Posted by: Rebecca Durkin
The diaries of Emma Darwin, wife of Charles Darwin – the “father” of evolutionary theory – have been
made available online for the first time ever. Previously restricted to a select handful of researchers through
Cambridge University, the diaries are now publicly accessible to all who are interested in the minutiae of the
Darwin family’s appointments, visitors, travel plans, and health developments.
To be clear, the diaries are not narratives of life in the Darwin house. But the diaries do reveal over six decades of the every day humanity of a larger-than-life historic figure. The diaries are also an interesting read for a glimpse into daily life from the female perspective of a middle-class Victorian family.
If Emma’s notes titillate your interest in the Darwin legacy, you can find the complete publications of Darwin, as well as many handwritten manuscripts, available online at the same resource.
- Rebecca
