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 explained 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.
Scope and Contents
This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from 28 May 1846 to 6 June [actual date of 6th presumed, as that is the first date of the next notebook] 1846, covering the end of the Lyells’ visit in the United States through the approximate first half of their ocean passage to England. They had returned to Boston on 21 May, and spent ten days socializing there, prior to embarking on their voyage home to England. They departed from Boston on 1 June, aboard the RMS Britannia, stopping at...
Scope and Contents
This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from 6 June 1846 to 14 June 1846, while on the RMS Britannia, from the approximate midpoint through to the end of the ocean passage and arrival back home in England. The Lyells departed from Boston on 1 June, to Halifax, and and arrived in Liverpool on 13 June 1846. While the disembarkment is recounted at the end of the previous notebook, the last journal entry here was written on the following day recording Lyell’s observations enroute from...
Content warning:
This Notebook contains a record of Charles Lyell’s return to the UK after his second travel to America (Notebooks 121- 145), and so covers American and UK topics, whilst he is based on London, before travelling to Kinnordy - via Edinburgh, Granton and Craig Crook Castle. Note on pg. 70 indexed as 'Ld Cockburn, Hill's daguerrotype' indicates they visited Bonaly, where the Lyell were photographed. This notebook has a hard light brown cover with red on the spine and in triangles on the corners....
Scope and Contents
This black notebook contains a record on Charles Lyell’s discussions, theories, and ideas in London - with detailed notes of a social nature, of a visit to Bowood - after his return from his second visit to the U.S (Notebooks 121-145). In this notebook, he covers events and locations from both the U.S and the U.K including Durham, Richmond Valley, Harley Street, Prince Edward Island, Mildenhall, New York, etc. Lyell’s comments on America are profuse, but they don’t appear to have made it...
Scope and Contents
This black notebook contains a record of Charles Lyell’s discussions, ideas, and recordings of December 1846 whilst he was back in the U.K, based at 11 Harley Street, London, after his second travel to America. Throughout this notebook there are crossed out memorandums and geological references alongside contemporary political and religious discussions. The Wandering Jew references are continued in this notebook as in Notebooks 146 and 147. Places Lyell refers to in this notebook include...
Scope and Contents
This black leather notebook was written whilst Lyell was in London, at 11 Harley Street and starts with memoranda, then a list of 'scientific visitors'. Written in London in the years between his travels in America, this notebook considers giraffe and bony fossil fish, but in particular focuses on the work of William, Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842), Unitarian preacher, and on race, slavery and religion. Content warning:...
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London. This notebook has no index, and a part index appears in the Index Notebook series reference Coll-203/A5/2. On p.59 there are notes of conversation with Prince Albert, on University reform. Lyell's own index: 1847
p. 23 Land in Coal Period why where now [now where] the Atlantic. This made the plants the same and the shells very different species.
p. 26 England surrounded by a submarine plain. Ramsay.
p. 26 Subsidence of...
Scope and Contents
This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from 19 July 1847 to 18 September 1847 [the stated end date is inferred from the start date of the following notebook]. There is an abstract of a ‘Times Sept. 6. 1847’ article and a discussion in response to a letter from Charles Darwin dated 8 September 1847. Lyell is home in Kinnordy with no excursions or visited locales being explicitly recorded during this time. The approximate first third of the daily entries are focused on the management of...
