"If we choose to let conjecture run wild, then animals, our fellow brethren in pain, disease, death, suffering and famine-our slaves in the most laborious works, our companions in our amusements-they may partake from our origin in one common ancestor-we may be all melted together." -Charles Darwin, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume II (1896) The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, including an Autobiographical (Two Volumes in One) (1896) is a compilation of letters written by Darwin, as well as an autobiographical chapter intended less for publication and more to inform his children and grandchildren. It also focuses on the foundations, growth, and writing of The Origin of Species. This glimpse into Darwin's early years as a naturalist and of his family life is a must read for all who love science and history.

Charles Darwin wrote a copious amount of notes and letters, in addition to his formal writings, and it is these originally unpublished words that form the foundation of this text. His son Francis Darwin serves as editor and tour guide for this collection, expertly introducing the various pieces in which the great naturalist details his life and his theory of evolution. Volume One of this text details with the early life of Darwin, and Volume Two picks up in 1837, with Darwin in his late twenties and working towards the foundations of The Origin of Species. Darwin's story is primarily told through personal notes he kept and letter he wrote to friends and loved ones. These texts are expertly introduced and contextualized by Francis Darwin, and this collection of words serves to paint a detailed portrait of the man. The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin is as good of a (auto)biography as will ever exist of Charles Darwin. This collection of letters is the most intimate look the world will ever have of the highly influential man. The book is wonderfully edited and the included works truly do allow the reader a look inside the head of Charles Darwin. For readers interested in the life of Darwin, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin: Volume Two of Three is essential reading. It is a fascinating and personal examination of a man who forever changed our understanding of the world that surrounds us. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

From 1965–1968, I held an Agricultural Research Council Research Fellowship at Christ’s College, Cambridge. Later in 1981, when I was a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge and renewed my contacts with Christ’s College, my friend and colleague David Coombe, a Fellow of Christ’s College, informed me that a collection of letters of Charles Darwin had just been - covered in the Library storeroom, underneath the College. I had always maintained an interest in Charles Darwin, from the early age of thirteen, when I had rst read his books, with I might say some dif culty! This collection was the 155 letters of Charles Darwin to his second cousin William Darwin Fox, which had been given in trust to the College, in 1909, by members of the Fox family at the time of the Darwin Centenary celebrations. I was allowed access to these 155 letters and at that time made my own tr- scriptions. It seemed to me that this was a magni cent account of the lives of two naturalists of the nineteenth century, starting at the time that they were at Christ’s together, in 1828, and going to 1880 when W D Fox died – just two years short of the death of Charles Darwin in 1882. Of course this valuable resource had not gone unnoticed before. Darwin’s son, Francis Darwin had been given the letters in the 1880s, when he was preparing his Life and Letters of Charles Darwin in 3 volumes.

Charles Darwin wrote a copious amount of notes and letters, in addition to his formal writings, and it is these originally unpublished words that form the foundation of this text. His son Francis Darwin serves as editor and tour guide for this collection, expertly introducing the various pieces in which the great naturalist details his life and his theory of evolution. Volume One of this text details with the early life of Darwin, and Volume Two picks up in 1837, with Darwin in his late twenties and working towards the foundations of The Origin of Species. Darwin's story is primarily told through personal notes he kept and letter he wrote to friends and loved ones. These texts are expertly introduced and contextualized by Francis Darwin, and this collection of words serves to paint a detailed portrait of the man. The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin is as good of a (auto)biography as will ever exist of Charles Darwin. This collection of letters is the most intimate look the world will ever have of the highly influential man. The book is wonderfully edited and the included works truly do allow the reader a look inside the head of Charles Darwin. For readers interested in the life of Darwin, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin: Volume Two of Three is essential reading. It is a fascinating and personal examination of a man who forever changed our understanding of the world that surrounds us. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Vol. 1 of 2: Including an Autobiographical Chapter Tesy of the publishers of the Century Magazine who have freely given me the use of their illustrations. To Messrs. Maull and Fox and Messrs. Elliott and Fry I am also indebted for their kindness in allowing me the use of reproductions of their photographs. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The letters in this volume cover two of the most momentous years in Darwin's life. Begun in 1856 and the fruit of twenty years of study and reflection, Darwin's manuscript on the species question was a little more than half finished, and at least two years from publication, when in June 1858 Darwin unexpectedly received a letter and a manuscript from Alfred Russel Wallace indicating that he too had independently formulated a theory of natural selection. The letters detail the various stages in the preparation of what was to become one of the world's most famous works: Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, published by John Murray in November 1859. They reveal the first impressions of Darwin's book given by his most trusted confidants, and they relate Darwin's anxious response to the early reception of his theory by friends, family members, and prominent naturalists. This volume provides the capstone to Darwin's remarkable efforts for more than two decades to solve one of nature's greatest riddles - the origin of species.