The life and letters of Charles Darwin
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| The life and letters of Charles Darwin |
The earliest records of the family show the Darwins to have been substantial yeomen residing on the northern borders of Lincolnshire, close to Yorkshire. The name is now very unusual in England, but I believe that it is not unknown in the neighbourhood of Sheffield and in Lancashire. Down to the year 1600, we find the name spelt in a variety of ways — Derwent, Darwen, Darwynne, &c. It is possible, therefore, that the family migrated at some unknown date from York- shire, Cumberland, or Derbyshire, where Derwent occurs as the name of a river.
In choosing letters for publication I have been largely guided by the wish to illustrate my father's personal character. But his life was so essentially one of work, that a history' of the man could not be written without following closely the career of the author.
Thus it comes about that the chief part of the book falls into chapters whose titles correspond to the names of his books. In arranging the letters I have adhered as far as possible to chronological sequence, but the character and variety of his research make a strictly chronological order an impossibility.
It was his habit to work more or less simultaneously on several subjects. Experimental work was often carried on as a refreshment or variety, while books entailing reasoning and the marshalling of large bodies of facts were being written. Moreover, many of his researches were allowed to drop and only resumed after years. Thus a rigidly chronological series of letters would present a patchwork of subjects, each of which would be difficult to follow.
The Table of Contents will show in what way I have attempted to avoid this result. In printing the letters I have followed (except in a few cases) the usual plan of indicating the existence of omissions or insertions. My father's letters give frequent evidence of having been written when he was tired or hurried, and they bear the marks of this circumstance.
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