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Annie's Box: Charles Darwin, His Daughter and Human Evolution
In a chest of drawers bequeathed by his grandmother, author Randal Keynes discovered the writing case of Charles Darwin's beloved daughter Annie, who died at the age of ten. He also found the notes Darwin kept throughout Annie's illness, the eulogy he delivered at her funeral—and provocative new insights into Darwin's views on nature, evolution, and the human condition.
331 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 20, 2012
Keynes has written a very intimate biography of his great-great grandfather, as it is sourced mostly from personal correspondences of Charles and Emma Darwin along with the writings and recollections of their children and grandchildren. Like most of Darwin's biographies, the book charts the progress of his thinking about the interrelationship between science and religion and the development of his "species book," but this is also very much the story of the post-Beagle Darwin's family life, the way that their 10 children were raised in Kent in the late 19th century, the family's struggles to overcome their grief over eldest daughter Annie's death of tuberculosis in 1851 at the age of 10, and, of course, Darwin's own battle with intestinal illness that plagued him for much of his adult life. The book can be difficult to read in some places, particularly as Keynes describes Darwin's vigil over Annie's death-bed at Malvern and the circumstances surrounding Darwin's own demise. It is indeed a powerful story, as much about death and its lingering effects on the survivors of tragedy as it is about the theories and experiments that drove Darwin to take meticulous notes on his observations even in his last days. It is hard not to contemplate the future when reading about Emma's last years, spent between staying with children in London and her home in Down and how she spent 14 of them without the husband who could not share her belief in a life eternal. I would highly recommend this as a supplementary reading to the Origin and Desmond and Moore's definitive biography, Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist.
July 6, 2025
Written by a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, Randal Keynes, Annie’s Box focuses on Darwin’s relationship with his oldest daughter Annie who passed away at ten from what we now know to be tuberculosis. Losing her was something he never got over, and his observations of Annie and his other children colored his views of evolution and how emotion affected the relationships of both humans and animals.
“Annie’s Box was her writing case; it was not a child’s toy, but a small version of a grown-up’s possession, one of the first signs that the little girl would soon be growing into a young lady. An American book for children, which first appeared in 1851 gives a vivid picture of what the case and the things Annie kept in it would have meant to her.” Letter papers, large and small, matching envelopes, pens, quills, a pen holder, a pen knife, and sealing wax. Wafers of all sorts, an ivory leaf cutter, a paper folder, a pounce-box, a ruler and a little silver pencil; also some sheets of drawing paper, drawing pencils and an India rubber.
“The box itself is a small container covered in Morocco leather, with a lock and key to fasten the hinge lid. On the lid is stamped Writing Case in gold lettering inside a red, blue, white, and gold cartouche. There are four small compartments and one large one lined with dark blue paper decorated with gold stars. The two inner compartments have a lid for ‘Matches’ and ‘Vignettes’. Annie had a number of sheets of letter paper with red and blue edges, with matching envelopes. She also had little envelopes with embossed and colored flowers on the flaps and prepaid envelopes for the Penny Post with an embossed design. Other sheets of fancy stationary with embossed patterns and cut to look like lace said, ‘Listen to me my love,’ ‘I could love thee forever and ever,’ ‘Your health and happiness dearest,’ ‘This isn’t to be with you my sweet,’ and ‘Taking wine in the wood.’”
“Annie kept a number of patent steel pen-nibs in the box, together with a wooden pen holder. There are two goose quill pens and a small pen knife with a mother-of-pearl handle. The quills were probably cut by Annie with a pen knife from feathers plucked from geese in the backyard. They have remains of ink on their tips. The steel nibs were harder and scratcher to write with, but they would’ve saved Annie the trouble of having to trim her nibs again and again as she wrote.”
“When an envelope had to be closed, sealing with wax was still the proper way; fastening the flap with a wafer the second best, and adhesive envelopes were a practical necessity for everyday mail. To seal her letters, Annie had two sticks of red sealing wax, and a stick of green. She kept her wafers in a small circular cardboard box with gold-embossed decoration on the lid; the ones there now say in minute lettering, ‘Write or die,’ ‘Am I welcome,’ ‘United,’ ‘Dieu vous garde,’ and ‘Adieu.’
[A color photo of the box and some of its contents appears on the inside back cover.]
Charles Darwin was a man of fact and science, but he was also a family man. He had 10 children and loved them all deeply. He observed them carefully just as he would have observed any species of animals, but he noted the deep emotion he felt for them, and this caused him to know the emotions that animals felt for each other too.
Each of Darwin’s works from The Origin of Species to The Descent of Man is discussed in detail, which might not be what the reader is expecting. Darwin’s readings in philosophy and poetry are also explored. Even if you cannot relate to these materials, they help us to know Darwin as a man of rounded character and deep human feeling.
Darwin was the father of deeply cherished children, and he had a beloved wife. Far from being a cold scientist, he did his best to understand the human family.
“Annie’s Box was her writing case; it was not a child’s toy, but a small version of a grown-up’s possession, one of the first signs that the little girl would soon be growing into a young lady. An American book for children, which first appeared in 1851 gives a vivid picture of what the case and the things Annie kept in it would have meant to her.” Letter papers, large and small, matching envelopes, pens, quills, a pen holder, a pen knife, and sealing wax. Wafers of all sorts, an ivory leaf cutter, a paper folder, a pounce-box, a ruler and a little silver pencil; also some sheets of drawing paper, drawing pencils and an India rubber.
“The box itself is a small container covered in Morocco leather, with a lock and key to fasten the hinge lid. On the lid is stamped Writing Case in gold lettering inside a red, blue, white, and gold cartouche. There are four small compartments and one large one lined with dark blue paper decorated with gold stars. The two inner compartments have a lid for ‘Matches’ and ‘Vignettes’. Annie had a number of sheets of letter paper with red and blue edges, with matching envelopes. She also had little envelopes with embossed and colored flowers on the flaps and prepaid envelopes for the Penny Post with an embossed design. Other sheets of fancy stationary with embossed patterns and cut to look like lace said, ‘Listen to me my love,’ ‘I could love thee forever and ever,’ ‘Your health and happiness dearest,’ ‘This isn’t to be with you my sweet,’ and ‘Taking wine in the wood.’”
“Annie kept a number of patent steel pen-nibs in the box, together with a wooden pen holder. There are two goose quill pens and a small pen knife with a mother-of-pearl handle. The quills were probably cut by Annie with a pen knife from feathers plucked from geese in the backyard. They have remains of ink on their tips. The steel nibs were harder and scratcher to write with, but they would’ve saved Annie the trouble of having to trim her nibs again and again as she wrote.”
“When an envelope had to be closed, sealing with wax was still the proper way; fastening the flap with a wafer the second best, and adhesive envelopes were a practical necessity for everyday mail. To seal her letters, Annie had two sticks of red sealing wax, and a stick of green. She kept her wafers in a small circular cardboard box with gold-embossed decoration on the lid; the ones there now say in minute lettering, ‘Write or die,’ ‘Am I welcome,’ ‘United,’ ‘Dieu vous garde,’ and ‘Adieu.’
[A color photo of the box and some of its contents appears on the inside back cover.]
Charles Darwin was a man of fact and science, but he was also a family man. He had 10 children and loved them all deeply. He observed them carefully just as he would have observed any species of animals, but he noted the deep emotion he felt for them, and this caused him to know the emotions that animals felt for each other too.
Each of Darwin’s works from The Origin of Species to The Descent of Man is discussed in detail, which might not be what the reader is expecting. Darwin’s readings in philosophy and poetry are also explored. Even if you cannot relate to these materials, they help us to know Darwin as a man of rounded character and deep human feeling.
Darwin was the father of deeply cherished children, and he had a beloved wife. Far from being a cold scientist, he did his best to understand the human family.
May 11, 2025
The first book of this kind and from that era that I've read.
Overall it was interesting in places but still very heavy going and would have benefited from some modern context particularly where the science theories were being covered.
As always what I enjoyed most was learning more about the person and to see how much Charles loved his children and openly displayed that love was beautiful and contradicts my thoughts of men at the time.
I did enjoy the section about daguerreotypes and the feeling that they were harsh and brutal with the advice for women to say "prunes" - perhaps the origin of the pout.
Overall it was interesting in places but still very heavy going and would have benefited from some modern context particularly where the science theories were being covered.
As always what I enjoyed most was learning more about the person and to see how much Charles loved his children and openly displayed that love was beautiful and contradicts my thoughts of men at the time.
I did enjoy the section about daguerreotypes and the feeling that they were harsh and brutal with the advice for women to say "prunes" - perhaps the origin of the pout.
September 11, 2018
This is an account of Charles Darwin the man, rather than his theory of evolution. It is narrated by his great grandson, through family lore, letters and published works.
The impression was of a very kind, thoughtful, loving and sensitive man. He originally trained as a doctor, but couldn’t stand to practice, due to the suffering of patients without anaesthesia. Instead he went on to become a naturalist. He was an early activist for animal rights, successfully taking a farmer in his village to court for mistreating his animals. Throughout his life he studied the minutest details of animals and plants to understand how they evolved and to find some common thread that may solve the existential question of mankind’s origin.
While Darwin is famous for his theory that man evolved from apes, I had no comprehension that it began from his study of barnacles, collected during his famous HMS Beagle voyage in the 1830’s. He returned to England and decided to marry, so it was 10 years before he began to study these specimens preserved in jars in his study.
Those 10 years were busy, with a child almost every year. In all, Emma and Charles had 10 children, two died in infancy and Annie (second born child) died when she was 10 years old. Evidence from correspondence showed that both Emma and Charles suffered tremendously from her death and Charles may have held himself responsible, considering that his own unstable health had been passed on as a hereditary condition to her.
Charles wrestled with the questions of origin and religion for his entire life. The crux of his concern was that if there was a God who created man, why would He allow so much pain and suffering? He tried to look for natural laws to explain random deaths, and for links in bloodlines for history of disease in families.
I never really had any interest in science as a child and didn't understand it's relevance. This books was a wonderful personal insight into the world of a great man and how he thought deeply and philosophically about life’s origins. I'm keen to read more, including the books that Charles and Emma enjoyed and were influenced by, such as George Eliot, Charles Dickens, Wordsworth and Coleridge.
The impression was of a very kind, thoughtful, loving and sensitive man. He originally trained as a doctor, but couldn’t stand to practice, due to the suffering of patients without anaesthesia. Instead he went on to become a naturalist. He was an early activist for animal rights, successfully taking a farmer in his village to court for mistreating his animals. Throughout his life he studied the minutest details of animals and plants to understand how they evolved and to find some common thread that may solve the existential question of mankind’s origin.
While Darwin is famous for his theory that man evolved from apes, I had no comprehension that it began from his study of barnacles, collected during his famous HMS Beagle voyage in the 1830’s. He returned to England and decided to marry, so it was 10 years before he began to study these specimens preserved in jars in his study.
Those 10 years were busy, with a child almost every year. In all, Emma and Charles had 10 children, two died in infancy and Annie (second born child) died when she was 10 years old. Evidence from correspondence showed that both Emma and Charles suffered tremendously from her death and Charles may have held himself responsible, considering that his own unstable health had been passed on as a hereditary condition to her.
Charles wrestled with the questions of origin and religion for his entire life. The crux of his concern was that if there was a God who created man, why would He allow so much pain and suffering? He tried to look for natural laws to explain random deaths, and for links in bloodlines for history of disease in families.
I never really had any interest in science as a child and didn't understand it's relevance. This books was a wonderful personal insight into the world of a great man and how he thought deeply and philosophically about life’s origins. I'm keen to read more, including the books that Charles and Emma enjoyed and were influenced by, such as George Eliot, Charles Dickens, Wordsworth and Coleridge.
January 6, 2010
This account of Charles Darwin's work and family life was written by his great grandson. It is an interesting look at how Darwin came to develop the theory of evolution. I especially was interested in how his conclusion that humans evolved out of natural processes from lower animals--and how that affected his notion of God.
The book also tells a great deal about family life in the 1800's. Darwin married his first cousin and they had 10 children. Two died as infants. They were related the the Wedgewood family whose pottery were highly popular in England. The Darwin's lived in a large estate named Down House which is now a museum.
Disease was always a threat and tuberculosis (often called consumption) affected nearly every family in some way. His daughter, Annie, died at age 10 of what they now think must have been tuberculosis--and her death had a profound effect on Darwin. The book's title refers to a box of writing and drawing materials that she kept and became an important memento of her life after her passing.
Although I don't read a great deal of non-fiction, I did find this book interesting and well worth the read.
The book also tells a great deal about family life in the 1800's. Darwin married his first cousin and they had 10 children. Two died as infants. They were related the the Wedgewood family whose pottery were highly popular in England. The Darwin's lived in a large estate named Down House which is now a museum.
Disease was always a threat and tuberculosis (often called consumption) affected nearly every family in some way. His daughter, Annie, died at age 10 of what they now think must have been tuberculosis--and her death had a profound effect on Darwin. The book's title refers to a box of writing and drawing materials that she kept and became an important memento of her life after her passing.
Although I don't read a great deal of non-fiction, I did find this book interesting and well worth the read.
November 16, 2012
This is a nice read for any Darwin fan. As the son of a wealthy surgeon, Darwin also married into the Wedgewood China fortune and as a result, didn't have a "real" job his entire life.
The book catalogues the Darwin's daily life--work in the laboratory, writing and answering hundreds of letters, tea times, and various family outings. It is an idyllic picutre of 19th century manor life for the wealthy despite all the controversy, sickness, and other travails the Darwins experienced.
The book's backdrop is the poignant story of the loss of the Darwin's young daughter to fever on the verge of adolescense. The early, sudden death of children to fever was one of the tragic courges of the 19th century. They would be fine one day and dead within 48-72 hours. It was so commonplace it was unusual if it had not occurred in your family or within your immediate circle of friends. Some of the few who lost children to these maladies include the Lincolns, the Huxleys, nd Emily Dickinson's nephew.
The book catalogues the Darwin's daily life--work in the laboratory, writing and answering hundreds of letters, tea times, and various family outings. It is an idyllic picutre of 19th century manor life for the wealthy despite all the controversy, sickness, and other travails the Darwins experienced.
The book's backdrop is the poignant story of the loss of the Darwin's young daughter to fever on the verge of adolescense. The early, sudden death of children to fever was one of the tragic courges of the 19th century. They would be fine one day and dead within 48-72 hours. It was so commonplace it was unusual if it had not occurred in your family or within your immediate circle of friends. Some of the few who lost children to these maladies include the Lincolns, the Huxleys, nd Emily Dickinson's nephew.
October 27, 2013
Una mirada a la parte humana de la vida familiar de Charles Darwin, como la correlacionó con su vida profesional y el desarrollo de su teoría del origen de las especies, con un enfasis especial en la vida y prematura muerte de su hija mayor Annie: "Hemos perdido la alegría de la casa y el solaz de nuestra vejez...¡Si pudiera saber ahora con cuanta ternura y afecto seguimos queriendo su alegre carita y la querremos siempre!"
A look to the human side of Charles Darwin's family life, and how he correlated it with his professional life and the development of the origin of the species theory, with an emphasis on the life and sudden death of his older daughter Annie: "We have lost the joy of the household, and the solace of our old age.... Oh that she could now know how deeply, how tenderly we do still & and shall ever love her dear joyous face!"
A look to the human side of Charles Darwin's family life, and how he correlated it with his professional life and the development of the origin of the species theory, with an emphasis on the life and sudden death of his older daughter Annie: "We have lost the joy of the household, and the solace of our old age.... Oh that she could now know how deeply, how tenderly we do still & and shall ever love her dear joyous face!"
March 19, 2010
Enjoying it when it stays on topic (that is the topic that intrigues me) regarding Darwin's conflict with his religion and relationship with his daughter. But having to skim a lot of pages that deal with day to day life of independently wealthy people at the end of the 1800s. It's all well-written and these pages could be of interest to others, it's just distracting to me.
June 20, 2016
A delightful biography of Charles Darwin written by his great great grandson. The book is an intimate portrait of the man and his family and the struggle to blend his beliefs with the theory of evolution.
January 24, 2019
for even bigger fans of Darwin than me
I love everything Darwin, and it is very nice to get an insider view of his life. However, I found this rather repetitive and unexciting, so I would only recommend to unconditional fans.
I love everything Darwin, and it is very nice to get an insider view of his life. However, I found this rather repetitive and unexciting, so I would only recommend to unconditional fans.
Want to read
September 9, 2009As seen on The Wild Side.
June 28, 2010
A little slow....but interesting.
Read
August 2, 2011this is a beautiful, moving book if you'd like to learn more about charles darwin
August 6, 2012
A little disjointed, but likable
October 1, 2012
I enjoyed this as a study of a Victorian family. Darwin was a loving father, involved with his children which is a refreshing change from the usual cliched description of distant Victorian parents.
May 20, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. It made Darwin out to be more human.
May 30, 2017
Absolutely loved this book. I know it's one I'll re-read many, many times.
(A movie has been made based on this book.)
(A movie has been made based on this book.)
December 9, 2020
I loved this book, so beautifully written, and making complex subjects easier to grasp. The author moves effortlessly between recollections of Annie's childhood and explanations of evolution.
September 17, 2023
Fascinating and tragic. Wonderfully well written. I feel that this is an important book in understanding Darwin's personal life and the things that shaped his thinking.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews