Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802)

Nine items including two autograph letters, one to Thomas Beddoes and one to Mrs. W Strutt. Also includes an order to pay Joseph Johnson £212 15s 9d owed to Jane and John Crompton, and some prescriptions

1731-1802

1 file

Purchased from Stevens, London 1930-1931, Glendining, London 1935, and Phillips, London 1993. Accessions 68587, 56474, 66002?, 67677, 349370

Erasmus Darwin was born near Nottingham in December 1731, the seventh child of Robert and Elizabeth Darwin of Elston Hall. In 1750 he went to Cambridge to study classics and mathematics and from there he travelled to Edinburgh in order to study medicine. Following this he returned to Nottingham in 1765 and established his own medical practice, with little success. However, shortly afterwards he moved to Lichfield and his fortunes changed. Around the same time he married Mary Howard and, before her death in 1770, they had three sons: Charles, Erasmus and Robert Waring. Darwin became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1761 and was a founder member of the Botanical Society, the Lunar Society, and the Derby Philosophical Society. Of these the Lunar Society, which operated between 1765 and 1813, is the most notable. The Society consisted of a group of scientists, innovators and natural philosophers who came together to share their ideas once a month, on the Monday nearest the full moon. This was chosen so that the members would have enough light to travel home by when the meetings went on into the night. He was a highly regarded physician, even reportedly turning down an offer of employment from George III because he preferred to stay in the Midlands. Whilst continuing to practice medicine he published several volumes of poetry and science, in which he proposed a theory of evolution that would influence his grandson, Charles Darwin. Erasmus Darwin was a respected physician, a well-known poet, philosopher, botanist and naturalist. He expressed support for the campaign against the slave trade, religious toleration, and freedom of the press. He died of a lung infection in April 1802.

At Wellcome Collection: MS.8331 papers relating to the Darwin Family; MS.2043 lecture notes taken by Erasmus Darwin; MS.6908/1-7 letters to Erasmus Darwin from James Currie. See also Zoonomia by Erasmus Darwin (London: J. Johnson, 1796) to see how his ideas on evolution predated those of his grandson.

Material formerly held in the Western Manuscripts Department's Autograph Letters Sequence.