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Stolen notebooks home at last - 16th May 2022

Two 'stolen' notebooks belonging to Charles Darwin have been mysteriously returned to Cambridge University, 22 years after they were last seen. The small leather-bound books, which include the scientist's famous 'tree of life' sketch, are worth several million pounds.

15 months ago, after years of assuming the books were somewhere on the premises, the library reported they'd actually been stolen. Staff were over the moon at the return of the precious notebooks, after the launch of a worldwide appeal to find them. "I feel joyous," announced Dr Jessica Gardner, the university librarian. "They're safe, they're in good condition, they're home."

The facts surrounding their recovery raise more questions than answers. The notepads were carefully wrapped up and then positioned outside Dr Gardner's office in a bright pink gift bag, in a CCTV-free area of the library. Together with the valuable books was a brief, printed message which read, "Librarian, Happy Easter X." When Dr Gardner initially caught sight of the bag and its contents, she was trembling. However, the librarian added that "I was also cautious because until we could unwrap them, you can't be 100 percent sure."

The notepads originate from the second half of the 1830s, following Darwin's Galapagos Islands trip. The books contain the thoughts and ideas which helped inspire his theory of evolution. Over 20 years later, these developed into his ground-breaking work 'On the Origin of Species', arguably the most critical scientific theory of its kind.

For the time being, the recovered notebooks are being kept securely in the library's strongroom, but they'll be on display to the public in a free exhibition – 'Darwin in Conversation' – later this year. Despite their reappearance, many intriguing questions remain, such as who was responsible for removing and returning these irreplaceable items, and what were their motives?