The notebooks were returned to the university library.

Following his voyage on the HMS Beagle, famous 19th century naturalist Charles Darwin filled two notebooks with numerous notes and musings that would eventually form the basis of his theory of evolution, “On the Origin of Species.” These two notebooks were stored in the library of Cambridge University, but when they were removed for photography purposes in 2001, they went missing. For a long time, it had been assumed that they had been simply misplaced, but after spending years combing the archives, they were officially reported stolen in October of 2020.

Now, over 20 years later, the Darwin notebooks have suddenly reappeared. Last month, the books were discovered in a public area of the university library in mint condition in a pink gift box wrapped in film. The library security cameras were not able to catch the identity of whoever left the books, but the librarian who found them discovered a small card that said “Happy Easter” on it.

Upon receiving news that the notebooks had reappeared, the university’s director of library services, Jessica Gardner, experienced a feeling of relief that was, in her own words, “profound and almost impossible to adequately express.”

“The notebooks can now retake their rightful place alongside the rest of the Darwin Archive at Cambridge, at the heart of the nation’s cultural and scientific heritage, alongside the archives of Sir Isaac Newton and Professor Stephen Hawking,” she said.

Local police are still investigating the theft of the notebooks, and are accepting tips.