Launched 12th February 2009 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth
The dawn of an idea with the
aid of peristeronic steps..........​
Darwin's Pigeons
1859-2009- 150 years of Darwin's Origin of Species
Publication Anniversary
Rare documents on display
50 Albermarle Street London
November 2009
The original letters below were amongst a group of documents on display at 50 Albermarle Street on the 24th November 2009 for the 150th anniversary of 'Publication Day'.
Reproduced with special permission of the John Murray Archive Edinburgh they include, below, the Rev. Whitwell Elwin's letter who reviewed the 'Origin' for John Murray III and recommended that Darwin should write a book on pigeons.
The letter, below left, is in Darwin's own hand, written on Publication Day 1859 to John Murray.
The letter, below right, is another Darwin letter pointing out the interest of each of the twelve chapters of 'Origin'.
Also on display was one of the original manuscript pages owned by the Keynes family and a first edition of 'On the Origin of Species' which was John Murrray III's own personal copy.