Although Darwin celebrations have been taking place for more than a year, today has particular significance for such celebrations. It was 150 years ago today that Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life was published. To celebrate this anniversary the Darwin Correspondence Project has launched a new interface for their website. Available, fully searchable on the site, are the complete transcripts of all known letters written and received by Darwin up to the year 1867. These letters were originally published in volumes 1 to 15 of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin. The most recent volume, number 17, was published in July of this year. There is generally a two to three time lag between the publication of a volume of correspondence and the appearance of the correspondence on the project’s website.

Notably, a number of first edition volumes of Darwin’s work, including a first edition of On the Origin of Species, are currently on display at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto. This display has been put on in association with the “150 Years After Origin: Biological, Historical, and Philosophical Perspectives” Conference wrapping up at the University of Toronto today.