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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: 24 hits

  • … I omitted to observe, which I ought to have observed” ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] …
  • … work your wicked will on it—root leaf & branch!” ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 January 1873 ) …
  • … Cross- and self-fertilisation Darwin’s other main focus of botanical investigation in 1873 …
  • … parts of the flower would become modified & correlated” ( letter to T. H. Farrer, 14 August …
  • … it again, “for Heaven knows when it will be ready” ( letter to John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). …
  • … we take notes and take tracings of their burrows” ( letter from Francis Darwin, 14 August [1873] ) …
  • … in importance; and if so more places will be created” ( letter to E. A. Darwin, 20 September 1873 …
  • … our unfortunate family being fit for continuous work” ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 25 September …
  • … on any point; for I knew my own ignorance before hand” ( letter to George Cupples, 28 April [1873] …
  • … “he would fly at the Empr’s throat like a bulldog” ( letter from L. M. Forster to H. E. Litchfield, …
  • … force & truth of the great principle of inheritance!” ( letter to F. S. B. F. de Chaumont, 3 …
  • … the heavy breathing that accompanied sexual intercourse? (letter from ?, [1873?]). The Scottish …
  • … with up lines; & sadness & decay with the reverse—” ( letter from William Main, 2 April …
  • … with the advance of civilisation and good breeding ( letter from Henry Reeks, 3 March 1873 ). …
  • … have never felt an inclination to have a second dose” ( letter from Robert Swinhoe, 26 March 1873 …
  • … of an orbital one produces snapping of the jaws” ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 16 April 1873 …
  • … that illustrated the physiognomy of the disease ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 30 December 1873 …
  • … by an individual could be transmitted to its offspring ( letter from J. T. Moggridge, 1 February …
  • … a related discussion in  Nature  magazine, forwarding a letter from William Huggins on a case of …
  • … Kepler who was fearful of butchers and butcher’s shops ( letter to  Nature , [before 13 February …
  • … smell. Darwin joined the debate, writing to  Nature  ( letter to  Nature , [before 13 March …
  • … The debate later shifted to ants when Darwin forwarded a letter from the mining engineer James …
  • … began to sound out Huxley’s friends on the matter. The main difficulty was how to raise the money …
  • … pattern that Darwin had used for previous publications, his main assistant in the past having been …

Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics

Summary

On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January …
  • … the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
  • … But it was the opinion of scientific men that was Darwin’s main concern. He eagerly scrutinised each …
  • … this criticism, he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … his theory would have been ‘ utterly  smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A …
  • … from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
  • … a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
  • … phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
  • … natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19 …
  • … considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
  • … naturalists because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). …
  • … two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like …
  • … tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 3 April [1860] ). By the …
  • … favour of change of form’, namely those of embryology ( letter to Asa Gray, 10 September [1860] ). …
  • … his study of the geographical distribution of species ( see letter from T. H. Huxley, 6 August 1860 …
  • … ‘man is in same predicament with other animals’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] )— he …
  • … book had become ‘topics of the day’ at the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. …
  • … Darwin ‘master of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other …
  • … the embryological evidence supporting Darwin’s views and Robert FitzRoy’s denunciations in both the …
  • … that ‘this row is best thing for subject.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). Further …
  • … if the whole were already proved) to his own views.—’ ( letter from J. S. Henslow to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … ‘how differently different opposers view the subject’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February [1860] …
  • … studying the first published piece: 'I said in a former letter that you were a Lawyer; but I …
  • … that these visits have led to changed structure.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 27 April [1860] ). …
  • … several months later, ‘just as at a game of chess.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 [July 1860] ). …
  • … substance from non=nitrogenised substances.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 31 [August 1860] ). Relying …
  • … scarcely be believed without further supporting evidence ( letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December …
  • … ‘how much better fun observing is than writing.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 12 September [1860] ) …
  • … Innes, ‘though firmly convinced  now  that I am in the main right.— For a week hardly passes …

Darwin & coral reefs

Summary

The central idea of Darwin's theory of coral reef formation, as it was later formulated, was that the islands were formed by the upward growth of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. It overturned previous ideas and would in itself…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … fragmentary and indirect, give evidence that Darwin had the main points of the theory clearly in …
  • … of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. A letter from Robert Edward Alison, who had …
  • … first sighting of a coral island is confirmed by a letter to his sister Caroline, written on 29 …
  • … the time of the visit of the  Beagle  to Tahiti. The letter of 29 April was written shortly after …
  • … he had a sound theory and one that was worth publishing. The letter continues: ‘I hope to be able to …
  • … reef formation: A geological friend of Darwin’s in Chile, Robert Alison, alludes to Darwin’s newly …
  • … heart’ to have finished writing his book on coral reefs: letter to Leonard Jenyns [9 May 1842] . …

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: 9 hits

  • … The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. …
  • … 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 …
  • … Variation and extinction The other main focus of Darwin’s research centred on determining the …
  • … he had written to Hooker ( Correspondence  vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 [June 1850] ), …
  • … cirripedes, he began to explore this phenomenon with George Robert Waterhouse, Hooker, and others. …
  • … the ultimate sources of variation in organisms. Advised by Robert Hunt, he planned to test the …
  • … interested in animal breeding. As Darwin told Fox in a letter of 27 March [1855] , the object of …
  • … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But …

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: 29 hits

  • … as well as, where relevant, the names of editors. As in the main bibliography, the manuscript page …
  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
  • … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
  • … M rs  Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • … [Brewster 1831] March. 8 Houdins the conjurer Life [Robert-Houdin [1859] 19 …
  • … 21  Erasmus Alvey Darwin. 22  Robert Waring Darwin. 23  The  …
  • … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
  • … ( Notebooks , pp. 319–28). 55  The letter was addressed to Nicholas Aylward Vigors …
  • … to William Jackson Hooker. See  Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
  • … The   cyclopædia of anatomy and physiology,  edited by Robert Bentley Todd, was issued in parts. …
  • … Pulteney. 1847. Instinct. In vol. 3, pp. 1–29, of Todd, Robert Bentley,  The cyclopædia of anatomy …
  • … on the progress of civilisation . Edinburgh: William and Robert Chambers.  119: 22a Anon. …
  • … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832.  A letter in vindication of   the principles of …
  • … Therry,   Esq.  Sydney. *119: 8v. Brown, Robert. 1814. General remarks, geographical …
  • … … Translated   by John Black. With notes …   by Robert Jameson . London. [Darwin Library.]  …
  • … by her niece. 7 vols. London. 119: 12b, 18b Burns, Robert. 1786.  Poems, chiefly in the …
  • … London. [Other eds.]  119: 11b [Chambers, Robert]. 1844.  Vestiges of the natural history …
  • … 1847.  Reminiscences of Samuel Taylor   Coleridge and Robert Southey . London.  119: 21b …
  • … 3 vols. London.  *119: 21, 23; 119: 22b Curzon, Robert. 1849.  Visits to monasteries in …
  • … pts. London. [Darwin Library.]  119: 12a [Darwin, Robert Waring]. 1787.  Principia …
  • … Useful Knowledge.) London.  *119: 14, 22 Drury, Robert. 1729.  Madagascar; or, Robert
  • … fraisiers . 2 pts. Paris.  *119: 21v. Dudley, Robert. 1844.  Correspondence of Robert
  • … by Bekhur to   Garoo and the Lake Manasarowara: with a letter from … J.   G. Gerard, Esq. …
  • … 1830. On the dying struggle of the dichotomous sytem. In a letter to N. A. Vigors.  Philosophical …
  • … *119: 8v., 22v.; *128: 165 ——. 1850a. Letter to the Rev. John Bachman, on the question of …
  • … art of improving the   breeds of domestic animals. In a letter addressed to the   Right Hon. Sir …
  • … 1820.  Remarks on the improvement of   cattle, &c. in a letter to Sir John Saunders Sebright, …

Darwin’s first love

Summary

Darwin’s long marriage to Emma Wedgwood is well documented, but was there an earlier romance in his life? How was his departure on the Beagle entangled with his first love? The answers are revealed in a series of flirtatious letters that Darwin was…

Matches: 18 hits

  • … Had nineteen-year-old Darwin followed this instruction in a letter he received in 1828, there would …
  • … an undergraduate at Edinburgh. She soon became one of the main attractions of Woodhouse. The …
  • … creditors) to a ruined abbey in a forest. In Fanny’s first letter, and in many others she wrote to …
  • …   First and last pages of the letter from Fanny Owen, [late January 1828] (DAR …
  • … Penny Post (1840), envelopes were rarely used. Instead, the letter was folded and held shut with …
  • … awfully dull  and  prosy ’. She closed her letter with instructions to ‘ burn this, or if it …
  • … ) Fanny’s thanks came in a characteristic letter. Apologies for not writing sooner, were …
  • … mania  go on, are you as constant  as ever ?’ In this letter, the postilion and housemaid are …
  • … ‘ la belle Fanny ’.   Letter from Fanny Owen, 27 January [1830] (DAR …
  • … Darwin that she would remember him. Responding to a recent letter he had written in a ‘ Blue …
  • … there was not to be an end of them!! In her last letter before the  Beagle  sailed, she …
  • … Little wonder that Darwin felt bereft when he learned in a letter from his sister Catherine, …
  • … days of the  Beagle  sailing, Fanny was engaged to Robert Myddelton Biddulph of Chirk Castle. ‘ I …
  • … Fanny ’. Romantic to the last, Fanny had accepted Robert’s proposal of marriage in ‘ the …
  • … The first and last pages of Fanny Owen’s letter of 1 March 1832 (DAR 204:55), in which Fanny …
  • … saving grace of the ‘ very handsome & gentlemanlike ’ Robert Myddelton Biddulph was his …
  • … an exacting Husband. ’ After the excitement of helping Robert successfully canvass for election …
  • … so very engaging and delightful about her.— ’ In the letter accompanying his book in 1872, Darwin …

Darwin’s queries on expression

Summary

When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…

Matches: 19 hits

  • … handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller, 22 February …
  • … was about the shape of the mouth in sulky children). But the main impetus was the collection of …
  • … Correspondence about Darwin’s Questionnaire (click on the letter dates to see the individual letters …
  • … Correspondent Letter date Location …
  • … Africa)? ] mentioned in JPM Weale letter, but Bowker's answers not found …
  • … Woolston, Southampton, England letter to W.E. Darwin shrugging …
  • … Square W London, England enclosed in a letter from Henry Maudsley …
  • … South Africa possibly included in letter from Mansel Weale …
  • … Peradeniya, Ceylon enclosed in letter from G.H.K. Thwaites …
  • … Egypt] possibly included in letter(s) from Asa Gray Nile …
  • … Lake Wellington, Australia letter to F.J.H. von Mueller nodding, …
  • … Abbey Place, London, England letter to Emma Darwin baby expression …
  • … Penmaenmawr, Conway, Wales letter to Emma Darwin infant daughter …
  • … Square W, London, England Enclosed letter from Dr. C. Browne …
  • … W., London, England enclosed in letter from W. W. Reade Hottentots …
  • … Chinese Swinhoe, Robert 4 Aug 1868 …
  • … Chinese Swinhoe, Robert 5 Aug 1867 …
  • … England (about Australia) encloses letter from Austrialian friend, letter not …
  • … forwarded by Smyth; Wilson sent letter to Ferdinand von Mueller Victoria Aborigines …

Books on the Beagle

Summary

The Beagle was a sort of floating library.  Find out what Darwin and his shipmates read here.

Matches: 24 hits

  • … Captain FitzRoy in the  Narrative  (2: 18). CD, in his letter to Henslow, 9 [September 1831] , …
  • … . . . There will be  plenty  of room for Books.’ (Letter from Robert FitzRoy, 23 September 1831 …
  • … the ‘immense stock’ which CD mentions may be had from a letter FitzRoy wrote to his sister during an …
  • … eliminated from consideration, even though they occur in the main texts of the folio rectos or in …
  • … on board the  Beagle §  —  mentioned in a letter or other source as being on board …
  • … Naturelle  3 (1834): 84–115. (DAR 37.1: 677v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 12 July 1835). * …
  • … d’histoire naturelle . 17 vols. Paris, 1822–31. (Letter from J. S. Henslow, 15–21 January [1833]). …
  • … a report of the proceedings . .  . Cambridge, 1833.  (Letter to Charles Whitley, 23 July 1834). …
  • … of the 2d meeting . . . Oxford, 1832 . London, 1833.  (Letter to J. S. Henslow, March 1834 and …
  • … . . .Translated . . . by John Black. With Notes . . . by Robert Jameson.  London, 1813. (DAR 30.2: …
  • … unidentified; see also Hawkesworth, John). (DAR 32.2: 89v.; Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the South …
  • … residence in New Zealand in 1827 . . . London, 1832. (Letter to Caroline Darwin, 27 December 1835). …
  • … 33: 254). § Euclid.  Elements of geometry.  (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 30 October 1831). …
  • … The philosophy of zoology . . .  2 vols. Edinburgh, 1822. (Letter from Susan Darwin, 15 October …
  • … to the mountain barometer.  2d ed. London, n.d. [1802]. (Letter to Robert FitzRoy, [10 October 1831 …
  • … de l’ordre des polypiers.  Paris, 1821. (DAR 30.1: 13v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 …
  • … Video. Novem r . 1832’; vol. 3 (1833): ‘C. Darwin’; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November …
  • … The history of England.  Volume one. London, 1830. (Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the  South African …
  • … ‘A few little books written by Miss Martineau’. (Letter from Caroline Darwin, 28 October [1833]). …
  • … and La Plata . . .  2 vols. London, 1826. (DAR 31.2: 319; letter to Robert Fitzroy, 28 August 1834) …
  • … 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804 . . .  London, 1805. (Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the  South …
  • … John  An account of the voyages . . .  London, 1773. (Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the  South …
  • …  Edinburgh, 1814. ( Voyage , p. 89). Fox, Robert Were. On the electro-magnetic properties …
  • … Sydney, N. S. W.). Darwin Library–Down. Southey, Robert.  History of Brazil.  London, 1810 …

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…

Matches: 30 hits

  • … suppose abuse is as good as praise for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] …
  • … to the printer, but without the additional chapter. In a letter written on 8 February [1867] to …
  • … books,  Descent  and  Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his …
  • … variation of animals and plants under domestication . In a letter to his son William dated 27 …
  • … of his brother’s embryological papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although …
  • … . Indeed, he told his publisher, John Murray, in a letter of 4 April [1867] , not to send …
  • … tell me, at what rate your work will be published’ ( letter from J. V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). This …
  • … & sent to him, he may wish to give up the task’ ( letter to Carl Vogt, 12 April [1867] ). …
  • … fit person’ to introduce the work to the German public ( letter from J. V. Carus, 15 April 1867 ). …
  • … Vogt should translate my book in preference to you’ ( letter to J. V. Carus, 18 April [1867] ). …
  • … discovery’ to Darwin on 14 March 1867 . Then, in April, Robert Trail wrote from Scotland about a …
  • … varieties at the eye, which resulted in a mottled hybrid ( letter from Robert Trail, 5 April 1867 …
  • … seems to me, if true, a wonderful physiological fact’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). …
  • … it will be a somewhat important step in Biology’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 22 August [1867] ). …
  • … if you attack it & me with unparalleled ferocity’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1867] …
  • … own discretion; anyhow most ought to be introduced’ ( letter to W. S. Dallas, 8 November [1867] ). …
  • … however, & I cannot get on so quickly as I could wish’ (letter from W. S. Dallas, 20 November …
  • … with me about 27 years old In a letter of 22 February [1867] to Fritz Müller in …
  • … chapter on the cause or meaning of Expression.’ With this letter Darwin enclosed a list of questions …
  • … ‘Queries about Expression’. In a postscript to the letter he added, ‘But you must not plague …
  • … that Darwin send his queries to foreign newspapers. The letter also reveals that he did not share …
  • … work in some “supplemental remarks on expression”’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [12–17] March [1867] …
  • … of no one to send them to, so do not want any more’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). …
  • … survive. One of these has been transcribed in Appendix IV. Robert Swinhoe, the British consul in …
  • … for the year 1867. In his 15 April [1867] letter to Gray , Darwin commented, ‘I have been …
  • … further ( Variation  2: 75). In notes for his reply to a letter from Edward Blyth dated 19 …
  • … on sexual differences in mammals and birds. In his letter to Fritz Müller of 22 February [1867] , …
  • … topic on a theoretical level was Alfred Russel Wallace. In a letter to Wallace written on 23 …
  • … in his aviary to see whether this was the case ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1867] ). …
  • … still strongly think … that sexual selection has been the main agent in forming the races of Man.’ …

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: 30 hits

  • … of respect and affection’. He hinted as much in his letter of 4 June : ‘you will see I have done …
  • … pessimistic about the popularity of his book, writing to Robert Cooke on 11 April , ‘though I …
  • … have shared Hooker’s suspicion of ambitious gardeners ( letter from W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 25 August …
  • … method of recording leaf motion for extended periods. In a letter to Thiselton-Dyer of 11 October …
  • … … tap one of the young leaves with a delicate twig’ ( letter to R. I. Lynch, 14 September 1877 ). …
  • … , or to the vibratory flagella of some Infusoria’ ( letter from F. J. Cohn, 5 August 1877 ). …
  • … in July 1877 (F. Darwin 1877b), and Darwin sent Cohn’s letter vindicating his son’s research to …
  • … his sense of form and of motion was exact and lively’ ( letter from W. E. Gladstone, 23 October …
  • … the Westphalian Provincial Society for Science and Art. In a letter to Darwin written before 16 …
  • … the only one full-page in size. Haeckel sent a personal letter of congratulation on 9 February , …
  • … (see Appendix V). The album arrived with a long letter from the director and secretary of the …
  • … reported, ‘but found him as soft & smooth as butter’ ( letter to C. E. Norton, 16 March 1877 ) …
  • … write to Owen & offer himself you & me to dejeuner!!!’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 June …
  • … where I hope it may remain for centuries to come’ ( letter from C. C. Graham, 30 January 1877 ). …
  • … you in the interests of truth, of man and of societies’ ( letter from Marcellin de Bonnal, [1877] …
  • … to the old story to be horsewhipped by a duke!’ ( letter to J. M. Rodwell, 3 June 1877 ). Back …
  • … frog spawn; the gospel of dirt the order of the day’ ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 27 January [1877] …
  • … credence to racist prejudice in Descent of man . In a letter from an unknown correspondent on …
  • … the subjects of Siebold’s study of medical monstrosity ( letter from C. T. E. Siebold, 10 October …
  • … our blood and thus keep back our civilization’ ( letter from W. B. Bowles, 17 May 1877 ). Bowles …
  • … and wives of ‘men of the white race’. In a follow-up letter he warned, ‘you find them in multituds …
  • … polish serves to hide the absence of humanity beneath’ ( letter from W. B. Bowles, 18 May 1877 ). …
  • … in New Guinea, who reportedly had hard inflexible tails ( letter from Arthur Mellersh, 1 January …
  • … up Pangenesis with wicked imprecations’ (Trollope 1867; letter to G. J. Romanes, [1 and 2 December …
  • … disclaimed its ‘scientific value’, he confessed in a letter of 25 November 1877 that the book …
  • … so many men exhibit is in many cases purely physical’ ( letter from W. M. Moorsom, 10 September …
  • … give them drink so that they become quite tipsy’ ( letter to W. M. Moorsom, 11 September [1877] ). …
  • … held by respectable people and licensed by the state’ ( letter from W. M. Moorsom, 13 September …
  • … be the greatest of all possible evils to mankind’ ( draft letter to Charles Bradlaugh, 6 June 1877 …
  • … Aside from plants and infants, worms were Darwin’s main object of study and reflection in 1877. In …

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: 26 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 …
  • … will say that I have pounded the enemy into a jelly’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 14 April 1874 ). …
  • … by none but anatomists; and never mind where it goes’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 16 April 1874 ). …
  • … and had cost twenty-four shillings.) Murray’s partner, Robert Francis Cooke, informed Darwin that …
  • … the return on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 …
  • … by the conciseness & clearness of your thought’ ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 20 April 1874 ). …
  • … legal action over the ‘scurrilous libel’ on his son ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [27 July 1874] ). …
  • … false, scurrilous accusation of [a] lying scoundrel’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ). …
  • … as father and son agonised over the wording of both the letter to the editor and the letter to …
  • … relationship with Murray on the outcome ( enclosure to letter from G. H. Darwin, 6 [August] 1874 ) …
  • … is refused I’m really no worse off than if I had sent my letter direct to the Editor & it had …
  • … Although the sundew and the Venus fly trap were the main plant groups in Darwin’s study, he also …
  • … the year. He assisted the retired diplomat and ornithologist Robert Swinhoe, a valued correspondent …

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: 5 hits

  • … in the Cambridge University Library, indicate that Robert Waring Darwin gave his own copy to his son …
  • … to collecting marine specimens from the Firth of Forth with Robert Edmond Grant, his zoological …
  • … fellows your friends at Barmouth must be’ ( see letter to J. M. Herbert, [13 September 1828] ). …
  • … consequent recommendation of the young graduate. Although Robert Waring Darwin initially doubted the …
  • … the results. In one memorandum he had already worked out the main outlines of his theory of the …

Darwin’s study of the Cirripedia

Summary

Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. Coming between his transmutation notebooks and the Origin of species, it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwin’s species work. Yet…

Matches: 13 hits

  • … a student in Edinburgh and, in particular, his contact with Robert Edmond Grant. In his …
  • … voyage. Darwin expressed his current enthusiasm in a letter to William Darwin Fox, 23 May 1833 ( …
  • … developed, as is shown by his correspondence with George Robert Waterhouse. On [26 July 1843] ( …
  • … homologies. Through the work of naturalists such as Robert Brown, Martin Barry, and Owen in England …
  • … pupal antennae resembled the common cirripede type was the main reason Darwin advanced for including …
  • … was challenged in 1859 by August Krohn. As he admitted in a letter to Charles Lyell, 28 September …
  • … (as Darwin called it in his Autobiography and in his letter to Lyell), was more than a matter of …
  • … Toward the end of his study of Balanus , in a letter to Hooker on 25 September [1853] ( …
  • … latter instrument suited his purposes well; he reported in a letter to Richard Owen, 26 March 1848 …
  • … and mounting his specimens is well demonstrated by a letter he wrote to Charles Spence Bate, 13 …
  • … Informing Darwin about the award ( Correspondence vol. 5, letter from J. D. Hooker, [4 November …
  • … it was empirically invalid ( Calendar nos. 2118 and 2119, letter to T. H. Huxley, 5 July [1857] …
  • … ^9^ CD discussed his conception of archetype in a letter to Huxley, 23 April [1853] ( …

Darwin and Design

Summary

At the beginning of the nineteenth century in Britain, religion and the sciences were generally thought to be in harmony. The study of God’s word in the Bible, and of his works in nature, were considered to be part of the same truth. One version of this…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … run, leap, or climb. But it had no need for such powers. Its main occupation was digging roots for …
  • … the lacunas which he himself had made.  See the letter Kingsley was able to …
  • … and critics alike, he sketched Darwin as a bishop in a letter of 1868, giving audience to a humble …
  • … Persons and works referred to: Charles Robert Darwin, naturalist,  On the Origin of …

Darwin’s observations on his children

Summary

Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children, began the research that culminated in his book The Expression of the emotions in man and animals, published in 1872, and his article ‘A biographical sketch of an infant’, published in Mind…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … our door N o  12 and N o  11 is in the slit for the Letter box.— he decidedly ran past N o  11 …
  • … has learned them from my sometimes changing the first letter in any word he is using—thus I say …
  • … sorrows than for real ones. She can’t stand Little Robert & the Owl[59] but says “He must have …
  • … , pp. 131–2. [6]  Correspondence  vol. 2, letter from Emma Wedgwood, [23 January 1839] . …
  • … on the opposite page (3Bv.) by CD and its position in the main text indicated by the symbol ‘X(a)’. …
  • … (Elizabeth) Wedgwood, Emma Darwin’s sister. [46] Robert Waring Darwin. [47] Izaak …
  • … In her old age, Henrietta Litchfield noted that ‘Little Robert & the owl’ was one of the first …

Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms

Summary

‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…

Matches: 25 hits

  • … my grandfather’s character is of much value to me’ ( letter to C. H. Tindal, 5 January 1880 ). …
  • … have influenced the whole Kingdom, & even the world’ ( letter from J. L. Chester, 3 March 1880 …
  • … delighted to find an ordinary mortal who could laugh’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin to Charles and …
  • … much powder & shot’ ( Correspondence vol. 27, letter from Ernst Krause, 7 June 1879 , and …
  • … modified; but now I much regret that I did not do so’ ( letter to Samuel Butler, 3 January 1880 ). …
  • … and ‘decided on laying the matter before the public’ ( letter from Samuel Butler, 21 January 1880 …
  • … and uncertain about what to do. He drafted two versions of a letter to the Athen æum , sending …
  • … in which he will have the last word’, she warned ( letter from H. E. Litchfield, [1 February 1880] …
  • … who will fight to the end’, added her husband Richard ( letter from R. B. Litchfield, 1 February …
  • … him & given him Darwinophobia? It is a horrid disease’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 February …
  • … squashing the ‘mosquito inflated to an elephant’ ( letter from Ernst Krause, 9 December 1880 ). …
  • … inches of soil as a protection against enemies.’ ‘Your letter … made me open my eyes’, Gray replied …
  • … his original description. Darwin was puzzled: ‘If my letter opened your eyes, yours has opened mine …
  • … to the same species, should behave so differently.’ ( Letter to Asa Gray, 17 February 1880 .) But …
  • … of the plant in its native habitat. He forwarded a letter from a botanist and schoolteacher in …
  • … of Plants’, writing to his publisher’s business partner Robert Cooke on 23 April , ‘My family …
  • … ‘Where is the profit for Author or publisher?’ ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). ‘I must …
  • … money by science, I must now lose some for science’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 21 July 1880 ). The …
  • … without any corresponding structural differentiations’ ( letter from F. M. Balfour, [22 November …
  • … the Beagle voyage and her marriage to the politician Robert Biddulph. But the meeting seems to …
  • … In former years I was, also, rarely fit to see anybody’ ( letter to S. H. Haliburton, 13 December …
  • … he pretended, ‘but the subject has amused me’ ( letter to W. C. McIntosh, 18 June 1880 ). Members …
  • … back. Then we saw a steam tram—imagine my excitement’ ( letter from Horace Darwin to Emma Darwin, …
  • … at the worms. We find that the light frightens them’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 8 October [1880] …
  • … D. Hooker, 18 December 1879 ). For some years, Wallace’s main source of income had been writing for …

Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, by John Clunies Ross. Transcription by Katharine Anderson

Summary

[f.146r Title page] Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle Supplement / to the 2nd 3rd and Appendix Volumes of the First / Edition Written / for and in the name of the Author of those / Volumes By J.C. Ross. / Sometime Master of a…

Matches: 19 hits

  • … intended for N o II of the foresaid works. By Captain Robert Fitzroy R.N. In the first …
  • … full of pepper in bulk – he set the crew to open out the main hatch-way (which was boarded …
  • … a moment longer to come home as he deserved to do.” That letter they shewed to Mr Ross and requested …
  • … to somewhere else” – so now read “your brother's letter and then we may have something sure to …
  • … wrote to him immediately before leaving for Sumatra – a letter calculated to elicit something …
  • … stockade from Sunset to Sunrise – N.B. – this was the main body of these people thus kept on the …
  • … – not all exaggerated – and Mr R sent him back with a letter [ f.183r p.73 ] as he proposed. …
  • … was not of any profitable description but of what Mr H in letter to Mr R denominated “fiddle faddle” …
  • … to a note from Mr H concerning the last mentioned fugitive a letter which – Mr H sent to Mr R – …
  • … ] The three or four runaways mentioned in the forgoing letter had run to apply to Mr Ross – and on …
  • … from frequenting your islands &c” and in this his second letter he writes “I told you how it …
  • … at present only as by the bye” – In reply to Mr Ross’ letter which he sent with the paper –Mr H …
  • … himself to stop at or in the vicinity of the place where the main body of the people were set down – …
  • … the Eastern one may be seen by the following extract from a letter dated 19 th May and sent by Mr …
  • … for convenience in describing these so as best to serve my main purpose I made one out of the two – …
  • … the secret is this – From my crow’s *[29] nest on the main topgallant masthead I saw on the 30 …
  • … been quite mal a propos to [ f.216v p.136 ] my main object. Now being about to …
  • … that after being fully assured – of the beneficence of my main motives for enacting the part – that …
  • … Copy Extract Of a letter sent to Captain Ross by Captain Harding of H.M …

Movement in Plants

Summary

The power of movement in plants, published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work that Darwin wrote. It was the only work in which the assistance of one of his children, Francis Darwin, is mentioned on the title page. The research for this…

Matches: 28 hits

  • … had considered combining the works in a single volume ( letter to J. V. Carus, 7 February 1875 ). …
  • … ’.  Darwin was clearly intrigued by bloom, but his main preoccupation in the summer of 1873 …
  • … , a plant that exhibited all three types of movement ( letter from R. I. Lynch, [before 28 July …
  • … the woodblock using photography for scientific accuracy ( letter from J. D. Cooper, 13 December …
  • … lost colour, withered, and died within a couple of days ( letter from A. F. Batalin, 28 February …
  • … how their observations could have been so much at odds ( letter to Hugo de Vries 13 February 1879 …
  • … the botanist Gaetano Durando, to find plants and seeds ( letter to Francis Darwin, [4 February – 8 …
  • … only the regulator & not cause of movement ’. In the same letter, Darwin discussed terminology, …
  • … to replace Frank’s ‘Transversal-Heliotropismus’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 10 February [1880] ). …
  • … experiments and devised a new test, which he described in a letter to his mother, ‘ I did some …
  • … and it appeared in 1880 (F. Darwin 1880b). In the same letter, Francis revealed the frustration of …
  • … on holiday in the Lake District, Darwin received a long letter from De Vries detailing his latest …
  • … described as ‘little discs’ and ‘greenish bodies’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 29 October 1879 …
  • … of cotton that he had not been able to observe earlier ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 20 …
  • … might have been too weak to lift the weight of the seed ( letter from Asa Gray, 3 February 1880 ). …
  • … germination occurred, the plant would be killed by frost ( letter from Asa Gray, 4 April 1880 ). …
  • … of ‘Circumnutating Movements of Plants’, he told Robert Cooke of John Murray publishers, before …
  • … Phytographie  (A. de Candolle 1880). In his letter of thanks for the book, Darwin promised to send …
  • … for advice about the number of copies they should print ( letter to John Murray, 10 July 1880 ). …
  • … works, Murray was willing to publish on the usual terms ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 15 July 1880 ). …
  • … only suggest printing more copies or raising the price ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). …
  • … Stahl’s paper with him, for the relevant page numbers ( letter to Francis Darwin, 5 August [1880] …
  • … publisher, Eduard Koch had already agreed to publish it ( letter from J. V. Carus, 18 September …
  • … as stereotypes of the text were available from Murray ( letter from D. Appleton & Co., 17 …
  • … corollas or the reactive movement of pistils and stamens ( letter from Édouard Heckel, 23 September …
  • … for the translations and asked about the cost of these ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 16 October 1880 ). …
  • … last chapter & you will know whole contents of book ’. No letter to Balfour survives, but …
  • … from colleagues at home and abroad. Cohn concluded his letter of praise, remarking, ‘ I don’t know …

Journal of researches

Summary

Within two months of the Beagle’s arrival back in England in October 1836, Darwin, although busy with distributing his specimens among specialists for description, and more interested in working on his geological research, turned his mind to the task of…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … by Darwin, however, but by the Beagle ’s captain, Robert FitzRoy, who, according to custom in the …
  • … Alexander von Humboldt, who wrote a long and appreciative letter about the ‘ excellent et admirable …
  • … a postscript to the prefatory material (rather than in the main text). This edition was and …