This is the librarian in charge of Cambridge University Library when two priceless notebooks belonging to scientist Charles Darwin went missing 20 years ago.
Peter Fox was head of the library when the books, worth ‘many millions’, went missing on his watch in November 2000.
When their absence was discovered in January 2001, it was ‘assumed’ they had been put back on the wrong shelf, and police were never alerted.
One of the books contains the 19th Century scientist’s famous Tree of Life sketch, exploring the evolutionary relationship between species.
Following an ‘extensive search’, curators have now concluded they have probably been stolen.
Peter Fox (left and centre of right picture) was head of the library when the books, worth ‘many millions’, went missing on his watch in November 2000
The notebooks contain the Tree of Life sketch, which famously explores the evolutionary relationship between species. The illustration was first sketched in a notebook in 1837 and depicted a ‘tree’ with branching to highlight the idea of extinction over time. Cambridge University Library believe the notebooks containing the sketch were stolen 20 years ago
Eminant 19th Century scientist Charles Darwin made jottings in the notebooks, which have not been seen in two decades
Charles Darwin: The British scientist who introduced the idea of natural selection
Charles Robert Darwin published one of the most important books ever written and his theory on evolution became the foundation of modern evolutionary studies.
The Shropshire scientist studied at Edinburgh University, one of the best places in Britain to study science as it attracted free thinkers with radical opinions.
Darwin trained to be a clergyman in Cambridge in 1827 after abandoning his plans to become a doctor, but continued his passion for biology.
In 1831, Charles’ tutor recommended he go on a voyage around the world on HMS Beagle.
Over the next five years Darwin travelled five continents collecting samples and specimens while investigating the local geology.
In 1835, HMS Beagle made a five-week stop at the Galapágos Islands, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador.
There, he studied finches, tortoises and mockingbirds although not in enough detail to come to any great conclusions.
But he was beginning to accumulate observations which were fast building up.
On returning home in 1838, Darwin showed his specimens to fellow biologists and began writing up his travels.
It was then that he started to see how ‘transmutation’ happened.
He found that animals more suited to their environment survived longer and have more young.
Evolution occurred by a process he called ‘Natural Selection’ although he struggled with the idea because it contradicted his Christian world view.
In 1858, Darwin published his ideas after recieving a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace
Darwin drew fierce criticism from the Church and some of the press. Many people were shaken by the book’s key implication that human beings descended from apes, although Darwin only hinted at it
Darwin’s ideas were presented to Britain’s leading Natural History body, the Linnean Society.
In 1859, he published his theory on evolution. It would become one of the most important books ever written.
Darwin drew fierce criticism from the Church and some of the press. Many people were shaken by the book’s key implication that human beings descended from apes, although Darwin only hinted at it.
In 1862, Darwin wrote a warning about close relatives having children, he was already worried about his own marriage, having married his cousin Emma and lost three of their children and nursed others through illness.
Darwin knew that orchids were less healthy when they self-fertilised and worried that inbreeding within his own family may have caused problems.
He worked until his death in 1882 and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
The library authorities only reported the suspected theft to police last month, as the current Librarian, Dr Jessica Gardner launched a global appeal for help, saying: ‘We don’t rule out theft, we have to rule it in.’
Mr Fox, 71, refused to discuss the mystery, telling MailOnline at his semi-detached house in Cambridge: ‘All calls are being dealt with by the press office’.
The married father-of-two held the prestigious post from 1994 until his retirement in 2009, having previously served as College Librarian and Archivist at Trinity College, Dublin.
The books were taken from a strong-room where the University stores its renowned Darwin collection to be photographed by library staff for an ‘external media organisation’ in September 2000.
Because of renovation work, the photographic studio was housed temporarily in a Portacabin onsite, according to Dr Gardner, but it appears no records exist of who is supposed to have replaced the books in the Darwin Collection two months later when the photography was completed.
Dr Gardner added: ‘I can’t speak for my predecessors and I’m certainly not here to apportion blame, but they held the genuine belief that the notebooks had been mis-filed.’
Asked if the university knew who had replaced the books, she added: ‘There are not individuals who are able to provide that recollection.
‘Today we keep all of those records and there was a protocol in place at the time. Something has gone wrong, clearly, and that’s what we’re focussed on addressing today.’
She added: ‘I’m heartbroken. We’ve devoted the whole of our careers to the preservation of cultural heritage and we’re devastated by what has happened.
‘We know they were photographed in November, but we do not know what happened between then and the time in January 2001, when it was determined they were not in their proper place on the shelves.
‘And I’m afraid there isn’t anything on the remaining record which tells us anything more.’ adds Dr Gardner, who became director of library services in 2017.’
There were a number of ‘intense’ searches over the years. They all drew a blank.
It is a daunting task, given the vast scale of the library, with more than 200km of shelving, roughly the distance from Cambridge to Southampton by road. It is home to more than 10 million maps and manuscripts and other objects.
At the beginning of this year, Dr Gardner arranged a new search. Specialist staff combed through specific zones of the library’s storage facilities. They conducted a ‘fingertip’ check through 189 boxes which contain Darwin’s books, drawings and letters. But still no notebooks.
A new approach was needed, according to Dr Gardner. She says she was ‘not willing to accept’ the notebooks would just ‘turn up’.
Cambridgeshire Police have now launched an investigation in conjunction with Interpol and the disappearance of the notebooks has been recorded on the national Art Loss Register for missing cultural artefacts. The police have also added the missing notebooks to Interpol’s database of stolen artworks.
The notebooks themselves are small, no bigger than a postcard. They were kept in a bespoke blue box, about the size of a paperback.
It is still possible the notebooks might be found. ‘We won’t stop looking,’ says Dr Gardner. But it will take another five years to complete a full search of the remaining shelves and storage rooms.
In the meantime, the library is asking the public for help.
‘There are good examples where things have been found, thanks to the help of the public,’ says Dr Gardner.
‘So I would really appeal to members of the public, former staff, researchers, anyone who might have information which would shed light.
The exact value of the notebooks is unknown but they are said to be worth millions of pounds. There are currently no leads on their whereabouts
The Cambridge University Library is home to more than 10 million maps, manuscripts and other objects, and archivists originally believed Darwin’s notebooks had been misfiled and would turn up
The two Darwin notebooks, which are around the size of a postcard, had previously been digitised and their content is available online. They were originally kept in a small blue box
But Dr Gardner is reluctant to speculate where the notebooks might be.
‘It’s possible they are under a bed, that’s the best case scenario, someone has found they can’t sell them or they’re just holding on to them,’ she says.
Dr Mark Purcell, deputy director of research collections at the university library, said he is confident the manuscripts could not be sold on the open market and it is possible they have ‘gone to ground’.
He said he hoped for a similar outcome to that of London’s Lambeth Palace, where items were stolen after bombing during the Second World War.
‘Forty-plus years later, quite literally as the consequence of a deathbed crisis of conscience, those items came to light and were returned to Lambeth and I think that’s the sort of outcome which we and all institutions of this kind would clearly wish to hope for,’ he said.
Darwin was an English scientist – naturalist, geologist and biologist – best known for his work on the theory of evolution by natural selection.
The Darwin section in the library alone comprises 189 archive boxes. The two Darwin notebooks had previously been digitised and their content is available online.
A fingertip search of key areas was carried out early this year before the matter was reported to the police in October.
Anyone who may have information about the missing notebooks can contact Cambridge University Library via email at [email protected].