Darwin and Wallace papers read at the Linnean Society

Background. Charles Darwin had an unpublished Essay of 1844 setting out his ideas on species, while Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist working in Borneo, independently developed similar views. In the spring of 1856, Lyell noticed Wallace's published paper and drew it to Darwin's attention, when Darwin was working out a strategy for presenting his theory. Wallace wrote his paper On The Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type at Ternate in February 1858 and sent it to Darwin with a request to forward it to Lyell. This prompted Lyell and Hooker to arrange a joint publication at the Linnean Society of London.

Presentation. The Linnean Society's meeting was postponed due to the death of former president Robert Brown, rescheduling for 1 July 1858. Secretary John Joseph Bennett read the papers, which included Wallace's essay, an extract from Darwin's 1844 work, and a letter to Asa Gray. George Bentham yielded his slot to allow these papers to be first on the agenda, followed by other botanical and zoological topics.

Publication. The joint presentation spurred Darwin to write a condensed abstract of his larger work. The papers, consisting of a communication letter by Hooker and Lyell, were published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society on 20 August 1858. This publication served as the first announcement of the Darwin–Wallace theory of evolution by natural selection.