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Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots
Summary
Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…
Matches: 3 hits
- … celebration. A telegram sent on the day from the Naples Zoological Station conveyed ‘warmest …
- … scenery, took several excursions, and thought Marshall’s garden ‘paradise’ ( letter to Victor …
- … regretted not having asked him to plant a tree in the garden and requested him to send a young plant …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Matches: 7 hits
- … her attempts to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood …
- … Darwin, [8 August 1867] Sutton, the keeper of the Zoological gardens in London, responds to …
- … her attempts to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 8113 - Treat, M …
- … 1857] James Tenant, keeper of the aquarium at the Zoological Society’s gardens, sends …
- … woods and planted them in the north-facing borders of his garden. Letter 4233 - …
- … for Darwin and Wallace from the comfort of his “ pretty garden ”. Letter 6083 - …
- … for Darwin and Wallace from the comfort of his “ pretty garden ”. Letter 6066 - …
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: 2 hits
- … permission to ‘experimentise’ on the hawks in the Zoological Gardens . He was delighted when the …
- … and survival of plants in what he called his ‘weed garden’—a cleared plot of land 3 x 2 feet on …
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,…
Matches: 3 hits
- … Müller, Johannes (1) Naples Zoological Station (1) …
- … (4) Syndics of Cambridge Botanic Garden (1) …
- … Zincke, F. B. (8) Zoological Society (1) …
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: 13 hits
- … Geology and Meteorology ] Zoolog. Journ. [ Zoological Journal ] a second time …
- … l’ile Malouines [Pernety 1769] Zoolog. Journal [ Zoological Journal ] 5 Vols. Voyage …
- … Translat: [Michaux 1805] very poor. 20 th Botanic Garden & Temple of Nature [E. Darwin …
- … 27 th . Proc. Zoolog. Soc. [ Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London ] from …
- … 22a [Darwin, Erasmus]. 1789–91. The botanic garden; a poem, in two parts . Part I: …
- … nova collectiones Cumingianæ. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 21: 53–4. *128: …
- … 66–8. *128: 177 Horsfield, Thomas. 1824. Zoological researches in Java, and the …
- … 1: 161–7. (Reprinted from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London .) [Darwin …
- … 597–9, 639–49. (Reprinted from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London .) *119: …
- … W. 1838. On the influence of man in modifying the zoological features of the globe; with statistical …
- … [Abstract in DAR 75: 62.] Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . London. 1830–. …
- … 1788–. *119: 11v. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London . London. 1835–. …
- … London. 1828–. *119: 16v.; 119: 11a Zoological Journal . Edited by Thomas Bell. London …
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: 7 hits
- … ‘They have . . . made the rooms look very well, & the garden is certainly beyond the average in …
- … Darwin. Gardens and gardeners Darwin’s garden at Down continued to be a source of …
- … flowers of primroses were being destroyed by birds in his garden to a larger extent than usual. He …
- … eager to help by sending specimens from her well-stocked garden. She sought every opportunity to …
- … ( letter from W. G. Walker, 6 December 1874 ). The Zoological Station at Naples …
- … arose. He continued to provide support to Anton Dohrn’s Zoological Station at Naples, which had got …
- … would allow him to accept a public subscription for the Zoological Station and that Dohrn was …
Darwin in letters, 1821-1836: Childhood to the Beagle voyage
Summary
Darwin's first known letters were written when he was twelve. They continue through school-days at Shrewsbury, two years as a medical student at Edinburgh University, the undergraduate years at Cambridge, and the of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle.…
Matches: 3 hits
- … in the chemical laboratory they installed in the garden of The Mount. From Cambridge Erasmus wrote …
- … from the Firth of Forth with Robert Edmond Grant, his zoological mentor, and his friends John …
- … to tackle the task of sorting and identifying his zoological, mineralogical, and botanical …
What is an experiment?
Summary
Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…
Matches: 2 hits
- … to W. D. Fox [25 January 1841] ). He used his house and garden as a space of natural historical …
- … of his children and pets, making regular visits to the zoological gardens to study monkeys and other …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
2.11 Christian Lehr, plaster bust
Summary
< Back to Introduction A plaster bust of Darwin by the German artist Christian Wilhelm Jacob Lehr the younger, dating from 1883, has found its way to a historic zoological library in the Netherlands. This is the Artis Bibliotheek, Natura Artis…
Matches: 2 hits
- … younger, dating from 1883, has found its way to a historic zoological library in the Netherlands. …
- … Cox, 15 March 1908, in the Cox archives, New York Botanical Garden. J. van Wyhe, ‘Iconography’, p. …
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 3 hits
- … to alleviate the financial troubles of Anton Dohrn’s Zoological Station at Naples. Plants …
- … also fed bread to Drosera and staked out a portion of garden to watch worms: “no family should …
- … Anton Dohrn, and had supported his efforts to establish a Zoological Station at Naples for students …
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…
Matches: 4 hits
- … & men. When he was making his figure of Puck he went to Z garden and made drawings of ears of …
- … to the household, from the photographer’s studio to the zoological garden. He received more replies …
- … fundamental differences on human ancestry: ‘assuming that zoological classification should be …
- … recently learned from the antics of the orang-utans at the Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park that …
John Stevens Henslow
Summary
The letters Darwin exchanged with John Stevens Henslow, professor of Botany and Mineralogy at Cambridge University, were among the most significant of his life. It was a letter from Henslow that brought Darwin the invitation to sail round the world as…
Matches: 2 hits
- … As a schoolboy Henslow had assisted in cataloguing the zoological collections of the British Museum; …
- … and much larger site for the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Despite Henslow's …
About Darwin
Summary
To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But even before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, he was publicly known through his popular book about the voyage of the Beagle, and he was…
Matches: 2 hits
- … Wallace had developed a similar theory while collecting zoological specimens in the Malay …
- … gentleman absorbed by the contents of his greenhouse and his garden, while the few hours a day he …
About Darwin
Summary
To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But even before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, he was publicly known through his popular book about the voyage of the Beagle, and he was…
Matches: 2 hits
- … Wallace had developed a similar theory while collecting zoological specimens in the Malay …
- … gentleman absorbed by the contents of his greenhouse and his garden, while the few hours a day he …
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: 4 hits
- … of germination under different conditions and interbred garden species with their wild congeners. …
- … through the summers of 1856 and 1857, particularly with garden vegetables like peas and beans. These …
- … animals with seeds and fed them to ocean-going birds in the zoological gardens in London. As he …
- … book, emerging only to visit the greenhouse and walk in the garden, the children accompanying him on …
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: 2 hits
- … as a translator of German works, and an editor of the Zoological Record. Dallas had begun the work …
- … Ernest Faivre, professor and curator of the botanical garden at Lyon, had written critically of …
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…
Matches: 3 hits
- … great effect in England’. Dohrn, who was setting up the Zoological Station in Naples, and others …
- … to report on progress in the establishment of the Naples Zoological Station, was scathing in his …
- … John Scott, now employed as a curator in the Botanic Garden in Calcutta, sent an intriguing packet …
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: 3 hits
- … New Zealand. Haast’s arduous explorations and geological, zoological, and botanical observations …
- … previous year. John Scott, a gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, had initiated the …
- … was often at her father’s side in the hothouse and garden. Henrietta took an interest in science, …
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 2 hits
- … photographer Ernest Edwards, and visit the gardens of the Zoological Society at Regent’s Park. He …
- … ago— one day I paid 3 calls! & then went for ¾ to Zoolog. Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. …
