Two of naturalist Charles Darwin’s notebooks, reportedly stolen from the Cambridge University Library, have been returned two decades after they disappeared.
The university announced on Tuesday that the manuscripts were left in the library in a pink gift bag, along with a note wishing the librarian a happy Easter.
The notebooks, which include the famous 19th-century sketch of the 1837 Tree of Life by scientists, disappeared in 2001 after being removed for photography, although officials at the time thought they might have been lost. After searches of the library’s collection of 10 million books, maps and manuscripts failed to find the notebooks, they were reported stolen by police in October 2020.
Shown here is the iconic sketch of Charles Darwin’s Tree of Life from 1837. The sketch is from one of Darwin’s two notebooks, which were recently returned to the University of Cambridge Library after disappearing two decades ago. (University of Cambridge Library)
Local detectives notified the world police organization Interpol and began an international hunt for notebooks worth millions of pounds.
Left in a public area
On March 9, the books reappeared, left in a public part of the building, outside the librarian’s office, which is not covered by security cameras. The two notebooks were wrapped in cling film in their archive box and looked unharmed. The accompanying note read, “Happy Easter X to the Librarian.”
Darwin filled his notebooks with ideas shortly after returning from a trip around the world with HMS Beagle, developing ideas that would grow into his remarkable work on the evolution of the origin of species.
Jessica Gardner, director of library services at the university, said that the feeling of relief from the reappearance of the books was “deep and almost impossible to express adequately”.
“The notebooks can now take their rightful place along with the rest of the Darwin Archives in Cambridge, at the heart of the nation’s cultural and scientific heritage, along with the archives of Sir Isaac Newton and Professor Stephen Hawking,” she said.
The notebooks are expected to be on public display from July as part of Darwin’s exhibition at the library.
Cambridgeshire police said their investigation was ongoing, “and we are following some lines of investigation.”
“We also renew our call for anyone with information about the case to contact us,” the force said.
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