Charles Darwin: Notebooks worth millions lost for 20 years
Charles Darwin: Notebooks worth millions lost for 20 years
By Rebecca Jones
Arts correspondent
Published 11 hours ago
Cambridge University Library has announced that two notebooks written by Charles Darwin, worth many millions of pounds, have been missing for 20 years.
One of them contains the 19th Century scientist's famous Tree of Life sketch, exploring the evolutionary relationship between species. ... Following an "extensive search", curators have now concluded they have probably been stolen. ... They are launching a public appeal for help in trying to find them.
"This is heartbreaking," Dr Jessica Gardner, the university's librarian, tells the BBC. "We will leave no stone unturned," in trying to discover what has happened, she adds.
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The notebooks were last seen in November 2000 after "an internal request" to remove them from a special manuscripts storeroom to be photographed. ... They were taken to a temporary studio, which at the time was in a temporary building in the grounds of the university library because building work was taking place. ... It was only during "a routine check" two months later that it was discovered they were missing.
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