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Alfred Russel Wallace

Summary

Wallace was a leading Victorian naturalist, with wide-ranging interests from biogeography and evolutionary theory to spiritualism and politics. He was born in 1823 in Usk, a small town in south-east Wales, and attended a grammar school in Hertford. At the…

Matches: 14 hits

  • Wallace was a leading Victorian naturalist, with wide-ranging interests from biogeography
  • to spiritualism and politics. He was born in 1823 in Usk, a small town in south-east Wales, and
  • natural history. Despite losing most of his collection in a fire on the return to England in 1852, …
  • especially on geographical distribution (the so-calledWallace linedividing Indian and
  • the problem of species change. In 1857, Darwin and Wallace exchanged several letters on
  • species, along with Darwins encouraging words, that led Wallace to send a draft of his own theory
  • an injustice & never demands justice” (14 April 1869). But Wallace continued, both privately and
  • it out in details I had never thought of, years before I had a ray of light on the subject, & my
  • means of inducing you to write & publish at once.” Wallace returned to London in 1862. …
  • and prone to misinterpretation (see letter from A. R. Wallace, 2 July 1866). Wallace became one of
  • selection in the development of mental and moral faculties. Wallace first expressed reservations
  • open to scientific investigation (see letter from A. R. Wallace, 18 April [1869]). Wallaces views
  • 17 June 1876 and 7 January 1881, and the letter from A. R. Wallace, 29 January 1881). Wallace was a
  • each other, though in one sense rivals” (letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870]). Wallace

Controversy

Summary

The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…

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  • Disagreement & Respect | Conduct of Debate | Darwin & Wallace The best-known
  • sharp theoretical differences with him; on the other hand, a number of his public critics assisted
  • quickly deteriorated and Darwin came to regard him as a bitter enemy. Darwin and Sedgwick
  • but he assures Sedgwick he does not send his book out of a spirit of bravado, but a want of respect. …
  • … “grand principle natural selectionisbut a secondary consequence of supposed, or known, …
  • true-hearted friend. Letter 2555Darwin, C. R. to Sedgwick, Adam, 26 Nov [1859] …
  • of his book. He is grievedto have shocked a man whom I sincerely honour”. He mentions that he has
  • Letter 2526Owen, Richard to Darwin, C. R., 12 Nov 1859 Owen says to Darwin he will welcome
  • asheterodox”. Letter 2575Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [10 Dec 1859] …
  • Letter 2580Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, 13 Dec [1859] Darwin responds to Owens remarks
  • eminent in science. Letter 2767Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 25 Apr [1860] Darwin
  • aggressive tactics. Letter 5500Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. A., 12 Apr [1867] …
  • Letter 5533Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, C. R., 12 May 1867 Haeckel thanks Darwin for the
  • attack is essential. Letter 5544Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. A., 21 May [1867] …
  • theory in England. Darwin and Wallace Much has been written
  • years, was very upset at the prospect of losing priority to Wallace, while at the same time wanting
  • much about the social structure of Victorian science. Wallace would become one of Darwin's most
  • to Lyell and encloses a manuscript by naturalist A. R. Wallace. Darwin has been forestalled. “ . . . …
  • 1858] Darwin writes to Lyell saying that everything in Wallaces sketch also appears in his

Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts

Summary

At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of  Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…

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  • Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of  On the origin of
  • his cousin William Darwin Fox, ‘My work will have to stop a bit for I must prepare a new edit. of
  • views on all points will have to be modified.— Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( …
  • Darwins most substantial addition to  Origin  was a response to a critique of natural selection
  • of species. Darwin correctly assessed Nägelis theory as a major challenge requiring a thorough and
  • morphological features (Nägeli 1865, p. 29). Darwin sent a manuscript of his response (now missing) …
  • myself atrociously’, Darwin wrote to Alfred Russel Wallace on 2 February , ‘I meant to say
  • now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , and
  • Thomsons work challenged by both Thomas Henry Huxley and WallaceHe confided to Huxley, ‘I find
  • of information which I have sent prove of any service to M r . Darwin I can supply him with much
  • … . Natural selection and humans: differences with Wallace But even as Darwins research
  • from you, & I am very sorry for it On 24 March, Wallace wrote to Darwin about a
  • which is to me absolutely unassailable’.  In the article, Wallace claimed that certain human
  • civilization. Such features had only emerged, according to Wallace, through the agency ofa Power
  • laws in definite directions and for special ends’ ([Wallace] 1869b, pp. 3934). Darwin was
  • … & proximate cause in regard to Man’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ).  More
  • and the bird of paradise  (Wallace 1869a; letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 March [1869] ), and
  • an injustice & never demands justice’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). …
  • Sweetland Dallass edition of Fritz Müllers  Für Darwin  (Dallas trans. 1869). The book, an
  • creation, if he is not completely staggered after reading y r  essay’. The work received a

From Argus pheasant to Mivart: To A. R. Wallace, 17 June 1876

Summary

This letter has almost everything you might want from a Darwin letter, and merits a correspondingly, magnificently complete set of notes provided by the Correspondence Project. First, the letter is to that other doyen of natural selection, Alfred Russel…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … This letter has almost everything you might want from a Darwin letter, and merits a correspondingly, …
  • … teeth (an article Darwin saw 'some 20 to 30 years ago, in a French Journal ...'), a frog …
  • … In the second part of the letter ('Now let me turn to a very different subject.') Darwin …
  • … affair on this site dealing with Mivart . Mivart was a rather tragic figure, who, with his …
  • … had been accused of 'encouraging profligacy'), so it became a family matter. Mivart had …
  • … ever, as far as I know, treated me basely.' There is a bonus P.S. to the letter, where …

Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions

Summary

Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...

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  • … myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …

Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex

Summary

The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…

Matches: 9 hits

  • … and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If any man wants to gain a good opinion of his fellow man, he …
  • … or in satisfying female preference in the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in …
  • … on the subject to the zoologist Albert Günther: ‘a drunkard might as well say, he would drink a …
  • … early as 1865, the two-volume work appeared in January 1868. A final delay caused by the indexing …
  • … manuscript to the publisher in February 1867, and had spent a good deal of that year reading and …
  • … . It is a disgrace to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] ). The review was …
  • … entomologist Benjamin Dann Walsh on 25 March 1868 . Wallace maintained that males got whatever …
  • … of natural selection. Darwin resumed the debate with Wallace that he had begun the previous year, …
  • … this evening I have swung back to old position’. Wallace persisted, producing a fifteen-point …

Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?

Summary

'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . .  What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…

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  • the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye to the crafting of his legacy.  …
  • animals  in November, the year marked the culmination of a programme of publication that can be
  • in relation to sex , published in 1871, these books brought a strong if deceptive sense of a job
  • earthworms in shaping the environmentThe former led to a series of books and papers, and the
  • years before. In his private life also, Darwin was in a nostalgic frame of mind, picking up
  • June the previous yearHe intended the edition to be a popular one that would bring his most
  • should be affordable: ‘do you not think 6s is too dear for a cheap Edit? Would not 5s be better? . . …
  • set the final price at 7 s.  6 d.  ( letter from RFCooke, 12 February 1872 ). …
  • translations of both  Descent  and  Origin   was a particular frustration: `I naturally desire
  • letter to St GJMivart,  11 January [1872] ). A worsening breach The criticisms
  • in the sixth edition were those made by Mivart himself. In a new chapter onmiscellaneous
  • or the mouth parts of the baleen whale. Alfred Russel Wallace was one of several correspondents to
  • of Whale  & duck  most beautiful’ ( letter from ARWallace, 3 March 1872 ). …
  • Mivart was among those who wrote in January to wish Darwin a happy new year, before the month was
  • break down. Mivarts book had been followed by a highly critical and anonymously published review of
  • … `chiefly perhaps because I do it badly’ ( letter to ARWallace, 3 August [1872] ).  …
  • to JDHooker, 12 July [1872] ). Darwin and Wallace: diverging views Indignation on
  • … & new views which are daily turning up’ ( letter to ARWallace, 28 August [1872] ).  …
  • you agreed to let them have it for love!!!’ ( letter from RFCooke, 1 August 1872 ). It
  • …  & have not taken care of ourselves’ ( letter from RFCooke, 20 November 1872 ). A

Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute

Summary

Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…

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  • to correct proofs, and just when completion seemed imminent, a further couple of months were needed
  • oversized two-volume  Variation  and instead write a short (as he then expected) ‘Essay on Man’. …
  • selection in forming human races, and there was also to be a chapter on the meaning and cause of the
  • … ), published in 1871, and the chapter on expression into a bookThe expression of the emotions in
  • for decades, it was only now that he began to work with a view to publishing his observations. …
  • his work on expression in 1867, as he continued to circulate a list of questions on human expression
  • Darwin corrected them. Closer to home, two important works, a book by the duke of Argyll, and an
  • defence of the theory in the capable hands of Alfred Russel Wallace. At the same time, Darwin was
  • self-sterility, pollination, and seed dispersal with a growing network of correspondents who worked
  • atmosphere that he so much needed in what was becoming a highly combative and emotional arena. …
  • chapter and remained doubtful whether or not to include a chapteron Man’. After a few days, he
  • Darwin also introduced the subject to Alfred Russel Wallace, who suggested in his response of 11
  • … “supplemental remarks on expression”’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [1217] March [1867] ). Darwins
  • debated the topic on a theoretical level was Alfred Russel Wallace. In a letter to Wallace written
  • aviary to see whether this was the case ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1867] ). He also
  • butterflies resulted from sexual selection was implicit. Wallaces response contained much more than
  • being challenged at a fundamental level. In his response to Wallace ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 26
  • the course of several months. In the 1867 correspondence, Wallace steered clear of the issue of
  • of colour in both insects and birds. Darwin conceded that Wallace had made a convincing argument
  • than I c d  have succeeded in doing’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 29 April [1867] ). Thus Darwin
  • Wallace published a long article, ‘Creation by law’ (A. R. Wallace 1867c), which responded to Jenkin

Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin

Summary

The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…

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  • without doubt, the most momentous of Darwins life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady
  • by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This letter led to the first
  • andbitter opponents’; compiling corrections for a second and then a third edition of his book; and
  • that my book w  d  be successful; but I never even built a castle-in-the air of such success as it
  • shows that at any one time Darwin was engaged in a number of projects, fitting together the final
  • the problem of bees The chapter on instinct posed a number of problems for Darwin. ‘I find my
  • Among these, the cell-making instincts of hive-bees posed a particular challenge to his overall
  • constructed by hive-bees had long been celebrated as a classic example of divine design in nature. …
  • works. The question was, Do the species of large genera have a higher proportion of distinct
  • varieties, or as I look at them incipient species ought, as a general rule, to be now forming. Where
  • in larger genera, but they were not certain. This was a question new to the experts. Darwin was
  • … . condemn allmy lifes work—& that I confess made me a little lowbut I c d . have borne it, …
  • breeds of animals have been developed. To this end, in a final experiment with fowls, he attempted
  • bankiva . Similarly, he asked his son William, as well as a number of foreign correspondents, to
  • the occurrence of reversion in nature. Alfred Russel Wallace and the rush to publish
  • by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, enclosing an essay in which
  • in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell, as Wallace had requested, informing Lyell of
  • to Lyell. ‘I never saw a more striking coincidence. if Wallace had my M.S. sketch written out in
  • Lyell. He simply dated the letter18and referred to Wallaces letter as having been received
  • H. Lewis McKinney, both of whom believe that Darwin received Wallaces communication before 18 June. …
  • 1972, pp. 13840). The cover of the letter to Bates bears Wallaces directionvia Southamptonand
  • Ju 3 58’. Brooks maintains that Darwin received Wallaces letter even earlier, perhaps as
  • species manuscript and appropriated, without acknowledgment, Wallaces theory of divergence. Then, …

Religion

Summary

Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…

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  • … although he tended to avoid the subject as much as possible. A number of correspondents tried to …
  • … nor is it clear that by challenging design, he provided a position completely incompatible with all …
  • … point of departure reviews of Origin . The second is a single letter from naturalist A. R. …
  • … for the attention now given to the subject. He poses Gray a question on design in nature, as he is …
  • … He also discusses his views on design. He shares a witty thought experiment about an angel. …
  • … idea of Pangenesis”. He talks about Gray giving him a good slap at his concluding paragraph, where …
  • … of the fittest” instead of “Natural Selection”. Wallace urges Darwin to stress frequency of …

Origin

Summary

Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to establish priority for the species theory he had spent over twenty years researching. Darwin never intended to write Origin, and had resisted suggestions in 1856…

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  • and had resisted suggestions in 1856 that he publish a short version of his theory. Instead, he
  • supporting evidence, and to this end was steadily writing a work he called hisbig book’ . His
  • relating to Darwins species theory together with Wallaces essay at the Linnean Society of London, …
  • children and he intended to remove the family from Down for a few weeks to the Isle of Wight. …
  • that Darwin might be able to have 100 to 150 pages in aseparate supplemental numberof the
  • objection as strongly as I could. I did not feel myself a dissenter from or opponent to your views, …
  • spirits remained low. ‘ We are too old & feeble a party for anywhere but home ’, he wrote from
  • to whole affair to him: By an odd coincidence, M r  Wallace in the Malay Archipelago sent
  • ago; & both of them have urged me so strongly to publish a fuller abstract, that I have resolved
  • By 30 July, now more comfortably settled in a house on the Isle of Wight, and having started work on
  • positive frame of mind. ‘ I pass my time by doing daily a couple of hours of my Abstract & I
  • … ‘with greater ease & leisure’. Although he thought ita queer plan to give an abstract of an
  • When work on the big book was interrupted by the arrival of Wallaces essay, he had only just
  • how to account for the cell-making instincts of bees, a challenge to his theory of natural selection
  • which I can see are many & grave. I am now writing a pretty full abstract of all my notions on
  • relieved to learn from the Linnean Society that he could be a little more expansive. ‘I will try not
  • in mid August, he recommenced his work on pigeons and spent a nearly a month skeletonising them and
  • the visit and expressed his hope that Tegetmeier would bring a bee hivewith incipient cellsas
  • in January 1859, when he received a (now lost) letter from Wallace, expressing satisfaction with the
  • very sure what he would say’, Darwin admitted, adding that Wallacemust be an amiable man. ’ …
  • views were apparent when he reported to Wallace thatD r . Hooker has become almost as

The "wicked book": Origin at 157

Summary

Origin is 157 years old.  (Probably) the most famous book in science was published on 24 November 1859.  To celebrate we have uploaded hundreds of new images of letters, bringing the total number you can look at here to over 9000 representing more than…

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  • surrounding Origins publication: Alfred Russel Wallace , co-discoverer of natural selection; …
  • Origins best known defender. Most of the letters from Wallace are after Origins appearance, …
  • for him; his cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood wrote about a violent shower of fish , but also about
  • Innes , vicar of the Darwinsparish of Down in Kent, and a lifelong friend of both Charles and
  • James Sulivan , Lieutenant on HMS Beagle , sent a cross-section of fossil-bearing strata
  • Frederick Smith A. G. Butler John Lubbock R. I. Lynch J. B. Burdon Sanderson

Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers

Summary

In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…

Matches: 25 hits

  • restrict himself tomore confined & easy subjects’. A month earlier, on 23 February , he had
  • of his book on earthworms, published in October, was a boost. His 5-year-old grandson Bernard, who
  • on 8 December. Krause countered Butlers accusations in a review of Unconscious memory in
  • Kosmos article should be translated and also appear in a British journal. Darwin could see that
  • seasoned journalist and editor Leslie Stephen. There wasa hopeless division of opinionwithin the
  • … , hoping that he did not think themall gone mad on such a small matter’. The following day, Darwin
  • avoid being pained at being publicly called in ones old age a liar, owing to having unintentionally
  • avoided, even though he wishedto give Somebody such  a slap in the face as he would have cause to
  • try to banish the thoughts, & say to myself that so good a judge, as Leslie Stephen thinks
  • published it in Nature , and George Romanes wrote such a savage review of Unconscious memory
  • January also brought the good news that Alfred Russel Wallace, co-discoverer of natural selection, …
  • … . Buckley had suggested petitioning for a pension for Wallace, but it was Darwins efforts that
  • 28, Appendix VI). When Huxley heard on 8 January that Wallace would receive £200 a yearhe
  • your undertakingfor yours it is totally & entirely’. Wallace also received the news on 8
  • … ‘I have always felt that your generous friendship for Mr. Wallace, & the almost overdue credit
  • the sale of books beinga game of chance’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 12 April 1881 ). On 18 May
  • have everything to make me happy & contented,’ he told Wallace on 12 July , ‘but life has
  • he would feelless sulky in a day or two’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 29 July 1881 ). The degree of
  • falls at this late period of the season’ ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 30 July 1881 ). Darwin gave in
  • 19 July 1881 ). He continued his friendly disagreement with Wallace about plant dispersal across
  • recommended that some of his work be published, and sent him Wallaces book on geographical
  • to bear thewear & tear of controversy’ ( letter to G. R. Jesse, 23 April 1881 ). Later in
  • everyone elses judgment on the subject ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 12 July 1881 ). However, some
  • do not be disappointed if the sale is small’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 5 October 1881 ). The
  • … ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 October 1881] ). Wallace, writing on 18 October , admitted that

Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species

Summary

Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…

Matches: 2 hits

  • At that point Darwin wasinterrupted’, as he put it, by a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace
  • … [1] The title of this chapter has been taken from a table of contents to which Darwin added the

Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution

Summary

The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’.  Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…

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  • was far more extensive than Darwin had anticipated. As a resultDescent , like  Variation , …
  • the material on emotion; it would eventually appear as a separate book in 1872 ( Expression of the
  • of natural selection to humans from Alfred Russel Wallace and St George Jackson Mivart, and heated
  • Lyell, ‘thank all the powers above & below, I shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding
  • eighteen years of age. Darwin clearly expected her to make a considerable contribution, instructing
  • He worried that parts of the book weretoo like a Sermon: who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn
  • disagreed: ‘Certainly to have you turned Parson will be a change I expect I shall want it enlarging
  • looking exclusively into his own mind’, and himself, ‘a degraded wretch looking from the outside
  • side of human descent. On 7 March 1870, Darwin made a note on the shape of human ears: ‘W. has seen
  • made drawings of ears of monkeys & shortly afterwards he saw a man with tip & instantly
  • statue of Puck, the mischievous fairy in Shakespeares  A midsummer nights dreamDarwin
  • sketch in  Descent , and discussed thetipas a rudimentary organ, describing its frequency and
  • 1: 22-3). Humans as animals: facial muscles A more troubling anatomical feature for
  • photographs, later used by Darwin in  Expression , showed a man whose platysma was severely
  • most avid observers of facial expression. Browne sent a lengthy account of the movements of the
  • debate over human evolution grew more heated. Alfred Russel Wallace had expressed reservations about
  • year (see  Correspondence  vol. 17, letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). His views were
  • … (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …
  • they had in the past to sustain goodwill and mutual respect. Wallaces new book, titled  …
  • When he received the book, Darwin was full of praise for Wallacesmodesty and candour’. ‘I hope it
  • each other, though in one sense rivals’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870] ). Darwin

Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life

Summary

1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time.  And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth.  All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…

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  • … and cosseting regarding the ailments that were so much a feature of Darwin family life. But the calm …
  • … by anxiety and deep grief. In May, William Darwin suffered a serious concussion from a riding …
  • … Cross and self fertilisation , that the family suffered a devastating loss. The Darwins must have …
  • … expected in September. Their joy at the safe delivery of a healthy boy was soon replaced by anguish …
  • … death. For once, the labour of checking proofs proved a blessing, as Darwin sought solace for the …
  • … his anxiety about Francis. By the end of the year there was a different order at Down House with …
  • … Year's resolutions Darwin began the year by making a resolution. He would in future …
  • … Origin for the very last time, and made minor changes to a reprint of the second edition of …
  • … voyage, Volcanic islands and South America , in a new single-volume edition titled …
  • … was nevertheless ‘firmly resolved not even to look at a single proof ’. Perhaps Carus’s meticulous …
  • … to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). Revising Orchids was less a return to old work than part of the …
  • … Autobiography’ (‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). During a two-week holiday after finishing Cross and self …
  • … the development of his mind and character, although this was a private document intended in the …
  • … in the Vegetable Kingdom”. ... I hope also to republish a revised edition of my book on Orchids, …
  • … wrote with the good news that he could restore Darwin to a religious life. This transformation would …
  • … without the least foundation’, Darwin told Alfred Russel Wallace on 17 June . It was the still …
  • … to canvass fellows of the society to support Lankester at a second election ( Correspondence vol. …
  • … the ‘utter disgrace’ of blackballing so distinguished a zoologist ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 29 …
  • … for scientific purposes did not have so satisfactory a conclusion. The controversial issue had …
  • … was the criterion for a physiological species. Alfred Russel Wallace was not convinced. ‘I am afraid …

Species and varieties

Summary

On the origin of species by means of natural selection …so begins the title of Darwin’s most famous book, and the reader would rightly assume that such a thing as ‘species’ must therefore exist and be subject to description. But the title continues, …or…

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  • famous book, and the reader would rightly assume that such a thing asspeciesmust therefore exist
  • especially to the modern reader, for whom race carries a different and highly charged meaning. In
  • used the term here, he simply meantvariety’, as ina fast-growing race of wheat’. The question, …
  • of books he wanted to read (DAR 119: 2v), Darwin scribbled a reminder to himself in 1838 toread
  • ancient’. He never got around to reading Aristotle beyond a few extracts, until shortly before his
  • to the characterisation of things, and you have, in a nutshell, the two sides of a debate about the
  • world according to an artificial system; that is, he chose a specific group of structural features
  • other criteria. He was challenged by others who searched for a morenaturaltaxonomy that would
  • organism. Darwin himself did not set out to be a taxonomist, but in trying to understand some
  • observation just how much variability often existed within a species. The features he focused on
  • by the idea that the relations in features reflected a real genealogical relationship over time. In
  • to describe it scientifically, & yet all the genera have 1/2 a dozen synonyms’ ( letter to HE
  • by the shadowy doubt whether this or that form be in essence a species.’ He continued, regarding
  • of evolution by natural selection over many years and gave a lot of thought to definitions of
  • some sterility an unfailing test, with others not worth a farthing. It all comes, I believe, from
  • Hooker, 24 December [1856] ). The idea that sterility was a test of species was firmly held by
  • argued that the sterility of interspecific hybrids was not a special endowment but was gradually
  • to effect change. Darwin began to look at sterility from a different perspective. In May 1860, he
  • different forms and published five articles and eventually a book, The different forms of flowers
  • crossed with the same form. Sometimes all different forms of a species were self-sterile, sometimes
  • now strongly inclined to believe that sterility is at first a selected quality to keep incipient
  • at this time was his discussion of the issue with Alfred Wallace in the spring of 1868. Wallace had

Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'

Summary

In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…

Matches: 17 hits

  • … this manuscript. Although advised by Lyell to publish only a brief outline—probably more for the …
  • … was reluctant to squeeze his expansive material into such a small compass and soon abandoned Lyell’s …
  • … quantities of information, pursuing his own experiments in a variety of different areas, analysing …
  • … still felt cautious in expressing his views before a large scientific audience and anxious to ensure …
  • … valued the views of Thomas Henry Huxley, at that time a somewhat precariously placed lecturer and …
  • … and this, since it was composed so many years later, is not a safe guide to his pre- Origin …
  • … plants to be more hairy than their lowland relatives. But a last-minute check with Hooker revealed …
  • … but all they actually showed was the self-evident fact that a large genus was more likely to contain …
  • … among marine invertebrates. His request led Huxley to make a note for future reference, ‘Darwin, an …
  • … also encouraged him to predict that trees would tend to show a separation of the sexes, a proposal …
  • … Darwin carried out his researches with relish and published a short notice about the problem in  …
  • … (see  Correspondence  vol. 3), he had begun in 1855 a series of researches designed to explain how …
  • … was the series of experiments begun in 1855 based on soaking a wide variety of seeds in salt water …
  • …  experiments. Franky said to me, “why sh d  not a bird be killed (by hawk, lightning, apoplexy, …
  • … He felt that the mud on birds’ feet probably had a role to play in the distribution of seeds and …
  • … Joseph Parslow, the butler, to shoot partridges after a heavy rainfall so that Darwin could count …
  • … the surviving correspondence that Darwin initially wrote to Wallace in order to obtain specimens of …

Before Origin: the ‘big book’

Summary

Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…

Matches: 24 hits

  • considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a short pencil
  • wasalmost convincedthat species were not immutablea view so controversial that it was, he
  • … & on the question of what are species’, and possesseda grand body of factsfrom which he
  • Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation caused a publishing sensation in October 1844, the
  • contained several points that challenged his theory. ‘ In a year or twos time, when I shall be at
  • … & comparing them, in order in some 2 or 3 years to write a book with all the facts & …
  • he anticipated, would provideno amusementand be ahorrid bore ’. Contrary to Darwins
  • proved enjoyable and enlightening , and the birds were a delight to his young daughter
  • as Darwin began his pigeon breeding programme, he started a series ofseed-salting experimentsto
  • expertise, Darwin inquired: ‘ will you tell me at a guess how long an immersion in sea-water
  • expressed his satisfaction that the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who was collecting in the
  • theoretical ideas’. ‘I am a firm believer’, he told Wallace, ‘ that without speculation there is no
  • establishment in Surrey. While there, he wrote to Wallace. Praising Wallaces 1855 article on
  • his own work on species was finished he might benefit from Wallaceslarge harvest of factsfrom
  • do species & varieties differ from each other’, he told Wallace in May 1857, before statingI
  • I do not suppose I shall go to press for two years. ’ Wallace was intrigued as to whether
  • was to be tried far more sorely in the following month. Wallace, who had continued to pursue his
  • On 18 June 1858, Darwin received a now lost letter from Wallace enclosing his essay titled on &#039
  • told Lyell, ‘ I never saw a more striking coincidence. if Wallace had my M.Ssketch written out in
  • to publish any sketch, can I do so honourably because Wallace has sent me an outline of his doctrine
  • accepted Lyell and Hookers suggestion that they submit Wallaces essay together with extracts from
  • …  than satisfied at what took place at Linn. Soc y ’. Wallace, however, did not hear about any of
  • been equally pleased. Writing to his mother in October 1858, Wallace statedI sent Mr. Darwin an
  • and a half chapters were edited and published in 1975 by R. C. Stauffer under the title Charles

Dramatisation script

Summary

Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007

Matches: 22 hits

  • 2Charles Darwin Actor 3In the dress of a modern day archivist, this actor uses the
  • the environment in which the play unfolds and acting as a go-between between Gray and Darwin, and
  • indicate an edit in the original text not, necessarily, a pause in the delivery of the line. A
  • Jane the final days of Professor Asa Gray, Harvard Botanist. A series of strokes affect adversely
  • dinner, though there had seemed some threatening of a cold, but he pronounced himselfGRAY
  • quick breathing and some listlessness, so that he was nursed a little on FridayThat evening
  • him on the success of the treatment. There seemed a weakness of the right hand, which, however, …
  • that they may be held theisticallyIndeed, I expect that a coming generation will give me the
  • bright and well, but on going down to breakfast there came a slight shock in the right arm, …
  • the address so that it could be read. Gray takes up a copy of his paper on Darwin. …
  • perambulations along theSand Walkat Down. He is a man of enormous enthusiasm and good humour, …
  • to Messrs Lyell and Hooker in 1844, being a part of [an unpublished] manuscript. …
  • his Christian belief and Darwin discovers that Alfred Wallace has developed his own strikingly
  • of the package (an essay from New Guinea from Alfred Russel Wallace) throws Darwin into a fluster. …
  • of last year… /  Why I ask this is as follows: Mr Wallace who is now exploring New Guinea, has
  • will be smashed. …  49   [Yet] there is nothing in Wallaces sketch which is not written out
  • that I can do so honourably50   knowing that Wallace is in the field….  / It seems hard on
  • Dr GrayI shall be glad of your opinion of Darwin and Wallaces paper. GRAY:   58   …
  • on all hands. DARWIN65   My dear [Mr Wallace], I have told [my publisher] Murray
  • paragraph, in which I quote and differ from you[r178   doctrine that each variation has been
  • TO JD HOOKER 12 OCTOBER 1849 6  C DARWIN TO R FITZROY, 1 OCTOBER 1846 7  …
  • TO A GRAY, 27 NOVEMBER 1859 65  C DARWIN TO A WALLACE, 13 NOVEMBER 1859 66  …
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