A Natural Calling

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XLVI

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2. Grandfathers and Fathers

   • Anthony W. D. Larkum

   Pages 1-11

3. Christ’s College, Cambridge (1824-1826)

   • Anthony W. D. Larkum

   Pages 13-44

4. Charles Darwin at Cambridge: The Letters to William Darwin Fox

   • Anthony W. D. Larkum

   Pages 45-116

5. Darwin’s Voyage on the Beagle

   • Anthony W. D. Larkum

   Pages 117-167

6. Professions, Marriage, Families and Illness

   • Anthony W. D. Larkum

   Pages 169-231

7. The “Origin of Species”

   • Anthony W. D. Larkum

   Pages 233-306

8. The Most Dangerous Man in Europe: Living in the Shadow of Fame

   • Anthony W. D. Larkum

   Pages 307-354

9. The Final Years

   • Anthony W. D. Larkum

   Pages 355-420

10. Back Matter

    Pages 421-576

    PDF

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.

• Biography
• Charles Darwin
• Darwin
• Evolution
• History
• Natural selection

From the reviews: “Larkum (Univ. of Sydney, Australia) has structured this work around 155 letters … written by Charles Darwin to his second cousin, William Darwin Fox, from 1828 to 1880, the year of Fox’s death. Larkum supplements this treasure trove with a few surviving letters Fox wrote to Darwin, Fox’s letters to family members and other naturalists, and his diaries. … This book’s unique material will appeal to biologists and historians. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and above.” (J. S. Schwartz, Choice, Vol. 47 (7), March, 2010)

• University of Sydney School of Biological Sciences, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia

  Anthony W. D. Larkum

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