Charles Darwin, the animal rights activist
Documents up for auction show father of evolutionary theory was concerned about cruelty of steel traps
FOR a scientist who spent much of his career capturing and killing animals for his collections, it might be assumed Charles Darwin had few scruples when it came to how they died.
But new documents up for sale at Sotheby’s later this month show Darwin was a kind-hearted animal rights activist who campaigned for the abolition of steel traps.
In the 19th century gamekeepers commonly used traps to keep vermin under control, but they could also be lethal for larger animals such as dogs, foxes and deer that became ensnared.
In the notes from 1863, which have remained with his descendants until now, Darwin sets out his concerns and appeals for the use of humane deadfall traps, which kill the animal instantly rather than leaving them to suffer. In the same year, Darwin and Emma, his wife, published a four-page pamphlet on the cruelty of steel traps, which generated such a response that they were able to raise funds and persuade the RSPCA to launch a competition to design something less barbaric.
A hundred designs were eventually exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society gardens in 1864 and humane traps were used widely afterwards.
Darwin made the notes after reading a copy of The Game Preserver’s Manual written by Edward Levett Darwin, his cousin. They are expected to fetch up to £50,000. Gabriel Heaton, of Sotheby’s said: “These papers were kept by a descendant of Darwin and have never been seen before.
“They show he was deeply concerned about the use of steel traps and believed that animals could experience the same sorts of feelings as humans, and the same pain and suffering.”
The collection has come from the estate of Anne Pinsent Keynes, who died last year and who was married to Richard Keynes, Darwin’s great-grandson.
Darwin also pointed out that while gamekeepers might want to trap wild dogs, local hunts might object if too many foxes were killed. In a tongue-incheek note, he wrote: “It is evidently thought an advantage that dogs should be caught, and this can only be steel traps. On the other hand, in most districts the ability to catch foxes would be thought a great disadvantage.”
The sale also includes two pages from the original manuscript of On The Origin of Species, of which just 11 pages survive. Despite it being one of the most important scientific works of all time, Darwin did not value his handwritten first version after it had been printed and used first edition of On The Origin of Species is also included in the sale. The manuscript pages are expected to sell for up to £180,000 and the first edition for up to £80,000.
The sale also includes around 30 lots from the collection of Charles Lyell – the geologist who established that the world was billions of years old. Darwin carried a copy of Lyell’s work with him on the Beagle.
The sale takes place at Sotheby’s in London on tomorrow and is expected to raise more than £1million.