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Acquisition of a collection of works by and relating to Charles Darwin. The core of the acquisition is a comprehensive collection of printed books by Darwin. This includes the first English editions of all his works, a number of association and variant copies and a large number of foreign language first editons. There are also orginal manuscripts and a range of related print works on his theories and continuing influence.
At £985,000 it is the biggest collection purchase made in the Museum’s 125-year history, and was made possible through a grant of £712,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund as well as contributions from individual donors, trusts and charities.