The debate about Darwinism: 1860-1882
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The first copy of On the Origin of Species arrived in Denmark on January 1st 1860. On this day, Japetus Steenstrup noted that he had received a signed copy from Darwin himself. The Royal Library obtained a copy of the second edition, which was published in early January 1860. Later in 1860, The University of Copenhagen quickly followed by buying the German translation of the second edition for their collections. During the first decade following the publication, evolutionary theory and the theory on natural selection found its way to the university through debates and classes – not as a new foundation for natural history, but as an interesting proposal from one of the leading figures of the discipline. Not many Danish scientists were convinced by Darwin’s ideas during the first years, but the ideas were definitely known. It was never the less still Darwin’s other works on natural history, which attracted the most attention, and the libraries continued to buy English copies and German translations. By the end of 1860 all of Darwin’s works could be found at the Royal Library, The University of Copenhagen and at The Royal Danish Veterinary and Agricultural University. No copies were, however, translated into Danish yet.
On February 5th 1860, the Danish public was first informed about Darwin’s theory of evolution in a short notice in the weekly magazine Illustreret Tidende under the headline “Literature”. During the 1860s reviews, articles and introductions were frequently published in newspapers, magazines and periodicals. This led Darwin’s general ideas to become publically known, even though there was still only limited public debate. Yet there were a few exceptions – for example when the Liberal politician Rudolf Varberg linked Darwinism to Atheism. In the beginning of the 1870s, the public debate gathered speed when literary critic Georg Brandes used Darwin to promote his own ideas about a social, cultural and intellectual reform.
The company around Brandes was of great importance to the spreading of Darwinism, especially because of the young botanist and author J.P. Jacobsen. He translated On the Origin of Species in 1871-1872 and The Descent of Man in 1874-1875. In 1870, an extract of Darwin’s book on the voyage of the HMS Beagle had already been published by The Society for Public Enlightenment (Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme). In 1876, a full length version of the book about The Voyage of The Beagle was translated and published. Darwin was now commonly known among the Danes.
The editors
