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List of correspondents

Summary

Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…

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… Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. …
… "A child of God" (1) …
… (1) Admiralty, Lords of the (1) Agassiz, …
… J. L. (3) American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1) …
… (1) Annals and Magazine of Natural History (1) …
… D. T. (8) Anthropological Society, Vienna (1) …
… Blytt, Axel (2) Board of the Treasury (minutes) (1) …
… Cecil, S. A. (1) Chairman of Highway Board (1) …
… W. J. R. (1) Council, Royal Society of London (1) …
… Annie (7) Down Friendly Society (3) …
… (1) Edinburgh Royal Medical Society (1) …
… Margaret (1) Franklin Society (1) …
… Isidore (2) Geological Society (1) …
… (21) Kippist, Richard Linnean Society (1) …
… Lindvall, C. A. (2) Linnean Society (23) …
… (3) President and council, Linnean Society (1) …
… Seare, Thomas (1) Secretary of the Royal Commission on vivisection …
… John (54) Undersecretary, Linnean Society (1) …

1.18 John Collier, oil in Linnean

Summary

< Back to Introduction By 1881 it was clear to Darwin’s intimates that he was increasingly frail, and that, as he approached death, he had finally escaped from religious controversy to become a heroic figure, loved and venerated for his achievements…

Matches: 11 hits

… by the public at large. It was therefore a matter of urgency to fashion a definitive image of him …
… with the spectator, while William Richmond’s portrait of him in academic robes failed to convey …
… as a thinker. George Romanes and other members of Darwin’s circle therefore gained his …
… Mr Collier is a very good one’, as his recent portrait of Joseph Hooker testified. Moreover, Darwin …
… marriage to Huxley’s daughter Marian had made him a member of the Darwinian set, with sympathy for …
… it, and he would be proud to see himself ‘suspended at the Linnean Society’. In the event, he did …
… Room there. It ‘was about to be hung in the rooms of the society’ in April 1882, when his death was …
… banquet, William Spottiswoode, President of the Royal Society, remarked that he came ‘almost fresh …
… the scientific world.’ physical location Linnean Society   accession or …
… oil on canvas   references and bibliography Linnean catalogue record at https://linnean …
… and William Thomas Stearn, A Bicentenary History of the Linnean Society of London (London: …

Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments

Summary

The year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend and supporter; Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and father of Darwin’s friend…

Matches: 14 hits

… the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and plants …
… projects came to fruition in 1865, including the publication of his long paper on climbing plants in …
… lengthy discussion written by George Douglas Campbell, duke of Argyll, appeared in the religious …
… the year, Darwin was elected an honorary member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The year …
… was ready to submit his paper on climbing plants to the Linnean Society of London, and though he was …
… Darwin’s nomination for the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London in 1864, had staunchly …
… of species ( Origin ), which the Council of the Royal Society had failed to include among the …
… scarlet fever), and was wondering whether to send it to the Linnean Society, or to the Royal Society …
… 7 January [1865] ). After sending the manuscript to the Linnean, he complained to Hooker: ‘For the …
… ). An abstract of the paper was read before the Linnean Society on 2 February, and in April …
… books that he needed for references, probably from the Linnean Society ( letter to [Richard Kippist …
… from which Darwin edited and submitted in October to the Linnean Society for publication in Müller’s …
… vol. 13). Before submitting the letters to the Linnean Society, Darwin enlisted the help of …
… thing, considering that Brewster is President & Balfour secretary’, he wrote to Hooker on 22 …

Darwin’s reading notebooks

Summary

In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…

Matches: 18 hits

… In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to …
… were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119) …
… a few odd entries, the record ends. Both notebooks consist of two different sections, headed ‘Books …
… information more widely available. A previous transcript of the reading notebooks (Vorzimmer 1977) …
… they were written. The reader should keep in mind that many of the comments about the works were …
… that a work had been entered in an alphabetical listing of books read. This notebook (DAR 120) is a …
… copy of the catalogue of scientific books in the Royal Society of London (Royal Society of London …
… Transact 15 [ Transactions of the Horticultural Society ] Mr Coxe “view of the …
… Transactions [ ?Memoirs of the Caledonian Horticultural Society ]: Asa Gray & Torrey …
… [ Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India ; Proceedings of the …
… 1837] Transactions of the Caledonian Horticultural Society [ ?Memoirs of the Caledonian …
… Horticult. Transactions [ Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London ].— [DAR …
… Journal ] Linnæan Transact [ Transactions of the Linnean Society of London ] …
… & Wernerian Transacts— [ Transactions of the Linnean Society of London and Memoirs of …
… vols. of Linnæan Transactions [ Transactions of the Linnean Society of London ]. May 3 …
… June 10 th . Linnæan Trans. [ Transactions of the Linnean Society of London ] to end of Vol: …
… in 1844. 39 John Lindley served as assistant secretary to the Horticultural Society …
… *119: 4v.; 119: 6a Transactions of the Linnean Society of London . London. 1791–. [Vol. …

Climbing plants

Summary

Darwin’s book Climbing plants was published in 1865, but its gestation began much earlier. The start of Darwin’s work on the topic lay in his need, owing to severe bouts of illness in himself and his family, for diversions away from his much harder book on…

Matches: 15 hits

… in 1865, but its gestation began much earlier. The start of Darwin’s work on the topic lay in his …
… easy plant to raise in pot ’. Gray immediately sent seeds of the two plants he had himself used to …
… angulatus , [ Sicyos angulatus ; bur cucumber]—also of a more genteel Cucurbitacea, …
… these, especially upon the first, I made my observations of tendrils coiling to the touch ’. …
… interrupted by his poor health. He did not lose his sense of humour, though, and told his best …
… Charles Darwin”; for I cannot think what has come over me of late; I always suffered from the …
… Darwin’s journal for 1863 resolutely records each chapter of Variation as he finished writing it …
… June 1863, Darwin reported to Gray that although the seeds of Sicyos failed to germinate, he had …
… in another respect, namely the incessant rotatory movement of the leading shoots, which bring the …
… I will perhaps write a letter to you for the chance of its being worth inserting in Silliman or …
… about where he could publish his opus. The Journal of the Linnean Society seemed the obvious …
… him, ‘ Bentham craves your paper however long—for the Linnean, & so do I ’. A more relaxed …
… paper was long, but an excerpt from it was read by the secretary of the Linnean Society, Frederick …
… on 12 June 1865 in a double issue of the Journal of the Linnean Society ( Botany ). In spite …
… for publication and appeared in the Journal of the Linnean Society ( Botany ) in November …

Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad

Summary

At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…

Matches: 17 hits

… At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
… scientific correspondence. Six months later the volume of his correspondence dropped markedly, …
… ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a letter of 23 [June 1863] he wrote to his …
… Malvern Wells, Worcestershire, where he underwent a course of the water-cure. The treatment was not …
… with the challenges presented by the publication in February of books by his friends Charles Lyell, …
… Huxley, the zoologist and anatomist. Lyell’s Antiquity of man and Huxley’s Evidence as to man …
… bearing on Darwin’s species theory and on the problem of human origins. Specifically, Darwin …
… similarities between humans and apes, Darwin was full of praise. He especially admired its …
… devoted the first part of his presidential address at the Linnean Society of London to British and …
… of which Haast was a founding member ( see letter from the secretary of the Philosophical Institute …
… November when Darwin heard that his nomination for the Royal Society’s Copley Medal had been …
… Emma Darwin, 11 November [1863] ). The council of the Royal Society voted instead for the geologist …
… to win the award was Edward Sabine, President of the Royal Society ( see letter from Edward Sabine …
… forms in species of Linum ’) was read before the Linnean Society. In the paper, Darwin presented …
… eventually communicated Scott’s Primula work to the Linnean Society in a paper that was read in …
… Scotland; he warned Darwin that at the Edinburgh Botanical Society, where he read his orchid paper, …
… Disa and Herschelea Darwin communicated to the Linnean Society ( see letter to Roland Trimen, …

Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours

Summary

Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…

Matches: 16 hits

… no little discovery of mine ever gave me so much pleasure as the making out the meaning …
… The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers , his fifth book on a …
… gathering observations made by others. With the exception of bloom, each of these projects would …
… Francis, who had moved back to Down House after the death of his wife, Amy, the previous year. He …
… and digestion. William, who had contributed to some of the early research on heterostyly, provided …
… had befriended. The year 1877 was more than usually full of honours. Darwin received two elaborate …
… had been many months in preparation, and involved hundreds of contributors from Germany, Austria, …
… reflections, Darwin remarked: ‘no little discovery of mine ever gave me so much pleasure as the …
… different flower forms, distinguished in part by the lengths of their pistils and stamens, that …
… to aid his research, and he alluded here to the complexity of the work, namely that the length of …
… nitrogenous matter. His work on teasel was sent to the Royal Society of London by Darwin, who …
… perfectly heard & understood’. An abstract appeared in the society’s Proceedings , but the …
… Rade, a civil servant active in the Westphalian Provincial Society for Science and Art. In a letter …
… The album arrived with a long letter from the director and secretary of the Dutch Zoological …
… College, and avoided dinner at the Cambridge Philosophical Society. ‘I am not able to spend an …
… Henry Huxley delivered a rousing speech at the Philosophical Society dinner), and busy himself …

Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings

Summary

‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…

Matches: 20 hits

… I am merely slaving over the sickening work of preparing new Editions Plants …
… species, and botanical research had often been a source of personal satisfaction, providing relief …
… on a book manuscript for some nine months. The pleasures of observation and experiment had given way …
… was also revising another manuscript, the second edition of Climbing plants , which he hoped to …
… had he completed these tasks, than he took up the revision of another, much longer book, the second …
… to devote more time to research, returning to the subject of cross and self-fertilisation. On 3 …
… Kew, William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, about the prospect of obtaining new specimens: ‘I have great …
… Edwin Ray Lankester, who was up for election to the Linnean Society. The ‘malcontents’ of the …
… Mivart was a distinguished zoologist, a fellow of the Royal Society of London, and a secretary of …
… respecting codes of conduct and communication in scientific society. Huxley chose journalism, …
… was hampered by his position as president of the Royal Society from spurning Mivart in public. …
… the chance arose. On 28 January , he sent a note on Royal Society business to Edward Burnett …
… to abandon his medical studies and work as his father’s secretary. On sending the latest batch of …
… had been opened in the village, and a local temperance society had been established by a Down …
… 15 July [1875] ). Such visitors from the upper ranks of society could be especially taxing. As Emma …
… paper in October and asked Darwin to submit it to the Royal Society on his behalf. Darwin …
… had to break the news to the author in 1876 that his Royal Society ambitions had been frustrated. …
… who had been blackballed in a bid for election to the Linnean Society. He was the eldest son of …
… ). It was Thiselton-Dyer who nominated Lankester for the Linnean, and he was blackballed on 2 …
… 22 February, he was notified of Lyell’s death by Lyell’s secretary, Arabella Buckley. Lyell had …

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: 18 hits

… In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing …
… again to write on general & difficult points in the theory of Evolution’, he told the …
… as the sweetest place on this earth’. From the start of the year, Darwin had his demise on his mind. …
… affairs and began to make provision for the dividing of his wealth after his death. Darwin’s …
… who lived at Down House, remained a continual source of delight. A second grandchild was born in …
… Krause countered Butler’s accusations in a review of Unconscious memory in Kosmos and sent …
… and editor Leslie Stephen. There was ‘a hopeless division of opinion’ within the family, Henrietta …
… Darwin was enormously relieved. ‘Your note is one of the kindest which I have ever received,’ he …
… that so good a judge, as Leslie Stephen thinks nothing of the false accusation’. Other friends …
… Nature , and George Romanes wrote such a savage review of Unconscious memory that Darwin …
… shunned Butler and ignored his book. Sources of pleasure January also brought the good …
… he wrote to Darwin, ‘I congratulate you on the success of your undertaking—for yours it is totally …
… the limits of science in questions of religion, morals, and society. Graham accepted evolution and …
… also felt obliged to sit for a portrait commissioned by the Linnean Society. ‘It tires me a good …
… & ungracious dog not to agree’, he told Romanes, secretary of the society, on 27 May . …
… and when William expressed his wish to join the Geological Society of London, if it were ‘not absurd …
… for not commending papers presented by Francis at the Linnean Society the previous December …
… character, such as ‘his strong sense of humour and love of society’, ‘his extreme interest in the …

Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small

Summary

In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…

Matches: 18 hits

… in plant physiology, he investigated the reactive properties of roots and the effects of different …
… between science and art, and the intellectual powers of women and men. He fielded repeated requests …
… by early April, he was being carried upstairs with the aid of a special chair. The end came on 19 …
… his brother Erasmus had been interred in 1881. But some of his scientific friends quickly organised …
… In the end, his body was laid to rest in the most famous of Anglican churches, Westminster Abbey. …
… pleasure. The year opened with an exchange with one of his favourite correspondents, Fritz Müller. …
… for years, but he was always keen to learn more. One line of research was new: ‘I have been working …
… slices, yet are found to differ greatly in the nature of their contents, if immersed for some …
… ‘Action of carbonate of ammonia on roots’, read at the Linnean Society of London on 6 and 16 March, …
… produced by planting in apposition’, was read at the Linnean Society on 4 May, but not published. …
… sat for Collier in 1881 for a portrait commissioned by the Linnean Society. Collier sent Darwin a …
… consult another physician. ‘Ever since I met Frank at the Linnean,’ he wrote, ‘I have been greatly …
… his memory more than I shall. I have just come from the Linnean when we adjourned as a small tribute …
… of Darwin’s scientific life in the 1840s: his duties as secretary of the Geological Society, his …
… December [1857] ). In May 1857, Darwin wrote to the secretary of the Royal Society, William …
… by Thomas Francis Jamieson in a paper to the Geological Society. Darwin was a referee for the paper …
… from my continued ill-health has been my seclusion from society & not becoming acquainted with …
… ‘the imbecile, the maimed, and other useless members of society’. He regarded this as the highest …

Origin is 160; Darwin's 1875 letters now online

Summary

To mark the 160th anniversary of the publication of Origin of species, the full transcripts and footnotes of nearly 650 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1875 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1875…

Matches: 17 hits

… To mark the 160th anniversary of the publication of Origin of species , the full transcripts and …
… life in 1875 through his letters and see a full list of the letters . The year 1875 was …
… a new book, Insectivorous plants , and the second edition of Climbing plants. He also worked …
… was surprisingly successful, given the technical nature of its content, going through three …
… was set up to look into the subject. Darwin’s second visit of the year to London, in December, was …
… assisted Darwin with his experiments on the digestive fluid of the insectivorous plant Drosera …
… Royal Commission on vivisection. When asked about his use of anaesthetics in research, Klein …
… from the 1875 letters include: I am very glad of the 14 s , for though I much like …
… in June 1875; he had succeeded in getting the price of his new book, Insectivorous plants , …
… I am merely slaving over the sickening work of preparing new Editions . ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, …
… Cross and self fertilisation , summing up many years of experiments on crossing plants. …
… when Frances Power Cobbe, a journalist and an acquaintance of Darwin’s, raised a petition and …
… here . Mr. Ffinden accused me in the vestry of having made false statements ( Letter …
… men, despite Ffinden’s opposition, and that a temperance society had been organised by a local …
… Darwin’s son Francis, who was working as his father’s secretary, was also able to do independent …
… Lyell. Lyell had helped to introduce Darwin to scientific society in London, had offered much …
… a promising young zoologist, was blackballed by the Linnean Society of London. He spent another week …

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…

Matches: 14 hits

… I cannot bear to think of the future The year 1876 started out sedately enough with …
… one or the other was away from Down. The usual rhythm of visits with family and friends took place …
… when Darwin was finishing work on the second edition of Orchids and checking the page-proofs of …
… the zoologist Edwin Ray Lankester was blackballed at the Linnean Society of London because of …
… on Lankester’s scientific reputation, but also to save the Linnean Society from the ‘utter disgrace’ …
… school at Cambridge University. The Physiological Society, which had been founded in March 1876 by …
… what action to take. Burdon Sanderson was keen for the society’s secretary, George Romanes, to write …
… on leaf-arrangement or phyllotaxy was sent to the Royal Society of London by Darwin because he …
… ). Darwin recognised scientific skill in all levels of society. He not only offered to propose the …
… Francis Maitland Balfour, for fellowship of the Royal Society, but also signed a petition for a …
… Tait, a Birmingham gynaecologist. The decision by the Royal Society of London to reject a paper by …
… left Darwin, who had communicated the paper to the society in 1875 at Tait’s request, with the …
… April [1876] ). Darwin could not have been surprised by the society’s decision. He already knew …
… which will last for my life’, he told George Stokes, secretary of the society, on 21 April, …

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: 12 hits

… John Jenner Weir, ‘If any man wants to gain a good opinion of his fellow man, he ought to do what I …
… , pp. 87–90, Darwin had briefly introduced the concept of sexual selection to explain certain …
… claimed that sexual selection was ‘the most powerful means of changing the races of man’ …
… decades before. He also made efforts to expand his network of informants, especially among breeders …
… leading physiologists, zookeepers, and his immediate circle of friends and relations. In July 1868 …
… would eventually swell to two separate books, Descent of man and Expression of the emotions in …
… He asked Bates, who was president of the Entomological Society of London, to raise the question at …
… by several other entomologists who had been present at the society’s meeting. Darwin circulated his …
… and trimorphic plants’. They were read before the Linnean Society of London on 19 March. In a letter …
… on orchids with Thomas Henry Farrer, permanent secretary to the Board of Trade, and a distant …
… and supported Farrer’s candidacy for fellowship of the Linnean Society ( letter from George Bentham …
… [23 December 1868] ). Barber’s paper was read before the Linnean Society on 4 February 1869, but …

St George Jackson Mivart

Summary

In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…

Matches: 11 hits

… serious offence. Mivart had previously been a correspondent of Darwin’s, but had written hostile …
… sheds light on Darwin’s anxiety about the respectability of his views and the views of those …
… under the title ‘On beneficial restrictions to liberty of marriage’ in the Contemporary Review …
… in the future to affect personal liberty in the matter of marriage. A better understanding of the …
… he argued, a divorce should not be refused on the grounds of the insanity of either party. The next …
… divorce: ‘as ... no slur would be cast on the character of either party, the divorce proceedings …
… and the abuse of power. (Hooker was president and Huxley secretary of the Royal Society of London.) …
… criminality referred to would be most useful & beneficial to society as tending to limit …
… having Mivart removed from the secretaryship of the Linnean Society of London, and was talking about …
… that it would be improper for him, as president of the Royal Society, to act against Mivart, an …
… will agree to a cut—for if not & they were to meet in the Linnean or anywhere else & Mivart …

Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year

Summary

The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…

Matches: 19 hits

… The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
… dispute over an anonymous review that attacked the work of Darwin’s son George dominated the second …
… admired in his youth: ‘I have always looked on him as one of the greatest men the world has ever …
… to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August 1874] ). The death of a Cambridge friend, Albert Way, caused …
… university days together, and the long-abandoned pleasures of shooting and collecting beetles ( …
… and sceptics Darwin excused himself for reasons of health from various social activities, …
… in the month, another Williams séance was held at the home of Darwin’s cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood. …
… was that Williams managed to get the two men on each side of him to hold each other’s hands, instead …
… January [1874] ). This did not stop word getting to America of the ‘strange news’ that Darwin had …
… 1874 ). Back over old ground New editions of Coral reefs and Descent consumed …
… blamed his illness for the ‘dreadfully written’ parts of the draft sent to Smith, Elder & Co, …
… with the later chapters on the formation and distribution of coral-reefs substantially revised, and …
… against Mivart. Hooker even suggested having him removed as secretary of the Linnean Society ( …
… career, and moved back to Down with Amy to become Darwin’s secretary. They rented Down Lodge and …
… Darwin offered to try to get it exhibited at a Royal Society of London soirée (see letter from …
… time in China, in his candidacy for election to the Royal Society of London ( see letter to H. B. …
… the colour of their surroundings to the Entomological Society of London ( letter from H. W. Bates, …
… Charles Lyell’s plan to leave a bequest to the Geological Society of London and an annual medal ( …
… February 1874 ), and honorary member of the Entomological Society of France ( letter to Eugène …

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...

Matches: 1 hits

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

Darwin Correspondence Project

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