The Autobiography of Charles Darwin - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)

By Charles Darwin

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The Autobiography of Charles Darwin by Charles Darwin - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Charles Darwin’.

Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Darwin includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

eBook features:
* The complete unabridged text of ‘The Autobiography of Charles Darwin by Charles Darwin - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’
* Beautifully illustrated with images related to Darwin’s works
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* Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Jul 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781788776295

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin (1809–19 April 1882) is considered the most important English naturalist of all time. He established the theories of natural selection and evolution. His theory of evolution was published as On the Origin of Species in 1859, and by the 1870s is was widely accepted as fact.

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The Complete Works of

CHARLES DARWIN

VOLUME 34 OF 36

The Autobiography of Charles Darwin

Parts Edition

By Delphi Classics, 2015

Version 1

COPYRIGHT

‘The Autobiography of Charles Darwin’

Charles Darwin: Parts Edition (in 36 parts)

First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2017.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78877 629 5

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

Delphi Publishing Ltd

Hastings, East Sussex

United Kingdom

Contact: [e-mail]

www.delphiclassics.com

Charles Darwin: Parts Edition

This eBook is Part 34 of the Delphi Classics edition of Charles Darwin in 36 Parts. It features the unabridged text of The Autobiography of Charles Darwin from the bestselling edition of the author’s Complete Works. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. Our Parts Editions feature original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of Charles Darwin, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

Visit here to buy the entire Parts Edition of Charles Darwin or the Complete Works of Charles Darwin in a single eBook.

Learn more about our Parts Edition, with free downloads, via this link or browse our most popular Parts here.

CHARLES DARWIN

IN 36 VOLUMES

Parts Edition Contents

The Books

1, Introduction to ‘The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle’

2, The Journal of Researches

3, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs

4, Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands Visited During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle

5, Geological Observations on South America

6, A Monograph of the Sub-Class Cirripedia

7, A Monograph of the Fossil Lepadidae

8, On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection

9, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection

10, On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids Are Fertilised by Insects

11, On the Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants

12, The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication

13, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex

14, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

15, Insectivorous Plants

16, The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom

17, The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species

18, Erasmus Darwin

19, The Power of Movement in Plants

20, The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms

21, The Foundations of the Origin of Species

Pamphlets, Essays and Other Short Pieces

22, Questions About the Breeding of Animals

23, Geology: A Manual of Scientific Enquiry

24, Recollections of Professor Henslow, in Jenyns, Memoir of the Rev. John Stevens Henslow

25, Queries About Expression

26, Report of the Royal Commission on the Practice of Subjecting Live Animals to Experiments for Scientific Purposes

27, A Biographical Sketch of an Infant Mind

28, In Weismann, Studies in the Theory of Descent

29, Essay on Instinct

30, Inheritance

The Letters

31, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin

32, More Letters of Charles Darwin

The Autobiographies

33, Darwin: His Life Told in an Autobiographical Chapter

34, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin

The Criticism

35, The Criticism

The Biography

36, Life of Charles Darwin by G. T. Bettany

www.delphiclassics.com

The Autobiography of Charles Darwin

WITH THE ORIGINAL OMISSIONS RESTORED

From ‘The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin’

CONTENTS

CAMBRIDGE 1828-1831.

VOYAGE OF THE ‘BEAGLE’ FROM DECEMBER 27, 1831, TO OCTOBER 2, 1836.

FROM MY RETURN TO ENGLAND (OCTOBER 2, 1836) TO MY MARRIAGE (JANUARY 29,

FROM MY MARRIAGE, JANUARY 29, 1839, AND RESIDENCE IN UPPER GOWER STREET,

RESIDENCE AT DOWN FROM SEPTEMBER 14, 1842, TO THE PRESENT TIME, 1876.

MY SEVERAL PUBLICATIONS.

WRITTEN MAY 1ST, 1881.

[My father’s autobiographical recollections, given in the present chapter, were written for his children, — and written without any thought that they would ever be published. To many this may seem an impossibility; but those who knew my father will understand how it was not only possible, but natural. The autobiography bears the heading, ‘Recollections of the Development of my Mind and Character,’ and end with the following note:— Aug. 3, 1876. This sketch of my life was begun about May 28th at Hopedene (Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood’s house in Surrey.), and since then I have written for nearly an hour on most afternoons. It will easily be understood that, in a narrative of a personal and intimate kind written for his wife and children, passages should occur which must here be omitted; and I have not thought it necessary to indicate where such omissions are made. It has been found necessary to make a few corrections of obvious verbal slips, but the number of such alterations has been kept down to the minimum. — F.D.]

A German Editor having written to me for an account of the development of my mind and character with some sketch of my autobiography, I have thought that the attempt would amuse me, and might possibly interest my children or their children. I know that it would have interested me greatly to have read even so short and dull a sketch of the mind of my grandfather, written by himself, and what he thought and did, and how he worked. I have attempted to write the following account of myself, as if I were a dead man in another world looking back at my own life. Nor have I found this difficult, for life is nearly over with me. I have taken no pains about my style of writing.

I was born at Shrewsbury on February 12th, 1809, and my earliest recollection goes back only to when I was a few months over four years old, when we went to near Abergele for sea-bathing, and I recollect some events and places there with some little distinctness.

My mother died in July 1817, when I was a little over eight years old, and it is odd that I can remember hardly anything about her except her death-bed, her black velvet gown, and her curiously constructed work-table. In the spring of this same year I was sent to a day-school in Shrewsbury, where I stayed a year. I have been told that I was much slower in learning than my younger sister Catherine, and I believe that I was in many ways a naughty boy.

By the time I went to this day-school (Kept by Rev. G. Case, minister of the Unitarian Chapel in the High Street. Mrs. Darwin was a Unitarian