A Natural Calling - Larkum, Anthony W. D.

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Résumé :
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.

Sommaire:
Contents.-Preface.-Listing of the letters.-List of Figures and Special Formatting.-Chapter 1. Grandfathers and Fathers (1731-1824).-Chapter 2. Christ's College, Cambridge (1824-1826).-Chapter 3. Charles Darwin at Cambridge: The Letters to William Darwin Fox (1828-1831).-Chapter 4. The Voyage of the Beagle (1831-1837).-Chapter 5. Professions, marriage, families and illness (1838-1855).-Chapter 6. The 'Origin of Species' (1855-1860).-Chapter 7. The most dangerous man in Europe: Living in the shadow of fame. (1860-1867).-Chapter 8. The final years (1868-1882).-Epilogue.- References.- Biographical Register.-Appendix 1. The Fox Materials and Their History.-Appendix 2. Documented meetings between Charles Darwin and William Darwin Fox after his return from the Beagle on 2nd Oct 1836.-Appendix 3. The Letters of W D Fox in DAR 250.-Appendix 4. The Diary of W D Fox from 1st June 1825 - 13th June 1826.-Appendix 5. Diary entries for 1828 and other years.- Appendix 6. Transcript variations.- Appendix 7.The family trees of i) The Darwin Family, ii) The Wedgwood Family and iii) the Fox Family in 1700 and 1800.