Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875) wrote many geological papers, mainly published by the Geological Society of London (1807-present day), but his reputation rests almost entirely on his work Principles of Geology, ( 1830-1833) inspired in part by a European tour with Sir Roderick Impey Murchison and also his knowledge of James Hutton's Theory of the Earth. In this work, first published in three volumes, Lyell propounded his theory of uniformitarianism, which holds that all geological formations can be explianed solely in terms of natural processes which can be observed in operation today. This ran counter to the prevailing theory which assumed that mountain-building and other geological phenomena could only have occurred as a result of major cataclysmic events in the past. Lyell's uniformitarianism was developed in order to reject the progressionism implicit in the prevailing theory, which he saw as leading to evolution, an idea which he strongly opposed. Ironically, Lyell's opposition to evolution brought the idea to scientists' attention and the vast time scales required by uniformitarianism enabled Darwin to conceive of his version of evolutionary theory. Lyell's other works include: The Elements of Geology, ( 1837) Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man, ( 1863-1873).
Charles Lyell's father was an active naturalist, and Lyell had access to an elaborate library which included works on geology. Whilst at Oxford University he attended lectures by William Buckland, professor of geology, that triggered his enthusiasm for the subject. He became more and more interested in the subject and made many geological tours with his family in England and Scotland in 1817, and on the Continent the following year, the first of many trips abroad. In 1828 he explored the volcanic region of the Auvergne, then went to Mount Etna to gather supporting evidence for the theory of geology he would expound in his Principles of Geology . He also made numerous tours of the United States, described in Travels in North America, ( 1909) . His writings deal with the rock cycle, which explains how one type of rock is transformed into another. Lyell also expounds notions on volcanic forces, deposition, erosion and palaeontology in his writings. His work helped to establish the modern study of geology and geologic time. In addition to rock formation, he also wrote about palaeontology. It was Lyell who proposed the idea of reference fossils - fossils which are indicative of certain periods of geologic time. He divided geologic time into four periods: Pleistocene, Older Pliocene, Miocene and Eocene. His final work, The Antiquity of Man, ( 1863) , was a wide-ranging study of the human fossil record. In this work Lyell finally accepted Darwinian evolution, but still tried to insist that there was a radical discontinuity between humankind and the rest of the animal kingdom.
In 1823 Lyell was appointed secretary of the Geological Society of London, and 3 years later they made him their foreign secretary. He was twice President in 1836 and 1850. Lyell was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1826. He was awarded a Royal Medal in 1834 and the Copley Medal in 1858 and in 1866 he was awarded the Wollaston Medal. In 1832 he was the first professor of geology at King's College, London, and became President of the British Association in 1864.
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Covers the period of his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Horner in Bonn, in 1832:
To Mother, letter written at London. Unpublished. 5 May 1832
To father, written at Bonn. Unpublished. 22 June 1832
To Maria Heathcote, sister, written at Bonn. Published with omissions. 3 July 1832
To Fanny, written at Bonn. Unpublished. 5 July 1832
To Caroline,...
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Letters written by Charles and Mary Lyell, to their family including their arrival in Newfoundland and travels in America. One letter identified in this series was written by Charles to Mary, and so has been removed and is now part of series B7.
Letter written to his mother-in-law, Anne Susanna Horner, at Kinnordy. Unpublished. August 1845
To Marianne, written 'Off Trepassey Bay,...
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Letters written by Charles to his mother and father:
Letter from Charles Lyell, to his mother and father, Charles Lyell Esq. and Frances Mary Smith. Letter written at Spring Gardens school at aged 7 years old. Unpublished. 12 March 1806
Letter from Charles Lyell, to his mother and father, Charles Lyell Esq. and Frances Mary Smith. Letter written at Spring Gardens school at aged 8 years...
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Letters written to his mother, father and sisters:
Letter to his father, written at Paris. Published. 23 August 1823
Letter to his father, written at Paris. Published. 28-30 August 1823
Letter written at Paris. Published. 7 September 1823
Letter to his father, written at Cambrai. Published. 11 September 1823
Letter to his mother, written...
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Letters written to his mother, father and sisters:
Letter to his father, written at Paris. Published. 9 May 1828
Letter to his father, written at Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne. Published. 16 May 1828
Letter to his father, written at Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne. Published. 26 May 1828
Letter to his father, written at Bains de Mort Dor, Auvergne. Published....
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Letters from CHarles Lyell to his mother, sisters, mother-in-law and sister-in-law. One letter to Mary Lyell removed and placed in that series, see B7:
Letter to Marianne, location not identified. Unpublished. 16 October 1855
Letter to Fanny, written at London. Unpublished. 17 November 1855
Letter to Caroline, written at London. Published. 5 January 1856
...
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Entire folder of correspondence sent by Charles Lyell to his nephew Leonard Lyell. The letters are a mix of handwriting, some written by Charles, some by Mary, some by Arabella Buckley, and some in a mixture of all three hands:
Written at 53 Harley Street, London, 13 April 1857
Written at Antwerp, and London, 20-22 September, 1860
Written at 5 Carnoustie Terrace,...
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Letters from Charles Lyell to his siblings:
To Sophy, written at Hotel Tanner, Kissingen. Unpublished. 1 July 1865
To Marianne, letter written at London. Unpublished. 18 November 1865
To Thomas, 'Tom' written at Drumkilbo. Unpublished. 16 July 1866. His brother has written, apologising for his bad handwriting, and in response Lyell writes"I can only say I wish all my...
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Letters from Charles Lyell to his sisters:
Letter to Sophy, written at London. Unpublished. 3 January 1860 .
Letter to Marianne, written at London. Unpublished. 15 November 1860
Letter to Sophy, written at London. Unpublished. 29 December 1860
To Eleanor, Frankfurt. Published. 17 June 1861
Letter to Sophy, written at London....
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Letters from Charles Lyell to his family:
To Katharine, written at London. Unpublished. May 1851
To Katharine, location not identified, sent to Rivermede. Unpublished. July 1851
To Henry 'Harry' written at London. Unpublished. November 1851
To Fanny, written at London. Unpublished. May 1852
To Katharine, written at London. Unpublished....
