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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: 20 hits
- … be done by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August …
- … pleasures of shooting and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ). Such …
- … And … one looks backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). …
- … was an illusory hope.— I feel very old & helpless’ ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] …
- … inferred that he was well from his silence on the matter ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 26 October …
- … in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
- … that Mr Williams was ‘a cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). …
- … his, ‘& that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874 …
- … Darwin had allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
- … edition, published in 1842 ( Correspondence vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17 …
- … Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 8 January …
- … to take so sweetly all the horrid bother of correction’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 21 [March …
- … sent an apology for misinterpreting Darwin on this point ( letter from J. D. Dana, 21 July 1874 ); …
- … numbers and sex ratios among the Pitcairn islanders ( letter from William Dealtry, 16 January 1874 …
- … the subject & that must be enough for me’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). …
- … in a few hours dissolve the hardest cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. …
- … whether at the ‘close of the putrefaction of flesh, skin &c, any substance is produced before …
- … details of an Australian variety of sundew ( letter from T. C. Copland, 23 June 1874 ). …
- … do when they are sitting at rest’ ( letter from S. W. Pennypacker, 14 September 1874 ). …
- … head that M r Spencer’s terms of equilibration &c always bother me & make everything less …
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: 7 hits
- … ‘all kinds of facts’ across a wide range of fields ( letter to W. D. Fox [25 January 1841] ). He …
- … men, with a curb on make far the best observers’ ( letter to C. H. L. Woodd , 4 March 1850 ). He …
- … speculation there is no good & original observation’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 December …
- … of an engineer on his early experiments with Drosera ( letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December …
- … ‘I have become very fond of little experiments’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [21 March 1857] ; …
- … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But …
- … at Science … & am never happy except when at work’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 25 December [1880 …
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…
Matches: 20 hits
- … & I am sick of correcting’ ( Correspondence vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868 …
- … Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). …
- … made any blunders, as is very likely to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). …
- … than I now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , …
- … is strengthened by the facts in distribution’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Darwin …
- … tropical species using Croll’s theory. In the same letter to Croll, Darwin had expressed …
- … data to go by, but don’t think we have got that yet’ ( letter from James Croll, 4 February 1869 ). …
- … I d have been less deferential towards [Thomson]’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 19 March [1869] ). …
- … completed revisions of the ‘everlasting old Origin’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 1 June [1869] ), he was …
- … him however in his researches I would willingly do so’ ( letter from Robert Elliot to George …
- … with his noisy courting of the female in the garden ( letter from Frederick Smith, 8 October 1869 …
- … doubted her ability to recognise the different varieties ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 25 February …
- … weary of everlasting males & females, cocks & hens.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 November …
- … with much more of the same description’ ( enclosure to letter from Henry Maudsley, 20 May 1869 ). …
- … in an additional & proximate cause in regard to Man’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 …
- … orang-utan, and the bird of paradise (Wallace 1869a; letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 March [1869] ) …
- … does himself an injustice & never demands justice’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). …
- … geological structures of the South American cordillera ( letter to Charles Lyell, 20 May 1869 ), …
- … species that Darwin had investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February 1869 ). In a …
- … genus that he had studied in the early 1860s ( letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March 1869 ). This …
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: 19 hits
- … Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But …
- … able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
- … once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
- … see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 …
- … production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January …
- … of “Domestic Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
- … good deal I think, & have come to more definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December …
- … ‘I quite follow you in thinking Agassiz glacier-mad’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8[–9] September …
- … drawing Darwin, Hooker, and the botanist Charles James Fox Bunbury into the discussion of glacial …
- … ten times more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] …
- … past few years. Emma described the Royal Society event in a letter to George: ‘Your father … entered …
- … you—& told me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). …
- … so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [ c . 10 May 1866] ). Henrietta’s …
- … teleological development ( see for example, letter to C. W. Nägeli, 12 June [1866] ). Also in …
- … species was ‘merely ordinaryly diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, [7 May – 11 June 1866] ). On …
- … is a case of dimorphic becoming diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 20 June [1866] ). …
- … I am well accustomed to such explosions’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 22 June [1866] ). He urged …
- … natural selection, and with special creation ( letter from W. R. Grove, 31 August 1866 ). Hooker …
- … indeed at poor Susan’s loneliness’ ( letter from E. C. Langton to Emma and Charles Darwin, [6 and 7 …
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…
Matches: 18 hits
- … he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This …
- … at the end of 1859, ‘I sometimes fancied that my book w d be successful; but I never even built …
- … has infinitely exceeded my wildest hopes.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). …
- … very perplexing’, he told his cousin William Darwin Fox, ‘from not knowing what to choose from the …
- … as evidence for what actually occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and …
- … throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have …
- … his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
- … selection. Darwin’s shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell …
- … Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
- … on Charles Lyell’s endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the …
- … McKinney has suggested that Darwin received Wallace’s letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same …
- … Brooks maintains that Darwin received Wallace’s letter even earlier, perhaps as early as 14 May. …
- … Correspondence vol. 7, Appendix V.) Upon the advice of Fox, the family fled the epidemic and …
- … ‘We have been here above 6 week,’ he wrote to Fox, ‘& I feel worse than when I came’ ( letter …
- … it is impossible that men like Lyell, Hooker, Huxley, H. C. Watson, Ramsay &c would change their …
- … required a fresh act of intervention to supply the lacunas w h . he himself had made’ ( letter …
- … got much more larky since we run two horses’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 6 October [1858] ). …
- … of it what they will. ‘You do me injustice’, he wrote to Fox, ‘when you think that I work for fame: …
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: 28 hits
- … What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 8 November [1872] …
- … anything more on 'so difficult a subject, as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 27 July …
- … best efforts, set the final price at 7 s. 6 d. ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 February 1872 ) …
- … condition as I can make it’, he wrote to the translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September …
- … translation remained unpublished at the end of the year ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 23 November …
- … to the comparative anatomist St George Jackson Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January …
- … comparison of Whale & duck most beautiful’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 3 March 1872 ) …
- … a person as I am made to appear’, complained Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). …
- … Darwin would renounce `fundamental intellectual errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January …
- … was silly enough to think he felt friendly towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872 …
- … hoping for reconciliation, if only `in another world’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 10 January …
- … have been ungracious in him not to thank Mivart for his letter. He promised to send a copy of the …
- … partly in mind, `chiefly perhaps because I do it badly’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 3 August [1872] …
- … Darwinism is to be the theme. Surely the world moves!’ ( letter from Mary Treat, 13 December 1872 …
- … to find that Weismann accepted it at least in part ( letter to August Weismann, 5 April 1872 ). ‘I …
- … few naturalists in England seem inclined to believe it’ ( letter to Herman Müller, [before 5 May …
- … reached the buzzing place where I myself was standing’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, [before 5 May …
- … ‘as for myself it is dreadful doing nothing’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was …
- … from his ignorance, he feels no doubts’ ( letter to F. C. Donders, 17 June 1872 ). Right up to the …
- … a week later ( enclosure to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, 20 June 1872 ). Darwin …
- … Charlton Bastian’s recent book on the origin of life (H. C. Bastian 1872; Wallace 1872d) left him …
- … Lord Sackville Cecil, to attend a séance ( letter from M. C. Stanley, 4 June 1872 ). There was …
- … gift, although he doubted he would ever use it ( letter to C. L. Dodgson, 10 December 1872 ). …
- … try `with straight blunt knitting needle’ ( letter to L. C. Wedgwood, 5 January [1872] ) to …
- … use of the microscope led his head to `fail’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 29 October [1872] ) he had …
- … fellow beetle-enthusiast from student days, William Darwin Fox. The two had not met for nearly ten …
- … by hearing about Panagæus!’ Darwin wrote ( letter to W. D. Fox, 16 July [1872] ). I …
- … to which any scientific man can look’ ( letter to F. C. Donders, 29 April [1872] ). …
Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments
Summary
1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…
Matches: 26 hits
- … but really I do think you have a good right to be so’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 and] 20 …
- … species. Darwin attempted to dissuade him from this view ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 [January 1862 …
- … partially sterile together. He failed. Huxley replied ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 January 1862 …
- … and pronounced them ‘simply perfect’, but continued ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 18 December [1862] ) …
- … resigned to their difference of opinion, but complained ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1862 …
- … letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] …
- … protégé, telling Hooker: ‘he is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). …
- … Towards the end of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): …
- … and added, ‘new cases are tumbling in almost daily’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). In …
- … hopeful, became increasingly frustrated, telling Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 March [1862] ) …
- … on the problem: ‘the labour is great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ), ‘I …
- … resulted from his ‘ enormous labour over them’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [October 1862] ; …
- … Oliver: ‘I can see at least 3 classes of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), …
- … result once out of four or five sets of experiments’ ( letter to M. T. Masters, 24 July [1862] ). …
- … his son, William, his language was more blunt ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 14 February [1862] ): …
- … ‘good dashes of original reflexions’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 13 January [1862] ). He warmly …
- … & admirable papers I ever read in my life’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 20 November [1862] ). He …
- … to adopt them’ ( letter to Edouard Claparède, [ c. 16 April 1862] )—he continued to interest …
- … a French Translation will appear very soon’ ( letter to C. E. Brown-Séquard, 2 January [1862] ). …
- … were receiving considerable attention ( see letter from C. V. Naudin, 26 June 1862 ). Darwin was …
- … and Emma ‘perplexed to death what to do’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, [2–3 August 1862] ). They …
- … analogous to the nervous matter of animals’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 20 [September 1862] ; letter …
- … work would make his life ‘much happier’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 14 February [1862] ). Darwin …
- … with him, enthusiastically set to work ( see letter to W. E. Darwin, [2–3 August 1862] , and …
- … paper for the Geological Society ( see letter to A. C. Ramsay, 14 December [1862] ). …
- … insects with Darwin’s hypothesis ( see letter from H. W. Bates, 30 April 1862 ), Darwin was …
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: 15 hits
- … an illustration of how selection might work in nature ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. …
- … the real structure of varieties’, he remarked to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 September [1856 …
- … on domestic animals in India and elsewhere. William Darwin Fox supplied information about cats, dogs …
- … plants, he asked Asa Gray, vary in the United States ( letter to Asa Gray, 2 May 1856 )? What …
- … plants pretty effectually’ complained Darwin in 1857 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [2 May 1857] ). …
- … John Lubbock that his method of calculation was wrong ( letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1857] ). …
- … ‘Darwin, an absolute & eternal hermaphrodite’ ( letter to to T. H. Huxley, 1 July [1856] ), …
- … which the bird had naturally eaten have grown well.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1856] …
- … he wrote to Syms Covington in New South Wales ( letter to Syms Covington, 9 March 1856 ). …
- … his work on species and the preparation of his manuscript ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 1 May 1857 ) …
- … a preliminary sketch was apparently first made in a letter written by Lyell from London on 1–2 May …
- … and went up to London to see Lyell to discuss it further ( letter to Charles Lyell, 3 May [1856] ) …
- … Hearing about the party afterwards, Lyell reported in a letter to his brother-in-law that, ‘When …
- … so far, and not embrace the whole Lamarckian doctrine.’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, …
- … in his views to explain them in explicit detail in a long letter to Asa Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, …
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: 21 hits
- … shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding machine’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December …
- … anything which has happened to me for some weeks’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ) …
- … corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ) …
- … who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
- … abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February …
- … thro’ apes & savages at the moral sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] …
- … how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870 …
- … in thanks for the drawing ( Correspondence vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868] …
- … patients, but it did not confirm Duchenne’s findings ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March …
- … muscle’, he complained, ‘is the bane of existence!’ ( letter to William Ogle, 9 November 1870 ). …
- … to their belief that all demons and spirits were white ( letter from W. W. Reade, 9 November 1870 …
- … . . Could you make it scream without hurting it much?’ ( letter to A. D. Bartlett, 5 January [1870] …
- … or crying badly; but I fear he will not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] …
- … Lucy Wedgwood, who sent a sketch of a baby’s brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). …
- … is the inclination to finish my note on this subject’ ( letter from F. C. Donders, 17 May 1870 ). …
- … the previous year (see Correspondence vol. 17, letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). His …
- … to criticise them? No one but yourself’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 20 May 1870 ). Darwin very …
- … to say that I never write reviews’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, [22 May 1870] ). St George …
- … wasted if I once began to answer objectors’ ( letter to W. H. Flower, 25 March [1870] ). In his …
- … attending college lectures for the time being ( letter to [E.W. Blore], [October 1870 or later] ). …
- … evidence believe in bad motives in others’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 15 November [1870] ). Fox …
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: 23 hits
- … that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
- … persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled considerably. The …
- … from ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
- … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
- … than Origin had (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
- … from animals like the woolly mammoth and cave bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, 23 …
- … leap from that of inferior animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
- … book he wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
- … I respect you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … against stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). …
- … thinking, while Huxley’s book would scare them off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In …
- … change of species by descent put him ‘into despair’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). In the …
- … disaffected towards Lyell and his book. In a February letter to the Athenæum , a weekly review of …
- … find great difficulty in answering Owen unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
- … of so much of Lyell’s book being written by others’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
- … is wretched to see men fighting so for a little fame’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). …
- … overt act, and I shall watch for a fitting opportunity’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] …
- … this subject seems to get rarer & rarer’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 18 April [1863] ), …
- … for the Natural History Review ( see letter to H. W. Bates, 12 January [1863] ). Darwin added …
- … on the bookcase and around the head of the sofa ( letter to W. E. Darwin, [25 July 1863], and …
- … was hidden by overgrown trees and shrubs ( see letter from W. D. Fox, 7 September [1863] ). Emma …
- … Thomas’s Hospital, London ( letter from George Busk, [ c. 27 August 1863] ). Brinton, who …
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…
Matches: 0 hits
'An Appeal' against animal cruelty
Summary
The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against the cruelty of steel vermin…
Matches: 10 hits
- … was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 …
- … of the pamphlet in August and September 1863 (see letter from G. B. Sowerby Jr to Emma Darwin, 22 …
- … 1863, pp. 821–2, under the title `Vermin and traps' ( Letter no. 4282). The wording of the …
- … and to 'a good many persons Squires Ladies & MPs' (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D …
- … more success with the campaign than she expected (see the letter from Emma Darwin to William Erasmus …
- … the 'cruelty pamphlet', and letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, 8 December [1863]). …
- … E. L. Darwin, 7 September 1863, letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, 8 December [1863], and …
- … pp. 44, 54–5, 78, and Correspondence vol. 2, letter to W. D. Fox, 28 August [1837]). Later he …
- … , pp. 78–9, Correspondence vol. 7, letter to W. E. Darwin, 22 [September 1858], and this volume, …
- … not been identified; however, see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, 8 December [1863]. Only two …
Science, Work and Manliness
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters In 1859, popular didactic writer William Landels published the first edition of what proved to be one of his best-selling works, How Men Are Made. "It is by work, work, work" he told his middle class audience, …
Matches: 11 hits
- … Letters Letter 282 - Darwin to Fox, W. D., [9 - 12 August 1835] Darwin …
- … “a little reading, thinking and hammering”. Letter 1533 - Darwin to Dana, J. D., [27 …
- … involved in producing such a magnum opus. In a subsequent letter , Darwin describes Dana’s …
- … that de Bosquet has bestowed on the subject. Letter 2669 - Bunbury, C. J. F. to Darwin, …
- … a work of “astonishing labour and patience”. Letter 4262 - Darwin to Gray, A., [4 …
- … 134 crosses which was “no slight labour”. Letter 3901 - Darwin to Falconer, H., [5 & …
- … not depleted completely his health and strength. Letter 4000 - Darwin to Dana, J. D., …
- … . It is, Darwin says, “a monument of labour”. Letter 4185 - Darwin to Scott, J., [25 …
- … a wonderful, indefatigable worker you are!”. Letter 4997 - Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, [4 …
- … systematically to collect and arrange facts. Letter 8153 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [9 …
- … and anxiety” involved in the editorial process. Letter 9157 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H., …
Scientific Practice
Summary
Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…
Matches: 11 hits
- … | Microscopes | Collecting | Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of …
- … with detailed correspondence about barnacles. Letter 1514 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. …
- … of one idea. – cirripedes morning & night.” Letter 1480 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, …
- … on embryological stages than Huxley thinks. Letter 1592 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H …
- … and difficulties of botanical experimentation. Letter 4895 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J …
- … on Anelasma which he thinks seems probable. Letter 5173 — Müller, J. F. T. to …
- … and crossed with pollen of other species. Letter 5480 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. …
- … Claus, Die freilebenden Copepoden [1863]. Letter 5551 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. …
- … on the use and importance of the microscope. Letter 207 — Darwin, C. R. to Fox, W. D., …
- … with a microscope ranks second only to geology. Letter 1018 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, …
- … meet Hooker in London. Letter 1166 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, [26 Mar 1848] …
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: 21 hits
- … in satisfying female preference in the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864, …
- … of changing the races of man’ (Correspondence vol. 12, letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May 1864] ). …
- … book would take the form of a ‘short essay’ on man ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 3 July 1868 ). But …
- … as well say, he would drink a little and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868] ) …
- … would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s angry letter to Murray crossed one from Dallas to …
- … of labour to remuneration I shall look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). …
- … if I try to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). …
- … reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from the Isle of Wight on the formation …
- … would strike me in the face, but not behind my back’ ( letter to John Murray, 25 February [1868] ) …
- … ignorant article… . It is a disgrace to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] …
- … ‘he is a scamp & I begin to think a veritable ass’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868] …
- … wrote of the colour of duck claws on 17 April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d C. …
- … proved very fruitful. On 1 May , Darwin received a letter from George Cupples, who was encouraged …
- … with the enthusiastic breeder, who apologised in a letter of 11–13 May 1868 for his ‘voluminuous …
- … of science On 27 February , Darwin sent a letter of thanks to the naturalist and …
- … he later added, ‘for it is clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). …
- … to various classes, a dim ray of light may be gained’ ( letter to H. T. Stainton, 21 February [1868 …
- … as well as of ‘victorious males getting wives’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 25 February [1868] ). …
- … of her two-month old daughter Katherine ( letter from C. M. Hawkshaw to Emma Darwin, 9 February …
- … screaming in patients undergoing vaccination ( letter from W. E. Darwin, [7 April 1868] ). Francis …
- … veins, and the action of his platysma muscle ( letter from W. E. Darwin, [15 April 1868] ). The …
Darwin in letters, 1851-1855: Death of a daughter
Summary
The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. The period opens with a family tragedy in the death of Darwin’s oldest and favourite daughter, Anne, and it shows how, weary and mourning his dead child,…
Matches: 6 hits
- … in his health was indicated by his comment in a letter to Hooker on 29 [May 1854] : ‘Very far …
- … large-scale geological changes. As he told Hooker in a letter of 5 June [1855] , ‘it shocks my …
- … he had written to Hooker ( Correspondence vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 [June 1850] ), …
- … been actively interested in animal breeding. As Darwin told Fox in a letter of 27 March [1855] , …
- … doubt whether the subject will not quite overpower me.—’ Fox supplied him with a steady stream of …
- … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But …
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: 25 hits
- … ‘my wife … poor creature, has won only 2490 games’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876 ). …
- … quantity of work’ left in him for ‘new matter’ (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). The …
- … to a reprint of the second edition of Climbing plants ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 23 February …
- … & I for blundering’, he cheerfully observed to Carus. ( Letter to J. V. Carus, 24 April 1876. …
- … provided evidence for the ‘advantages of crossing’ (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). Revising …
- … year to write about his life ( Correspondence vol. 23, letter from Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg, 20 …
- … nowadays is evolution and it is the correct one’ ( letter from Nemo, [1876?] ). …
- … him ‘basely’ and who had succeeded in giving him pain ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 17 June 1876 ). …
- … disgrace’ of blackballing so distinguished a zoologist ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 29 January 1876 ) …
- … must have been cast by the ‘poorest curs in London’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [4 February …
- … her questions were ‘too silly to deserve an answer’ ( letter from S. B. Herrick, 12 February 1876 …
- … on Dionaea ‘to test the insect eating theory’ ( letter from Peter Henderson, 15 November 1876 …
- … sending Darwin small amendments to his results ( letter from Moritz Schiff, 8 May 1876 ). …
- … to get positive results in this year’s experiments’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [ c . 19 March …
- … in the Encyclopaedia Britannica the previous year ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [after 4 September …
- … and to promote work he admired. He was so interested in a letter from Fritz Müller in Brazil …
- … with the ants that inhabited the trunk that he sent the letter to Nature for publication. ‘It …
- … communicated this information in an article in Nature ( letter from Johann von Fischer, [before …
- … phyllotaxis by the mutual pressure of very young buds’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 21 June [1876] ). …
- … Scottish shoemaker and ardent naturalist Thomas Edward ( letter from F. M. Balfour, 11 December …
- … live blood-hound which shall hunt it to the death’ ( letter from James Torbitt, 19 April 1876 …
- … because of a ‘long and terrible illness’ ( letter to C. S. Wedgwood, 20 April 1876 ). By the time …
- … of illness & misery there is in the world’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 26 May [1876] ). A …
- … we have & you are one of the best of all’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 11 September [1876] ). …
- … in harmony with yours’ ( letter from George Henslow, [ c. 7 December 1876] ). A more typical …
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: 12 hits
- … I shall feel, if I when I get my notes together on species &c &c, the whole thing explodes …
- … of species ’, he told his cousin William Darwin Fox. Experimental work Darwin …
- … to set up to provide crucial evidence for his arguments. Fox, Darwin assumed, would have bred …
- … long an immersion in sea-water you sh d . imagine w d . kill the more susceptible seeds? …
- … to the entire natural history community by sending a letter to the Gardeners’ Chronicle , …
- … geograph. distribution, geological history—affinities &c &c &c.. And it seems to me, …
- … to publish without full details. ’ Writing to his cousin Fox in June 1856, Darwin openly confessed …
- … of this acceleration was revealed, when he told his cousin Fox: ‘ I am working very hard at my Book …
- … interested in the way facts fall into groups ’, he told Fox in February 1857. Trials of …
- … it adequately. On 18 June 1858, Darwin received a now lost letter from Wallace enclosing his essay …
- … I had, however, quite resigned myself & had written half a letter to Wallace to give up all …
- … and a half chapters were edited and published in 1975 by R. C. Stauffer under the title Charles …
Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'
Summary
The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…
Matches: 16 hits
- … variety of publications. The beetles were described by F. W. Hope, G. R. Waterhouse, and C. C. …
- … distribution and classification (see Henslow 1837a and 1838; W. J. Hooker and G. A. W. Arnott 1836, …
- … letters have suffered an even more severe loss. In a letter to Lyell’s sister-in-law, Katharine …
- … Jenyns, Waterhouse, and his second cousin, William Darwin Fox—knew, as he said to Henslow, he was …
- … convince anyone that he had a sound solution to what J. F. W. Herschel in a letter to Lyell had …
- … about searching for evidence to support his hypothesis. In a letter to Lyell, [14] September [1838 …
- … clearly under sub-laws.' To his cousin, W. D. Fox, [25 January 1841] , he wrote: & …
- … all crosses between all domestic birds & animals dogs, cats &c &c very valuable—' …
- … on literature in this field and on friends like Henslow, T. C. Eyton, and W. D. Fox, who were …
- … between species and varieties had no basis in reality (W. Herbert 1837, p. 341); species were only …
- … just the same, though I know what I am looking for' ( Letter to G. R. Waterhouse, [26 July …
- … there were no doubts as to how one ought to act’ ( Letter from Emma Darwin, [ c. February 1839] …
- … for several months (See Correspondence vol. 1, letter to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 , …
- … notebook). See also Allan 1977, pp. 128–30). The letter, on ‘Double flowers’ to the …
- … so-called ‘science of morphology’, first set forth by J. W. von Goethe. Though widely accepted in …
- … relation of fossil with recent. the fabric falls!' (Notebook C : 76–7). …
The writing of "Origin"
Summary
From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…
Matches: 18 hits
- … When I was in spirits I sometimes fancied that my book w d be successful; but I never even built …
- … whole has infinitely exceeded my wildest hopes.— (letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November …
- … very perplexing’, he told his cousin William Darwin Fox, ‘from not knowing what to choose from the …
- … as evidence for what actually occurred in nature (see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and …
- … throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have …
- … his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
- … selection. Darwin’s shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell …
- … Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
- … on Charles Lyell’s endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the …
- … McKinney has suggested that Darwin received Wallace’s letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same …
- … Brooks maintains that Darwin received Wallace’s letter even earlier, perhaps as early as 14 May. …
- … of the Peninsular & Oriental Company, and assuming that the letter to Darwin was posted at the …
- … 20 May via Southampton. Accordingto Brooks, Darwin kept the letter for a month, during which time he …
- … by his unexpected death on 28 June. Upon the advice of Fox, the family fled the epidemic and stayed …
- … ‘We have been here above 6 week,’ he wrote to Fox, ‘& I feel worse than when I came’ (letter to …
- … it is impossible that men like Lyell, Hooker, Huxley, H. C. Watson, Ramsay &c would change their …
- … required a fresh act of intervention to supply the lacunas w h . he himself had made’ (letter …
- … of it what they will. ‘You do me injustice’, he wrote to Fox, ‘when you think that I work for fame: …
