Correspondence with Asa Gray
The longest running and most intimate exchange of letters that Darwin had about the relationship between science and religion was with the Harvard botanist Asa Gray.
Gray was one of Darwin’s leading supporters in America. He was also a devout Presbyterian. The vigorous and yet civil and humble manner in which the two men debated matters of intense personal belief and social consequence serves as a model of constructive engagement. The entire extant correspondence, consisting of about 300 letters written between 1854 and 1881, is now available for the first time. Many of these letters are appearing here in advance of the printed edition of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin. The transcriptions have been provided and checked by the editors of the Correspondence Project.
See a searchable list of letters exchanged by Darwin and Asa Gray.