Darwin Online: Darwin's notebooks on geology, transmutation of species, metaphysical enquiries

Darwin's notebooks on geology, transmutation of species, metaphysical enquiries (1837-1844)

During the voyage of the Beagle Darwin recorded his observations in a series of field notebooks. (available online here). Towards the end of the voyage he also began to use them to record theoretical speculations, especially on geology and the formation of coral reefs. The Red notebook, opened in late May 1836, became wholly devoted to theoretical writing and Darwin continued to use it after the Beagle returned home to England in October 1836. Darwin continued his note taking in his old Edinburgh notebook and his St Helena Model notebook before a new series of notebooks for theoretical work, termed notebooks on geology, transmutation of species and metaphysical enquiries by the editors of the definitive edition.¹ The notebooks reveal in detail Darwin's research and gradual illumination of the species question- where do new species come from? The famous sketch on the right is from Notebook B and depicts the branching system of descent with modification which Darwin realized could explain the relationship between different species in the same class or family. The most ancient forms are at the bottom and their descendants branch off irregularly. The lines with a crossed end are existing species and those without represent extinct species. By the early 1840s the notebooks were largely finished. Darwin adopted a new system of note taking. He filed notes on particular subjects in particular folders or portfolios. He then cut many of the pages out of his old notebooks and filed them in the portfolios. The number of portfolios seems to have increased over the years of his research before he published his theory of evolution by natural selection in On the origin of species in 1859.

Notebook A: Geology (1837-1839). Image CUL-DAR127.-

Notebook B: [Transmutation of species (1837-1838)]. Text Image Text & image CUL-DAR121.-

Notebook C: [Transmutation of species (2-7.1838]. Text Image Text & image CUL-DAR122.-

Notebook D: [Transmutation of species (7-10.1838)]. Text Image Text & image CUL-DAR123.-

Notebook E: [Transmutation of species (1838-1839)] Image CUL-DAR124.-

Torn Apart Notebook (1839-1841) [An aggregate of ms pages as explained in F1817] CUL-DAR-TornApartNotebook Image

Notebook M: [Metaphysics on morals and speculations on expression (1838)]. Image CUL-DAR125.-

Notebook N: [Metaphysics and expression (1838-1839)]. Image CUL-DAR126.-

Questions & experiments [1839-1844]. Image CUL-DAR206.1

Reproduction permission could be obtained only for early transcriptions:

Barrett, P. H. 1974. Early writings of Charles Darwin. In Gruber. Darwin on man. ...together with Darwin's early and unpublished notebooks. Transcribed and annotated by Paul H. Barrett:

Notebook M

Notebook N

Old and useless notes

Essay on theology and natural selection

Questions for Mr. Wynne

Extracts from B-C-D-E transmutation notebooks

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

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. Text Image Text & 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. Text Image Text & 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. Text Image Text & 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. Text Image Text & 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. Text Image Text & 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. Text Image Text & image F1574f [Since superceded by F1817]

NOTE: These images are copyright Cambridge University Library and may not be reproduced, transmitted, or displayed without the consent of the copyright holders. Reproduced with the permission of Cambridge University Library and William Huxley Darwin. Thanks to Adam Perkins and Gordon Chancellor for lending copies of the colour microfilm reel.

Requests to reproduce manuscripts must be sent to the owner of the manuscript, not to Darwin Online. In most instances this will be the archivist Adam Perkins at Cambridge University Library (ajp21@cam.ac.uk).

¹ Barrett, P. H., Gautrey, P. J., Herbert, S., Kohn, D., Smith, S. eds. 1987. Charles Darwin's notebooks, 1836-1844 : Geology, transmutation of species, metaphysical enquiries. British Museum (Natural History); Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (F1817)

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File last updated 28 November, 2008