The Correspondence of Charles Darwin

The Darwin Correspondence Project, in partnership with Cambridge University Press, is publishing the definitive edition of letters written by and to Charles Darwin. These are published in chronological order in The correspondence of Charles Darwin (F. Burkhardt, et al. eds, Cambridge University Press 1985–). When complete the edition will comprise approximately thirty volumes. The Correspondence is an important source for students and scholars in the fields of history, history of science, literature, philosophy, sociology, and the natural sciences. Notes and appendices put the letters in context, explain references, identify people, and provide information on related published work, making the letters accessible not only to historians and scientists but also to general readers. Details of the volumes published to date are available below.

The full texts of the letters and the footnotes are also being made available through this website: they are being added on a rolling programme following at an interval of four years behind print publication.

Volume 17, comprising all the letters from 1869, was published in July 2009.

All the volumes may be ordered online from Cambridge University Press.

Details of the published volumes:

Volume 1, 1821–1836: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Sydney Smith, in association with David Kohn, William Montgomery. Published March 1985 (read the introduction)
Volume 2, 1837–1843: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Sydney Smith. Published March 1987 (read the introduction)
Volume 3, 1844–1846: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Sydney Smith. Published January 1988 (read the introduction)
Volume 4, 1847–1850: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Sydney Smith. Published February 1989 (read the introduction)
Volume 5, 1851–1855: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Sydney Smith. Published February 1990 (read the introduction)
Volume 6, 1856–1857: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Sydney Smith. Published November 1990 (read the introduction)
Volume 7, 1858–1859: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Sydney Smith. Published January 1992 (read the introduction)
Volume 8, 1860: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Janet Browne, Duncan M. Porter, Marsha Richmond. Published April 1993 (read the introduction)
Volume 9, 1861: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Janet Browne, Duncan M. Porter, Marsha Richmond. Published September 1994 (read the introduction)
Volume 10, 1862: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Joy Harvey, Duncan M. Porter, Jonathan R. Topham. Published June 1997 (read the introduction)
Volume 11, 1863: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Duncan Porter, Sheila Ann Dean, Jonathan R. Topham, Sarah Wilmot. Published September 1999 (read the introduction)
Volume 12, 1864: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Duncan M. Porter, Sheila Ann Dean, Paul S. White, Sarah Wilmot. Published July 2001 (read the introduction)
Volume 13, 1865: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Duncan M. Porter, Sheila Ann Dean, Samantha Evans, Shelley Innes, Alison M. Pearn. Published December 2002 (read the introduction)
Volume 14, 1866: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Duncan M. Porter, Sheila Ann Dean, Samantha Evans, Shelley Innes, Alison M. Pearn, Andrew Sclater, Paul White. Published November 2004 (read the introduction)
Volume 15, 1867: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Duncan M. Porter, Sheila Ann Dean, Samantha Evans, Shelley Innes, Alison M. Pearn, Andrew Sclater, Paul White. Published April 2006 (read the introduction)
Volume 16, 1868: Parts 1 and 2: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, James A. Secord, Sheila Ann Dean, Samantha Evans, Shelley Innes, Alison M. Pearn, Paul White. Published June 2008 (read the introduction)
Volume 17, 1869: Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, James A. Secord, Sheila Ann Dean, Samantha Evans, Shelley Innes, Alison M. Pearn, Paul White. Published July 2009 (read the introduction)