Origins: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin, 1822-1859. Anniversary edition. (Selected Letters of C. Darwin) [Deluxe Edition] [Hardcover]

Frederick Burkhardt (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Selected Letters of C. Darwin | Publication Date: June 16, 2008

Charles Darwin changed the direction of modern thought by establishing the basis of evolutionary biology. This fascinating selection of letters, offers a glimpse of his daily experiences, scientific observations, personal concerns and friendships. Beginning with a charming set of letters at the age of twelve, through his university years in Edinburgh and Cambridge up to the publication of his most famous work, On the Origin of Species in 1859, these letters chart one of the most exciting periods of Darwin's life, including the voyage of the Beagle and subsequent studies which led him to develop his theory of natural selection. Darwin's vivid writing style enables the reader to see the world through his own eyes, as he matures from grubby schoolboy in Shropshire to one of the most controversial thinkers of modern times. This is a special Anniversary Edition of the best-selling Burkhardt: Charles Darwin's Letters: A Selection, 1825-1859

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This fascinating selection of letters...chart one of the most exciting periods of Darwin's life, including the voyage of the Beagle and subsequent studies which led him to develop his theory of natural selection."
-Southeastern Naturalist

Book Description

Special Anniversary Edition of the best-selling Burkhardt: Charles Darwin's Letters: A Selection 1825-1859 now with new, previously unpublished letters. This fascinating selection of the actual letters written to and from Darwin charts some of the most exciting periods in the life of one of the most controversial thinkers of modern times.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 286 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Anniversary edition (June 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521898625
• ISBN-13: 978-0521898621
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #516,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading on the foundations of modern biology, November 23, 2008

By 

A. J. Cornish Bowden (Marseilles, France) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Origins: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin, 1822-1859. Anniversary edition. (Selected Letters of C. Darwin) (Hardcover)

Now that the entire collection of Charles Darwin's letters that have survived is available on the web one might wonder why one would need a selection of them in printed form. In fact, however, Darwin is known to have exchanged at least 14500 letters with around 2000 different correspondents, and although the whole collection is a supremely valuable resource for the serious scholar it is hardly digestible for the more casual reader, who needs some preselection to whet the appetite for a more detailed examination.

This first collection covers the years from 1822, when Darwin was a schoolboy, to the end of 1859, when the first edition of his best-known book, The Origin of Species, was published. It thus covers the essential period of the years leading up to the publication of the theory of natural selection, and contains much valuable information about his thoughts at that time. In particular, although Darwin's diffidence about publishing is well known, and he might never have taken the leap if he hadn't learned of the parallel development of similar ideas by Alfred Russel Wallace, his correspondence makes it clear that he wasn't diffident about the idea of natural selection itself -- he just worried that he hadn't developed the argument sufficiently to convince a broad public.

Not the least valuable component of this collection is the excellent foreword by Stephen Jay Gould, which supplies a very readable introduction to the context in which the letters were written.