UK - Darwin's notebook including sketches about evolution - possibily stolen

"Tree of Life" drawn by Darwin (Source: CNN)

Recently cnn.co.jp reported the following:

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2020.11.25 Wed posted at 15:00 JST

進化論にまつわるスケッチ含むダーウィンのノート、盗難の可能性　英国

Amy Woodyatt, CNN

英国の自然科学者チャールズ・ダーウィンがかつて所有し、「進化論」に関連するスケッチなどを書き留めたノート２冊について、英ケンブリッジ大学図書館は２４日、「盗難に遭った公算が大きい」と明らかにした。ノートは２０年間紛失した状態にあり、その価値は数億円に上るとみられている。

２冊のノートのうちの１冊には、ダーウィンによる「生命の樹」のスケッチが描かれている。図書館は声明でこれらのノートについて、２０００年９月、写真撮影のため希少かつ高価値な収蔵品を保管する金庫室から持ち出されたと述べた。

同年１１月に撮影されたとの記録があるものの、翌年１月に定期点検を行ったところ、ノートを入れた小さな箱があるべき場所に戻されていないことが分かったという。

 ダーウィンが「生命の樹」のスケッチや進化論に関する概念をノートに書き留めたのは１８３７年の夏。ビーグル号による世界一周の旅から帰還した後だった。この数十年後には、生命の樹の発想をさらに展開させた著書「種の起源」を出版する。

長年にわたりケンブリッジ大学の図書館員は、広大な館内でノートを紛失しただけと思い込んでいた。同図書館の棚をすべて合わせた長さは２１０キロ以上。所蔵する本や地図、写本は１０００万冊余りに上る。

しかしノートの所在を「徹底的に」調べたところ、もはや館内には存在しないと考えられることが分かった。大学側は、盗まれた可能性が高いとしている。

同図書館の業務責任者は声明で、ノートの発見に全力を挙げて取り組む意向を示した。すでに地元警察に盗難届を出したほか、国際刑事警察機構（インターポール、ＩＣＰＯ）が管轄する盗難被害にあった文化遺産データベース「サイキ（Ｐｓｙｃｈｅ）」への登録も済ませているという。

ノートの内容は過去にデジタル化され、ケンブリッジ・デジタル・ライブラリーに収蔵されている。大学も引き続きノートの探索を行う計画で、完了まで５年かかると見込んでいる。

Translation

Amy Woodyatt, CNN

The University of Cambridge Library said on the 24th that two notebooks that were once owned by British natural scientist Charles Darwin that had sketches related to "evolution” written down were "probably stolen". The notebook had been lost for 20 years and was estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of yen.

One of the two notebooks had a sketch of the "Tree of Life" by Darwin. The library said in a statement that for photography purposes these notebooks were taken out of a vault in September 2000 that stored rare and valuable collections.

Although there was a record that photos were taken in November of the same year, a regular inspection in January of the following year revealed that the small box containing the notebooks had not been returned to the place where it should have been.

It was in the summer of 1837 that Darwin wrote down a sketch of the "Tree of Life" and the concept of evolution in his notebooks. It was after his returning from a trip around the world on the ship the Beagle. Decades later he would publish his book, On the Origin of Species, which further developed the idea of ​​the “Tree of Life”.

For many years, Cambridge University librarians believed that they had just lost their notebooks inside its big library. The total length of all the shelves in the library was over 210 km. It had more than 10 million books, maps and manuscripts.

However, a "thorough" examination of the location of the notebooks revealed that it no longer existed in the museum. The university said it was highly likely that it was stolen.

In a statement, the library's manager said he would do everything in his power to find the notebooks. In addition to having already filed a theft report with the local police, it had already been registered in the cultural heritage database "Psyche" under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol, ICPO).

The contents of the notebooks had been digitized in the past and were stored in the Cambridge Digital Library. The university also planned to continue searching for the notes, which was expected to take five years to complete.

Some books about Darwin

              Darwin is my idol and hero. I have read a few books written about him, and about his voyage around the world on a British science research ship the Beagle in December 1831. The book that I like most is entitled “Darwin -The Voyage of the Beagle” published by Wordsworth in 1997. It is a record on what Darwin had seen during this sea voyage. His encounters in South America had help him to develop his evolution theory. I always believe that his book On the Origin of Species published in 1859, which further developed his idea of the “Tree of Life”, had shaken the common belief that “human is made by God”.