Transcripts of Manuscripts
An introduction by R. B. Freeman
(Statsbiblioteket, Denmark. SA-Haandskrift394A[.1])
Under this general heading are placed all the, mostly recent, transcripts from unpublished manuscripts. Only two of them were left by Darwin in something like final form; the rest were either never intended for publication or were notes to be written up.
Nos F1580 and F1581 represent a reconstruction of a manuscript in English, whose present whereabouts is unknown, by translating back from a version printed in German. It was sent, with a sketch map, to Hermann Müller of Lippstadt, and there is a letter, in English, from Müller at Cambridge, dated May 5, acknowledging its receipt—'I have read with the greatest interest your curious observations "on the routes of the males of Bombus". The fact was quite unknown to me, and I will do my best for making observations'. This title for the manuscript is presumably that given by Darwin, and it differs from those given in either English version. The paper was translated into German by E. Krause and first published in 1885 (F1584). A précis of it, with the map, has recently appeared, translated from the English version, in a Russian children's book.
The second of these manuscripts which is in something approaching finished form is Natural selection (F1583). The monumental task of transcribing and editing this important work has recently been completed by Professor Robert C. Stauffer. It represents Chapters III to X and part of XI of Darwin's 'big book', which never appeared in the form which he had intended. The first part, being Chapters I and II of the manuscript which does not survive, appeared as Variation under domestication in 1868. Parts of Chapter X, on instinct, appeared in Romanes' Mental evolution in animals (F1434) in 1883, and extracts from the same chapter had also appeared in his Animal intelligence (F1416) in the previous year. Stauffer points out that a few extracts from Chapter IV, on variation under nature, appeared in Wallace's Darwinism, 1889, at pp. 46, 69 and 79-80. They occur on the same pages in the second edition of 1890. Some bits on hybridism from Chapter IX were used by Huxley in his paper 'On species and races and their origin' (Proc. Roy. Instn, vol. 3, pp. 195-200, 1860). Darwin himself quarried from the manuscript for other books and papers.
[Note: Since Freeman's introduction was written in 1977, most of the Darwin manuscript corpus has been transcribed in Darwin Online. See Manuscripts. JvW]
Darwin, C. R. 1885. Über die Wege der Hummel-Männchen. In Ernst Krause ed. Gesammelte kleinere Schriften von Charles Darwin. Leipzig: Vol. 2: 84-88. Text Image Text & image F1584
Darwin, F. ed. 1887. The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter. London: John Murray.
Volume 1 Text Image Text & image F1452.1 Volume 2 Text Image Text & image F1452.2 Volume 3 Text Image Text & image F1452.3
Darwin, F. and Seward, A. C. eds. 1903. More letters of Charles Darwin. A record of his work in a series of hitherto unpublished letters. London: John Murray.
Darwin, F. ed. 1909. The foundations of The origin of species. Two essays written in 1842 and 1844. Cambridge: University Press. Text Image Text & image F1556
Barlow, N. ed. 1933. Charles Darwin's diary of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. Cambridge: University Press. Text Image Text & image F1566 [Editorial matter only].
Barlow, N. ed. 1945. Charles Darwin and the voyage of the Beagle. London: Pilot Press. Text Image Text & image F1571
Darwin, C. R. 1958. The autobiography of Charles Darwin 1809-1882. With the original omissions restored. Edited and with appendix and notes by his grand-daughter Nora Barlow. London: Collins. Text Image Text & image F1497
de Beer, G. ed. 1959. Darwin's journal. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Historical Series 2, No. 1: 1-21. Image F1573 [Since superceded by [Darwin's personal 'Journal' (1809-1881)]. Introduction Text CUL-DAR158.1-76]
de Beer, G. ed. 1960. Darwin's notebooks on transmutation of species. Part I. First notebook [B] (July 1837-February 1838). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Historical Series 2, No. 2 (January): 23-73. Image F1574a [Since superceded by F1817]
de Beer, G. ed. 1960. Darwin's notebooks on transmutation of species. Part II. Second notebook [C] (February to July 1838). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Historical Series 2, No. 3 (May): 75-118. Image F1574b [Since superceded by F1817]
de Beer, G. ed. 1960. Darwin's notebooks on transmutation of species. Part III. Third notebook [D] (July 15 to October 2nd 1838). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Historical Series 2, No. 4 (July):119-150. Image F1574c [Since superceded by F1817]
de Beer, G. ed. 1960. Darwin's notebooks on transmutation of species. Part IV, Fourth notebook [E] (October 1838-10 July 1839). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Historical Series 2, No. 5 (September): 151-183. Image F1574d [Since superceded by F1817]
de Beer, G., Rowlands, M. J. eds. 1961. Darwin's notebooks on transmutation of species. Addenda and corrigenda. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Historical Series 2, No. 6 (October): 185-200. Image F1574e [Since superceded by F1817]
de Beer, G., Rowlands, M. J. and Skramovsky, B. M. eds. 1967. Darwin's notebooks on transmutation of species. Part VI. Pages excised by Darwin. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Historical Series 3, No. 5 (21 March): 129-176. Image F1574f [Since superceded by F1817]
Barrett, P. H. ed. 1960. A transcription of Darwin's first notebook [B] on 'Transmutation of species'. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 122: [245]-296, for 1959-1960 (April). Text Image Text & image F1575 [Since superceded by F1817]
Stoddart, D. R. ed. 1962. Coral islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 88: 1-20. Text Image Text & image F1576
Barlow, N. ed. 1963. Darwin's ornithological notes. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Historical Series 2, No. 7, pp. 201-278. With introduction, notes and appendix by the editor. Text Image Text & image F1577
Olby, R. C. ed. 1963. Charles Darwin's manuscript of pangenesis. British Journal of the History of Science 1: 251-263. Text Image Text & image F1578
Freeman, R. B. ed. 1968. Charles Darwin on the routes of male humble bees. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Historical Series 3, pp. 177-189, one plate. Contains a [second] edition of F1580, with transcript of Darwin's original field notes. Text Image Text & image F1581
Banks, M. 1971. A Darwin manuscript on Hobart Town. Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 105: 5-19. Text Image Text & image F1829
Rudwick, M. J. S. 1974. Darwin's Agenda for Lochaber. In Rudwick, M., Darwin and Glen Roy: a 'great failure' in scientific method? Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science 5: 97-185. (CUL-DAR50) Text F1909
Barrett, P. H. 1974. Early writings of Charles Darwin. In Gruber, H. E., Darwin on man. Apsychological study of scientific creativity; together with Darwin's early and unpublished notebooks. Transcribed and annotated by Paul H. Barrett, commentary by Howard E. Gruber. Foreword by Jean Piaget.
London: Wildwood House. [Notebooks M, N, Old and useless notes, Essay on theology and natural selection, Questions for Mr. Wynne, Extracts from B-C-D-E transmutation notebooks, A Biographical Sketch of Charles Darwin's Father, Plinian Society Minutes Book] Text F1582 [Since superceded by F1817]
Stauffer, R. C. ed. 1975. Charles Darwin's Natural Selection; being the second part of his big species book written from 1836 to 1858. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Text Image Text & image F1583
Barrett, P. H. ed. 1977. On the Ova of Flustra, or, Early Notebook, Containing Observations Made by C.D. When He Was at Edinburgh, March 1827. In Barrett, P. ed., The collected papers of Charles Darwin. 2 vols. Chicago: University Press, 2: 285-91. Text F1583a
Herbert, S. ed. 1980. The red notebook of Charles Darwin. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Historical Series 7 (24 April): 1-164. Text Image Text & image F1583e
Smith, K. G. V. 1987. Darwin's insects: Charles Darwin's entomological notes, with an introduction and comments by Kenneth G. V. Smith. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Historical Series 14, No. 1: 1-143. Text Image Text & image F1830
Porter, D. M. 1987. Darwin's notes on Beagle plants. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Historical Series 14, No. 2: 145-233. Text Image Text & image F1827
Chancellor, G. 1990. Charles Darwin's St Helena Model Notebook. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Historical Series 18, No. 2: 203-228. Text Image Text & image F1839
Banks, M. R. and D. Leaman eds. 1999. Charles Darwin's Field Notes on the geology of Hobart Town — A modern appraisal. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 133(1): 29-50. Text Image Text & image F1821
Keynes, R. D. ed. 2000. Charles Darwin's zoology notes & specimen lists from H.M.S. Beagle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Text Image Text & image F1840
Keynes, R. D. ed. 2001. Charles Darwin's Beagle Diary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Text Image Text & image F1925
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.