SCIENCE
Darwin notebooks returned to library
Two decades after they disappeared from Cambridge University Library, a pair of notebooks compiled by Charles Darwin have been returned – deposited anonymously in a pink gift bag in a section of the building with no CCTV coverage.
The leather-bound manuscripts, which date from the 1830s and contain a sketch of the “tree of life” that is thought to mark a key point in the scientist’s development of his theory of evolution by natural selection, were last seen in November 2000. They went missing following an internal request to remove them from storage to be photographed, though their absence wasn’t noted until two months later. Despite a series of searches they were not found; finally, in 2020, university librarian Dr Jessica Gardner reported them as stolen and launched a worldwide appeal for their return.
Their reappearance outside a fourth-floor office in early March, in their original blue box and with a note reading “Librarian, Happy Easter”, prompted relief from staff, particularly as they bear no signs of damage or significant handling. The notebooks are now set to go on display from 9 July, part of a free exhibition at the library.
“My sense of relief at the notebooks’ safe return is profound and almost impossible to adequately express,” Gardner said. “Along with so many others all across the world, I was heartbroken to learn of their loss and my joy at their return is immense… The notebooks can now retake their rightful place alongside the rest of the Darwin Archive at Cambridge, at the heart of the nation’s cultural and scientific heritage.”