The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin


The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin is a book published in 1887 edited by Francis Darwin about his father Charles Darwin. It contains a selection of 87 letters from the correspondence of Charles Darwin, an autobiographical chapter written by Charles Darwin for his family, and an essay by Thomas Huxley "On the reception of the 'Origin of Species'".
It was published by Darwin's publisher John Murray.
The autobiographical chapter was edited by Francis to remove references to his father's views on religion. These were later reinstated and published as The Autobiography of Charles Darwin in 1958 by Charles's granddaughter Nora Barlow.
The book was the first real biography of Charles Darwin, excepting obituaries, and thus the foundation of the Darwin Industry.
Further volumes of letters followed - More Letters of Charles Darwin in 1903. Charles's wife Emma Darwin's correspondence was published by Charles and Emma's daughter Henrietta Litchfield in 1905/1915 as .
The book received extensive reviews in The Times and The Manchester Guardian
The book was later described by The Times as "one of the best biographies ever written" and "In the selection and arrangement of the material he was chiefly guided by a wish to portray his father's personal character, and he succeeded in a remarkable degree in giving a true picture of the man and the student, the methods of Darwin's work and the gradual development of his opinions."

Correspondents

Letters to and/or from the following 27 men and one woman are included: