Newly Catalogued Collection

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I am pleased to announce that the Jack Johns Darwin Collection is now fully catalogued and available for consultation in Special Collections.

Donated in 2008, Mr. Johns’ Darwin Collection is the result of over 30 years of collecting books by and about Charles Darwin. Following a boyhood fascination with evolutionary theory, Mr. Johns’ interest in Charles Darwin also led him to acquire items relating to members of the Darwin family and members of the scientific community in which Charles Darwin worked. Charles’ paternal grandfather, Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), published volumes about biology and of poetry, including Zoonomia (1794) and The loves of the plants : a poem, with philosophical notes (1791). Josiah Wedgwood was Charles Darwin’s maternal grandfather, so there are also items relating to the Wedgwood dynasty in this collection.

Items relating to other scientists include various works by Joseph Dalton Hooker and Thomas Huxley, Charles Lyell on elements of geology, and two nineteenth century books of the natural theologian William Paley. In addition, Mr Johns collected a small number of works relating to Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist and explorer who arrived at his own theory of evolution by natural selection independent of Darwin. On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection (republished in Evolution by Natural Selection, 1958) was the long title by which the two men publically announced their theories jointly in July 1858. Another interesting item in this collection is an 1890 edition of Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, published by John Murray, containing the presentation note: ‘H. W. Bates Esq. With the Publishers’ compli[iments] Feb[uary] 1890′. Henry Walter Bates was an explorer and naturalist who joined Alfred Russel Wallace on an expedition to the Amazon in 1848.

Publisher's note to H.W. Bates

Handwritten presentation note to H.W. Bates.

The central section of Mr Johns’ collection is based around his endeavour to acquire every edition of Darwin’s most important works, the vast majority of which were published by John Murray in London. These provide an insight into the editing and corrections of each successive edition, and prove the popularity of Darwin’s works.

For more information about this collection and Mr Jack Johns, see our collections information pages or search the library catalogue.

This collection also compliments the Maddison Collection, which focuses on natural theology and early science of the  seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

If you would like to look at any of the items in these, or any of our collections, please email specialcollections@kent.ac.uk to make an appointment.

Where to begin…

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Welcome to the new Special Collections blog, from the University of Kent Special Collections team.

Having worked in Special Collections for a few months, now, it’s hard to know where to begin. But, as ever, the best place to start is at the beginning.

Special Collections aka Rare Books aka Specialist Collections and Academic Archives has a long history at the University. Librarians have come and gone, leaving monumental collections and card catalogues in their wake. At present, we have a variety of collections and plenty left to catalogue. Most of the cataloguing of collections in the recent past has been undertaken as part of projects, such as the digitisation and cataloguing of the Muggeridge Windmill Collections, which was completed at the end of 2009 as part of the VERDI project. However, we continue to add to the accessible items in a small way on a day-to-day basis. Work is continuing on the Hewlett Johnson Collection, the theatre and cinema programmes of the Bigwood Collection and on the Weatherill Collection.

The first months of 2010 have seen some significant changes for our small department. Firstly, Mrs Sue Crabtree, Special Collections Librarian, retired in December after long service to the Collections. Somehow we have managed to carry on, although many of her webpages have been vital in providing information that you will find on the new website. Secondly, we have a new Special Collections website. This has been a huge amount of work, combining the project to update the Library’s websites with the VERDI project, which has resulted in the searchable catalogue of our collections which you see today.

The Special Collections reading room has also had a bit of a face lift, with a spring clean and the delivery of comfortable (and matching) blue chairs that have been very popular with researchers and staff members alike! With the new layout and the appointment of Steve Holland as Head of Specialist Collections and Academic Archives, 2010 is looking to be a year of continuing changes for the department.

We aim to continue to offer an accessible and helpful service for all researchers to use our collections. If you would like to explore the collections, please take a look at the website. Email specialcollections@kent.ac.uk to make an appointment, and have a look at the access and opening hours before you come, to make the most out of your visit. If you are unable to visit in person but would like access to items from the collections, please email us and we can consider the provision of electronic or paper copies for your requirements.