In November 1880, Charles Darwin received a request from a young barrister named FA McDermott. “If I am to have the pleasure of reading your books,” McDermott wrote, “I must feel that at the end I shall not have lost my faith in the New Testament. My reason in writing to you therefore is to ask you to give me a Yes or No to the question Do you believe in the New Testament.”

Darwin’s reply, penned on 24 November 1880 – exactly 21 years after the publication of On the Origin of Species – was blunt:

Dear Sir, I am sorry to have to inform you that I do not believe in the Bible as a divine revelation & therefore not in Jesus Christ as the son of God. Yours faithfully Ch. Darwin

That letter is headed to auction at Bonhams on 21 September in New York, where it is expected to fetch $70,000-$90,000.

The 19th-century naturalist and fervent letter writer had largely evaded this question since the publication of the book in 1859. The now classic text introduced his theory of natural selection, which demonstrated that species evolve through gene variation; it was a divisive proposition for Christian readers who believed that humans were made in God’s image, distinct from other animals.



Darwin’s letters regularly appear for sale with much lower price tags – Bonhams sold one last autumn about the reproductive act among barnacles for $25,000. The letter to McDermott, less wordy than his typical missives, is, however, unique in its theological content. “If you’re a Darwin collector, it is the ultimate piece. It’s at the crux of the whole debate,” said Cassandra Hatton, senior specialist in the book department at Bonhams.

For decades Darwin had avoided publishing his ideas about evolution in order to shield his family, especially his religious wife, from any hint of scandal. On this letter to McDermott, he scrawled the word “private” across the top, a significant addition considering the provocative content. Even at the age of 71, he was wary of expressing his true thoughts about his faith. “Darwin never flaunted his disbelief, but he never denied it,” said David Quammen, author of The Reluctant Mr Darwin and editor of the illustrated edition of On the Origin of Species. He also never put it on paper quite as candidly as he had to McDermott.

Why had the scientist finally broken his silence? A dip into the Darwin Correspondence Project hosted by Cambridge University Library, which holds the largest collection of Darwin papers, reveals that McDermott was certainly not the first to inquire about Darwin’s creed. Beginning in the late 1860s, a correspondent named Joseph Plimsoll addressed several letters to Darwin, “deeply solicitous for the salvation of your immortal soul”. In 1871, an anonymous “child of God” wrote: “Oh Man, Man, Man, why wrap yourself up in the dark theories of your own imagination; and spend your days in striving to prove ‘God’ a liar?” Similar fanmail followed.

Perhaps Darwin was exhausted by the enquiries and the entreaties, or perhaps McDermott’s sincere appeal – coupled with an assurance that he would not publicise the answer – persuaded Darwin to tackle the subject directly. “I can only imagine what went through his mind when he got this response,” said Hatton.

But McDermott, whatever his reaction, was true to his word. The letter remained private for more than 100 years. It was last seen at auction in 1996.

After Darwin’s death in 1882, rumours of a deathbed conversion circulated. This letter, written less than two years before, defends against such claims.

“There has been fog and falsehood and wishful thought surrounding the subject of Darwin’s religious belief, or lack of it, for more than a century,” said Quammen. “The McDermott letter of 1880, a real historical document, reaffirms all the other genuine evidence we have about Charles Darwin’s rigorous, courageous agnosticism throughout the second half of his life.”

The letter remains relevant in contemporary culture as well, said Hatton, particularly while some public schools in the US are still teaching creationism. “I think it still is a very controversial topic,” she said.

According to Hatton, the auction house has fielded “strong interest” in the letter. It will be sold alongside two other Darwin letters, a signed photograph of him, and other artifacts of science and technology including an Apple-1 computer and an Enigma machine.