Darwin wife's diaries online

Via Readerville

Wife's diaries shed light on Darwin

The diaries of Charles Darwin's wife have been published online, giving an unparalleled insight into the day-to-day life of the world's greatest naturalist.

Sixty pocket books are still in existence. They cover Emma Darwin's life from 1824, when on January 1 the 16-year-old girl records that she "played at charades", until her death in 1896.

"These books were found in a cardboard box in an old cupboard about 20 years ago," said the director of Darwin Online, Dr John van Wyhe. "People weren't really interested in the day-to-day Darwin then, just the Origin of Species."

This intimate record of Darwin's daily life, known to only a handful of scholars at Cambridge university until now, is in such a fragile state that academics could only use microfiche copies. Now it can be read in facsimile all over the world.

They can be found here.

I haven't read them yet, so I can't say anyting meaningful about them, but I thought it might interest some of my readers (*cough* PZ *cough*)