Butler’s notes on the Darwin ‘controversy’

Here you can see Butler’s summary of his dispute with Charles Darwin, written in Butler’s hand. The fact that Butler recorded every detail at the time of these events reveals his frustration that his numerous appeals for clarity (let alone an apology) went ignored. Publically, however, it appeared that Butler had launched an unfair attack on Darwin, and the scientific community was quick to discredit Butler’s work as a result.

These manuscript sheets are actually ‘pressed copies’ taken at the time of writing, made by placing a special thin paper on top of the original manuscript while the ink was still wet, and running both sheets through a copying press. Butler often made copies of his notes and letters in this way.

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