Paper worth 1.3 Billion Won Found in Pile of Waste... Original Manuscript of 'Jong-ui Giwon' Revealed

Darwin's 59 Pages of Handwritten Manuscripts Released Online
Each Page Worth Nearly One Million Dollars Today

The handwritten manuscript of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," considered one of the most influential scientific books in history, has been made available online, sparking widespread interest.

On the 25th, the National University of Singapore (NUS) announced that John Van Wyhe, a biology professor and Darwin scholar at the university, has released online a total of 59 pages of the handwritten manuscript of "On the Origin of Species," including previously unknown 7 chapters and 3 recently rediscovered chapters, confirmed to still exist.

The released manuscript contains approximately 11,700 words, accounting for 7.7% of the entire original manuscript of "On the Origin of Species." NUS also stated, "This manuscript includes many unpublished sentences, providing fascinating insights into Darwin's thinking process while writing 'On the Origin of Species.'"

They added, "Darwin's handwriting is notoriously difficult to read. By transcribing and editing all the manuscripts and indicating where the manuscript content appears in the published book, it allows us to understand how Darwin originally structured and revised many of his arguments."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to NUS, the manuscript of "On the Origin of Species" is currently valued at nearly one million dollars (approximately 1.36 billion KRW) per page. The last auction price in 2018 reached ?490,000 (approximately 868 million KRW). It can be considered the most precious and valuable species in the history of science.

The British government has also imposed export bans on these manuscripts to prevent them from being taken overseas.

"On the Origin of Species" was first published on November 24, 1859, but almost all pages of the handwritten manuscript were reportedly discarded. After the book's publication, Darwin threw away hundreds of pages of manuscripts, some of which his children used for drawing. His son even tore the manuscript in half and solved math problems on the back.

However, as evolutionary theory became more widely accepted toward the end of Darwin's life, interest in the manuscript of "On the Origin of Species" increased, and some manuscripts were discovered among piles of old notebooks along with discarded paper.

After Darwin's death, his children gifted the handwritten manuscripts to various people over several decades. These manuscripts are now scattered around the world, and some are presumed to be lost forever.