Rare Charles Darwin letters unearthed

A letter written by famous naturalist Charles Darwin and a Christmas card from Queen Victoria, are among a rare collection unearthed by an auctioneer.

The cache of correspondence from 19th century figures will be offered as part of a sale at Duke's Auctioneers in Dorchester, Dorset.

The collection was brought in by a local couple to see if it would be of any value, and was immediately recognised as a notable collection.

Among the signatures were naturalist Darwin, Lord Byron, prime minister William Gladstone, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and even a Christmas card from Queen Victoria.

The owners were descendants of Edmund Sydney Williams, co-founder of the publishing company and book importers Williams & Norgate, which specialised in British and foreign scholarly, theological and scientific literature.

One of the highlights of the collection is a two-page letter from Darwin. It is written on Darwin's personal headed notepaper from his home Down House in Beckenham, Kent, where he wrote On The Origin Of The Species.

The letter concerns a request from Darwin to Williams & Norgate to procure "two volumes of Citrifolia" and then send them to Dr Anton Dorhn for the Zoological Station at Naples. Dating to 1873, the letter is expected to sell for between £6,000-£8,000.

Two letters from composer Felix Mendelssohn are expected to fetch between £1,000-£1,500.

A short letter from Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes is estimated at between £200-£300.

Auctionee John Holmes says: "It goes without saying that I was staggered at the collection, in terms of both its volume, as there is well over a hundred letters all from noted Victorians, but also the inherit value of the collection and the owners were equally shocked when we began discussing what the collection could be worth.

"It would not surprise me in the least if the total figure was in excess of £20,000."

The letters will be offered as part of Duke's Autumn Fine Art Sale on September 6 and 7.