3 folders (47 items)

Correspondence, including 28 signed letters, mostly in Darwin's hand, to various correspondents

Autograph letter signed to Asher & Co., booksellers, dated 29 November [1881] written on verso of form letter to Darwin from Asher & Co. notifying Darwin of a parcel from the Academy of Sciences, Vienna

Autograph letter signed to Hardy, 27 July [1860] (identified by Darwin Correspondence Project) previously thought to be to Hutton. Envelope to Hutton, date stamped 19/20 Mar 1871, has no accompanying letter

Autograph manuscript leaf with heading. Scientific facts' (21 April 1857) is abstract drafted by Darwin of letter to him from Edward Blyth, according to the Darwin Correspondence Project

Draft pages from published works include unnumbered autograph manuscript leaf corresponding to text in chapter 9, pages 283-284 in first edition of Darwin's On the origin of species, 1859; autograph manuscript leaf of Insectivorous plants corresponding to pages 287-288 (London 1875), with mathematical equations and diagrams on verso; and autograph manuscript page 242 from the On the origin of species, with manuscript inscription on the verso from Henrietta (Darwin) Litchfield dated May/June 1902 presenting the page to Isobel Dods-Withers. This manuscript page, apparently one that was sold at Sotheby's London on July 21, 1958 (item 472), is from the draft of the 1st edition (see correspondence re: provenance on file at Dibner)

Handwritten label describing manuscript leaf from Insectivorous plants attributed to Edmund Gosse

Manuscript excerpt of letter to Chambers transcribed from the original by David Milne-Home, according to dealer's description (Sotheran, London)

Postscript fragment mounted on paper possibly part of ALS to Krefft dated Sept 1873, per Darwin Correspondence Project. Two envelopes mounted on verso, probably unrelated to fragment: one addressed to Major General Hon. D. [or P.?] Stuart, Ainslie Place, Edinburgh, 24 May 1836 (sent from Melrose, London); the other addressed to Hon. William McKenzie[?], Tarbat[?] House, Perthshire, Scotland, 14 Sept 1817 (sent from Strange, Dunkeld), possibly from John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl, Baron Strange, 1755-1830, to Sir John William Pitt Muir Mackenzie, 2nd Baronet of Delvine

Supplementary materials include dealers' descriptions, either transcribed or cut from catalogues; the inner spine lining (manuscript waste) of the Dibner's copy of On the origin of species (1859); correspondence between the Burndy Library and others regarding identification of materials; various typed labels; transcriptions of selected letters; and a small photo reproduction of Darwin's signature

Transcriptions of selected correspondence can be found on the Darwin Correspondence Project's web site. Scans and transcriptions of the On the origin of species draft leaf 242 can be viewed on the Darwin Manuscripts Project web site. See links to these sites elsewhere in this record

Gift; Bern Dibner

List of folder contents available on file at the Dibner Library