PREFACE 



Sir Richard Owen's careful habit of preserving 

 every paper or letter that came to his hands has 

 rendered the task of preparing his ' Life ' more 

 difficult perhaps than it would otherwise have 

 been. Of his own letters, written chiefly to his 

 wife and sisters, no less than 1,200 remain; while 

 of the voluminous correspondence he received 

 during his long life more than 15,000 letters had 

 been preserved. 



Besides all these, both he and his wife were 

 in the habit of keeping diaries. His own journal 

 is of a more or less disconnected character ; while 

 that of his wife, which includes the years 1834 to 

 1873, is a full record not only of the important 

 facts but also of the trivial details of their joint 

 lives. It will, therefore, be readily understood 



