Now, almost 200 years later, librarians at the University of Cambridge are faced with another seemingly unresolved question: how two of his extremely valuable notebooks, stolen 22 years ago, suddenly appeared in excellent condition, in a pink gift bag outside the chief librarian’s office? The small leather-bound notebooks, which contained the famous Darwin sketch of 1837, were lost in 2000. It was initially thought to have been placed on the wrong shelves and staff conducted extensive finger searches in the library, which houses some 10 million books, maps, manuscripts and other items. In 2020, they were reported stolen to Cambridgeshire police, who then launched an investigation and alerted Interpol, while the university made a global appeal for information. Fast forward 18 months both books reappeared after the elusive thief returned them in perfect condition in a pink gift bag, wrapped in foil, along with a printed note that read: “Librarian. Happy Easter. X. “ They were left on the floor of a public library area outside the library office on the morning of March 9th. The police investigation into the disappearance of the notebooks and the subsequent return is ongoing.
