Charles Darwin's Autobiography was first published in 1887 five years after his death. It was a bowdlerized edition: Darwin's family attempting to protect his posthumous reputation had deleted all the passages they considered too personal or controversial. The present complete edition did not appear until 1959 one hundred years after the publication of The Origin of Species.

"No man can pretend to know Darwin who does not know his autobiography. Here for the first time since his death it is presented complete and unexpurgated as it exists in the family archives. It will prove invaluable to biographers and cast new light on the personality of one of the world's greatest scientists. Nora Barlow Darwin's granddaughter has proved herself a superb editor. Her own annotations make fascinating reading."
 Loren Eiseley