UBC Archives Digitizes Darwin Letters

UBC Archives has digitized and published online a collection of 52 letters by Charles Darwin.

“As far as we know, this project marks the first time that digital images of these Darwin letters are available online,” says Chris Hives, University Archivist.

The letters include correspondence between Darwin and John Scott Burdon Sanderson (1828-1905), involving research that Darwin and Burdon Sanderson conducted on the digestive powers and leaf movements of insect-eating plants.

In addition, UBC students are transcribing the digitized letters, and transcriptions will be added to the Archives site as they become available later this year.

“This project offers UBC Library the opportunity to contribute our small, relatively unknown but important collection of original Darwin correspondence to a much larger and growing initiative out of England to provide access to Darwin letters around the world,” says Hives.

Needless to say, a fantastic project. From a collections point of view, I also love the collaborative nature of this. Once multiple institutions have brought their contributions online, the opportunity to combine content & create virtually accessible collections would seem endless.

Perhaps a google CSE dedicated to Darwin archival materials?