Darwin books 'lost' in fire at university
By Tara Womersley
(Filed: 25/10/2001)
A FIRE in a 100-year-old building at Glasgow
University is
thought to have destroyed first edition works of
Charles
Darwin and caused £8 million of damage.
It is estimated that books and equipment worth up to
£3.5
million have been lost and the repairs to the Bower
building, which housed one of Britain's earliest
biological
laboratories, will cost up to £5 million.
Items destroyed in the blaze included rare 19th
century
botany books and it is feared that first editions of
some of
Darwin's works, along with his manuscripts, were
among
them. Records from around 2,000 students were also
thought to have been burnt.
Around 40 people were led from the building, which
had
two botany laboratories and is also used as an
administrative centre for the department of
biomedical
and life sciences, after the blaze broke out at
around
1.30pm. Neighbouring buildings were evacuated.
The Bower building was due to undergo a £3.5 million
refit
and the fire is thought to have started in the roof
space,
used for storage. More than 70 firemen attended the
blaze, which spread quickly due to the building's
age.
The collection of books was housed on the third
floor. Prof
John Coggins, dean and director of the department,
was
deeply saddened by their destruction.
"Some of these would have included works by Darwin
but
what is more irreplaceable is the loss of original
manuscripts. Although we may have duplicates of
these in
the university's library, it is tragic that we have
lost the
originals.
"Many student records may also have been lost but it
is
important to stress the most important ones would
have
been held centrally. The disruption to
undergraduates will
be minimal."
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