Charles Darwin’s address book: A new window into his private worl

PHYS.org: “Charles Darwin’s Address Book is a small brown leather notebook, with “VISITS” and “ADDRESSES” printed on its spine and index-letter tabs in alternating black and red. The Darwin Online project at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has published for the first time: Charles Darwin’s personal Address Book. It offers an astonishingly personal glimpse into the life and work of the great scientist. In addition to scans of the entire notebook, Darwin’s hard-to-decipher handwriting has been expertly transcribed and meticulously edited. Hundreds of editorial notes and links reveal the identities of the abbreviated entries and where they were mentioned in Darwin’s thousands of pages of publications and handwritten notes. The small leather notebook is only 48 pages long but contains about 500 entries. It was begun by his wife Emma Darwin shortly after their marriage in January 1839, when the Darwins began their married life together in London. Darwin proceeded to write almost all further entries there and after the family moved to the village of Down in 1842. He continued to use the Address Book throughout his lifetime. In addition to scans of the entire notebook, Darwin’s hard-to-decipher handwriting has been expertly transcribed and meticulously edited. Hundreds of editorial notes and links reveal the identities of the abbreviated entries and where they were mentioned in Darwin’s thousands of pages of publications and handwritten notes. The small leather notebook is only 48 pages long but contains about 500 entries. It was begun by his wife Emma Darwin shortly after their marriage in January 1839, when the Darwins began their married life together in London. Darwin proceeded to write almost all further entries there and after the family moved to the village of Down in 1842. He continued to use the Address Book throughout his lifetime.”

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