listed below for convenience under Freeman's original heading. Many further historically printed letters have been discovered by this project since the completion of the Correspondence. JvW]
Life and Letters and Autobiography
Darwin, F. ed. 1887. The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter. Vol. 1 Text Image PDF F1452.1 Vol. 2 Text Image PDF F1452.2 Vol. 3 Text Image PDF F1452.3
French
1888. La vie et la correspondance de Charles Darwin avec un chapitre autobiographique. Vol. 1 Image PDF F1514.1 Vol. 2 Image PDF F1514.2
German
1887. Leben und Briefe von Charles Darwin mit einem seine Autobiographie enthaltenden Capitel PDF F1515.1 PDF F1515.2 PDF F1515.3
1889. Charles Darwins liv og breve med et kapitel selvbiografi. Introduction Vol. 1 Text Image PDF F1528.1 Vol. 2 Text Image PDF F1528.2 Vol. 3 Text Image PDF F1528.3
Darwin, F. & Seward, A. C. eds. 1903. More letters of Charles Darwin. Vol. 1. Text Image PDF F1548.1 Vol. 2. Text Image PDF F1548.2
Litchfield, H. E. ed. 1904. Emma Darwin, wife of Charles Darwin. A century of family letters.
Vol. 1. Text Image PDF F1552.1 Vol. 2. Text Image PDF F1552.2
Litchfield, H. E. ed. 1915. Emma Darwin, A century of family letters, 1792-1896.
1916. Marchant ed. Alfred Russel Wallace letters and reminiscences. Vol. 1. Text Image PDF F1592.1 Vol. 2. Text Image PDF F1592.2
1916. Marchant ed. Alfred Russel Wallace letters and reminiscences. Text Image PDF F1593
1967. Barlow, Darwin and Henslow. Text Image PDF F1598
Historical Records Survey (Mass.). 1939. Calendar of the letters of Charles Robert Darwin to Asa Gray. Introduction by Bert James Loewenberg. Boston, Mass: Historical Records Survey. PDF F3400
Stecher ed., 1961. The Darwin-Innes letters. The correspondence of an evolutionist with his vicar, 1848-84. PDF F1597
Stecher ed., 1961. The Darwin-Bates letters. Correspondence between two nineteenth-century travellers and naturalists. PDF F1600
Carroll, P. Thomas ed. 1976. An annotated calendar of the letters of Charles Darwin in the Library of the American Philosophical Society; foreword by Frederick Burkhardt. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources. PDF A286
NOTE: With thanks to The Charles Darwin Trust and Dr Mary Whitear for use of the Bibliographical Handlist. Copyright. All rights reserved. For private academic use only. Not for republication or reproduction in whole or in part without the prior written consent of The Charles Darwin Trust, 31 Baalbec Road, London N5 1QN.
Corrections and additions copyright John van Wyhe, The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online - National University of Singapore.