Scientists Have Unveiled the Complete Library of Charles Darwin for the First Time

Charles Darwin – arguably the most influential man of science in history, accumulated a vast personal library throughout his working life. Until now, 85 percent of its contents were unknown or unpublished.

This year, coinciding with Darwin’s 215th birthday, The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online, the scholarly project helmed by Dr. John van Wyhe at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Biological Sciences, has released an online 300-page catalog detailing Darwin’s complete personal library, with 7,400 titles across 13,000 volumes and items including books, pamphlets, and journals. Previous lists only had 15 percent of his whole collection. Darwin’s library has also been virtually re-assembled with 9,300 links to copies of the works freely available online.