Footnotes

'HOW LARGELY & STEADILY SOME HAVE GONE IN INCREASING IN NUMBER & DIVERSITY WITH TIME': Darwin consults Scottish palaeontologist Thomas Davidson on The Evolution of the Molluscae Families.

Our letter, seemingly unpublished, forms part of a correspondence between Darwin and Thomas Davidson during the April and May of 1861. Our letter is Darwin's response to a "...long and interesting letter..." from Davidson on 3 May, which included several closely written tables, and is now held in the Cambridge University Library (DAR 99, see also Darwin Correspondence Project online). In that letter Davidson thanks Darwin for sending a copy of his '...admirable work "Origin of Species"...' which he intends to read when time allows, agreeing with him that there is '...imperfection in the geological record...' and discussing in detail his work on identifying each form of brachiopod, including several diagrams showing the first appearance known of each genus, but concluding that he is still considering the matter: '...there are many difficulties in the way of fully realising the theory of a single creation, and I can well understand the trouble & time you have required in acquiring your conviction...'. The copy of Davidson's talk mentioned here is preserved in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection, Cambridge University Library.

Darwin held Davidson and his opinions in great esteem. According to a letter printed in Francis Darwin's Life & Letters, Darwin had presented Davidson with a third edition copy of the Origin on 26 April, with a letter inviting Davidson to test his theory as laid out in '...my Origin of Species...' that '...the fauna of any formation is intermediate in character between that of the formations above and below... Now every one will admit that no one in the world could do this better than you with Brachiopods. The result might turn out very unfavourable to the views which I hold; if so, so much the better for those who are opposed to me...' (The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, 1887, Vol.II, p.74). He notes that Davidson is perfect for the task as he '...is not at all a full believer in great changes of species, which will make his work all the more valuable...'. Darwin wrote again on 30 April thanking him for his kind opinion of the work ('...one of the highest, perhaps the very highest compliments which I have received...').

The life of Scottish naturalist and palaeontologist Thomas Davidson (1817-1885) was largely taken up with his work on fossils of the Brachiopoda and he became the highest authority on this group: '...Others subsequently acknowledged Davidson's devotion and energy as he persevered with this research throughout his life, and fellow workers later maintained that he had left very little for future students to accomplish. On his death he was considered to have been one of the most single-minded naturalists of the century...' (R.J. Cleevely, ODNB). His great work, Monograph of British Fossil Brachiopoda, was published by the Paleontographical Society in multiple parts from 1850 to 1886 and included over 200 plates drawn by the author. His considerable achievements were widely acknowledged in his lifetime. Amongst other honours, he was elected F.R.S. in 1857, awarded the Wollaston medal by the Geological Society of London in 1865, a 'Silurian medal' by Murchison in 1868 and a Royal Society gold medal in 1870. Our letter comes from a collection formed by Randall Davidson, 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth, archbishop of Canterbury (see lot 1).

Provenance: Randall Davidson, 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth, archbishop of Canterbury (1848-1930, bookplate); his widow Edith Davidson (née Tait, 1858-1936); given to her cousin Captain George Sitwell Campbell Swinton (1859-1937); his grandson Major-General Sir John Swinton of Kimmerghame (1925-2018); thence by descent to the present owner.