The full correspondence of Charles Darwin is now available online

Now you have your chance to explore most of Charles Darwin's personal writings. The University of Cambridge has published all of the evolutionary scientist's surviving correspondence online, including 400 letters that have surfaced or been recently "reinterpreted". The searchable collection now covers over 15,000 letters written between 1822 and 1882, ranging from his influential time on board HMS Beagle to On the Origin of Species and reflections on the end of life. .

The Internet Archive may even be the only way to get a more complete picture of Darwin's life. The university notes that the final print edition, scheduled for early 2023, does not include letters that arrived too late to reach physical copies. Many writings include footnotes and bibliographies to put the sayings into context.

This last batch of correspondence illustrates how attitudes toward evolution have changed over the life of the researcher. In 1882, Darwin observed that natural selection had been widely established as fact among young scientists - a stark contrast to the initial hostility to On the Origin of Species when it was first published in 1859. The letters also illustrate how Darwin was still experimenting months before his death.

It won't be the same as holding the physical letters in your hands. However, it's a classic demonstration of the Internet's value to scholars, let alone the curious. As with other archive projects, you can get a sense of history without going to an archive and putting on cotton gloves.

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