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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: 20 hits

  • …   Charles Darwins major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large workThe
  • publisher in the final week of 1866. It would take all of 1867 to correct proofs, and just when
  • becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in 1867, as he continued to circulate a list of
  • transmutation theory. Three important new correspondents in 1867 were Hermann Müller and Anton Dohrn
  • the New Years greeting, ‘may you be eupeptic through 1867 & your friends & the world in
  • publisher, John Murray, he wrote to Murray on 3 January 1867 , ‘I cannot tell you how sorry I am
  • suppose abuse is as good as praise for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] …
  • booksDescent  and  Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his
  • Darwins time. The first proof-sheets arrived on 1 March 1867 and the tedious work of correction
  • variation of animals and plants under domestication . In a letter to his son William dated 27
  • of his brothers 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 personto 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] ). …
  • varieties at the eye, which resulted in a mottled hybrid ( letter from Robert Trail, 5 April 1867
  • the queries to acquaintances in remote areas. On 26 March, Asa Gray wrote, ‘You see I have  …
  • one to send them to, so do not want any more’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). …
  • … , 31 August 1867. Another version, possibly derived from Asa Grays printed queries, was published

Dramatisation script

Summary

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

Matches: 16 hits

  • … – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as …
  • … quotes from the correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton …
  • … read the words of the following: Actor 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin …
  • … in which the play unfolds and acting as a go-between between Gray and Darwin, and between the …
  • … are described by his widow Jane the final days of Professor Asa Gray, Harvard Botanist. A series of …
  • … of the Life of Darwin. At this time in his life, Asa Gray is in his late 70s. JANE …
  • … secret and potentially incendiary ideas. A younger Asa Gray (now in his mid 40s) arrives in …
  • … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
  • … 11   My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my …
  • … be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy it… His letter does strike me as most uncommonly …
  • … on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year …
  • … you might reasonably expect… Yours most sincerely Asa Gray. DARWIN:  16   My dear …
  • … a brace of letters 25   I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received …
  • … Atlantic. HOOKER:   28   Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which …
  • … instructive to me.  42   Ever most cordially yours, Asa Gray Darwin, after a short …
  • … A GRAY 15 AUGUST 1868 177  TO A GRAY 15 APRIL 1867 178  C DARWIN TO JD …

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: 22 hits

  • … expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to …
  • … Correspondence about Darwin’s Questionnaire (click on the letter dates to see the individual letters …
  • … Correspondent Letter date Location …
  • … Barber, Mary E. [after Feb 1867] [Grahamstown, Cape …
  • … Bowker, J.H. [10 Dec 1867] [Cape of Good Hope (South …
  • … Woolston, Southampton, England letter to W.E. Darwin shrugging …
  • … Square W London, England enclosed in a letter from Henry Maudsley …
  • … Darwin, Francis 20 June 1867 Unknown? …
  • … Erskine, H. N. B. 1 Nov 1867 [Ahmednuggur, Bombay, …
  • … Gaika, Christian 7 July 1867 Bedford [Cape of Good …
  • … Geach, F.F. June 1867 Johore, Malaysia …
  • … Gibbs, George 31 March 1867 Smithsonian Institution, …
  • … Peradeniya, Ceylon enclosed in letter from G.H.K. Thwaites …
  • … Ceylon   Gray, Asa 26 March 1867
  • … Nile Gray, Asa 14 April 1871 …
  • … Laura Bridgman Gray, Asa 10 & 14 March …
  • … on Laura Bridgman Gray, Asa 9 May [1869] …
  • … 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 …
  • … British Columbia, Canada) forwarded by Asa Gray Atnah Espyox Nasse …

Cross and self fertilisation

Summary

The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom, published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells us, in the most emphatic manner, that she abhors…

Matches: 17 hits

  • … September 1866, Darwin announced to the American botanist Asa Gray, ‘I have just begun a large …
  • … the growth of the young plants is highly remarkable’ ( To Asa Gray, 10 September [1866] ). By …
  • … a series of experiments, reporting back to Bornet in August 1867 that all but one of the varieties …
  • … ( To Fritz Müller, [late December 1866 and] 1 January 1867 ). The following year, his experiments …
  • … to the conditions that might affect his results. In March 1867, he told his close friend Joseph …
  • … two distinct plants’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1867] ). He noted another factor in a letter to …
  • … visited by insects & so have been rarely crossed’ ( To Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). One of …
  • … for part of the year ( To J. T. Moggridge, 1 October [1867] ). Darwin was beginning to suspect …
  • … the dogs till I finish with this & get it published’ ( To Asa Gray, 11 March [1873] ). …
  • … [1873] ). In September, Darwin wrote a long letter to Nature commenting on a seemingly …
  • … a new set of experiments for the summer, as he informed Gray when asking for seeds of Nesaea …
  • … of Lythrum; for the fact seems to me all important.’ ( To Asa Gray, 30 May [1875] ). In earlier …
  • … proofsheets if the book had not yet been released ( From Asa Gray, 12 October 1876 ). Darwin sent …
  • … your judgment than for that of almost anyone else’ ( To Asa Gray, 28 October 1876 ). Gray …
  • … written of, as being as faultless as your temper’ ( From Asa Gray, 12 November 1876 ). The …
  • … A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this letter has been found, but Darwin had long …
  • … given everything,—you have quite eviscerated it’ ( To Asa Gray, 18 February [1877] ). By mid-March …

Religion

Summary

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

Matches: 11 hits

  • … of design. The first is between Darwin and Harvard botanist Asa Gray, taking as their point of …
  • … everything is the result of “brute force”. Letter 2855 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 3 …
  • … for the attention now given to the subject. He poses Gray a question on design in nature, as he is …
  • … shares a witty thought experiment about an angel. Letter 3342 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • … He asks Gray some questions about design. Letter 6167 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 8 …
  • … of my precipice”. Darwin and Wallace Letter 5140 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, …
  • … of variations. Darwin and Graham Letter 13230 — Darwin, C. R. to Graham, …
  • … of people, including members of his own family. Letter 441 — Wedgwood, Emma to Darwin, …
  • … theist and evolutionist, giving the examples of Kingsley and Asa Gray. As regards his own views, his …
  • Letter 5565 — Kingsley, Charles to Darwin, C. R., 6 June 1867 Clergyman Charles Kingsley …
  • … 5648 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., 12–13 Oct [1867] Darwin thinks naturalist A. R. …

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: 19 hits

  • … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
  • … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
  • … observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
  • … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
  • … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
  • … is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
  • … of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
  • … briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
  • … expression of emotion in dogs with Emma Darwin. Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, …
  • … birds, insects or plants on Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to …
  • … of an angry pig and her niece’s ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
  • … that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … from Calcutta. Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 July 1862] Darwin …
  • Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to Darwin, [8 August 1867] Sutton, the keeper of the …
  • … 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von to Darwin, [4 December 1867] Explorer and geologist Haast …
  • … of White. Letter 4433  - Wright, Charles to Gray, A., [20, 25, 26 March & 1 …
  • Letter 5585  - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [26 July 1867] Darwin praises Henrietta’s …
  • Letter 5403  - Darwin to Carus,  J. V.  [17 February 1867] Darwin thanks Carus for his …
  • … 5410  - Darwin to Muller, J. F. T., [22 February 1867] Darwin thanks Muller for …

Scientific Networks

Summary

Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…

Matches: 16 hits

  • and colonial authorities. In the nineteenth-century, letter writing was one of the most important
  • the networks of others, such as Joseph Dalton Hooker and Asa Gray, who were at leading scientific
  • in times of uncertainty, controversy, or personal loss. Letter writing was not only a means of
  • contact. His correspondence with Joseph Hooker and Asa Gray illustrates how close personal ties
  • D. Hooker. The second is between Darwin and Harvard botanist Asa Gray. Darwin and Hooker
  • and he is curious about Hookers thoughts. Letter 729Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., …
  • to Hookerit is like confessing a murder”. Letter 736Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • species to wide-ranging genera. Darwin and Gray Letter 1674Darwin, C. R. …
  • and relationships of alpine flora in the USA. Letter 2125Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
  • Letter 5457Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Mar 1867 Müller explains how Origin
  • 5471Darwin, C. R. to Müller, H. L. H., 29 Mar [1867] Darwin learns that German botanist
  • Letter 5481Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 1 Apr [1867] Müller thanks Darwin for the
  • Letter 5657Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Oct 1867 Müller thanks Darwin for the
  • … . Letter 4611Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 13 Sept [1864] Darwin sends abstract
  • Letter 5585Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, H. E., 26 July [1867] Darwin writes to his daughter
  • Letter 5745Barber, M. E. to Darwin, C. R., [after Feb 1867] In this letter, naturalist, …

Women as a scientific audience

Summary

Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…

Matches: 27 hits

  • … Were women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
  • … Tollet for proofreading and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. …
  • … her to read to check that she can understand it. Letter 7312 - Darwin to Darwin, F. …
  • … from all but educated, typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E …
  • … he seeks her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … in order to minimise impeding general perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, …
  • … he uses to avoid ownership of indelicate content. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to …
  • … so as not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
  • … which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to …
  • … Darwin’s female readership Letter 5391 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [6 February …
  • … of the Manchester Ladies Literary Society . Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to …
  • … the chapter on pangenesis, which is a revelation. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. …
  • … Darwin assumes that 'A. B. Blackwell' is a man. Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to …
  • … him to the psychology of Herbert Spencer. Letter 7624 - Bathoe, M . B. to Darwin …
  • … his statements on a lack of reasoning in animals. Letter 7644 - Barnard, A. to …
  • … during a visit to an asylum with her father. Letter 7651 - Wedgwood, F. J. to …
  • … on any comments that she feels might be suitable. Letter 7411 - Pfeiffer, E. J. to …
  • … and beauty in the process of sexual selection. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, …
  • … of a woman’s natural thinking”. Letter 8778 - Forster, L. M . to Darwin, H. …
  • … and the showing of teeth in Expression . Letter 10072 - Pape, C. to …
  • … and hopes Darwin will complete her questionnaire. Letter 10390 - Herrick, S. M. B. …
  • … of questions which she hopes aren’t too silly. Letter 10415 - Darwin to Herrick, S. …
  • … and is pleased that his work has interested her. Letter 10508 - Treat, M. to Darwin …
  • … it nearly all night before she could lay it down. Letter 13547 - Tanner, M. H. …
  • … involving worms which occurred in her garden. Letter 13650 Kennard, C. A. to Darwin …
  • Letter 5712 - Dallas, W. S. to Darwin, [8 December 1867] Translator and author …
  • … which must be altered”. Letter 5928 - Gray, A. to Darwin, [25 February 1868] …

Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments

Summary

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

Matches: 24 hits

  • The death of Hugh Falconer Darwins first letter to Hooker of 1865 suggests that the family
  • having all the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • had failed to include among the grounds of the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus
  • his letters to Darwin, and Darwin responded warmly: ‘Your letter is by far the grandest eulogium
  • may well rest content that I have not laboured in vain’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 6 January [1865] …
  • always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 February [1865] …
  • for our griefs & pains: these alone are unalloyed’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 February 1865
  • gas.— Sic transit gloria mundi, with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). …
  • added, ‘I know it is folly & nonsense to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • ineffective, and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] …
  • of anything, & that almost exclusively bread & meat’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 August [1865] …
  • better, attributing the improvement to Joness diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] …
  • he wasable to write about an hour on most days’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 December [1865] ). …
  • others very forward, except the last & concluding one’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 March [1865] …
  • my book will be ready for the press in the autumn’ ( letter to John Murray, 4 April [1865] ). In
  • however, ‘I am never idle when I can do anything’ ( letter to John Murray, 2 June [1865] ). It was
  • might be more willing to bear the expense of the woodcuts ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865
  • … & I loathe the whole subject like tartar emetic’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 January [1865] ) …
  • on 2 February, and in April Darwin wrote to his friend Asa Gray, a botanist in the United States, …
  • you will be an unnatural parent, for it is your child’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 19 April 1865 ; …
  • needed for references, probably from the Linnean Society ( letter to [Richard Kippist], 4 June
  • in or before November 1864 ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to Ernst Haeckel, 21 November [1864
  • in the  Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal  (Scott 1867), and Darwin summarised them in  …
  • Benjamin Dann Walsh in the Midwestern United States, and Asa Gray wrote a long review ofClimbing

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: 24 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 ). …
  • … Jenkin. Darwin had been very impressed by Jenkin’s 1867 review, which argued that any variation in …
  • … 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 …
  • … a very long period  before  the Cambrian formation’ ( letter to James Croll,  31 January [1869] …
  • … 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 …
  • … peoples in India and Africa. The American botanist Asa Gray and his wife, Jane Loring Gray , who …
  • … read it, of dislike & contempt—almost hatred—’ ( from Asa Gray and J. L. Gray, 8 and 9 May …
  • … 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 ), …
  • … of the same species that Darwin had investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February …
  • … on the previous German edition (Bronn and Carus trans. 1867), as well as on the German translation …

Forms of flowers

Summary

Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…

Matches: 12 hits

  • … produced seed capsules. He told the American botanist Asa Gray , ‘ If it should prove that the …
  • … make 126 additional crosses!! ’ Nevertheless, on telling Gray about the need for this further work, …
  • … often adapted for insect visitation. In his reply to Darwin, Gray unsurprisingly revealed, ‘ I know …
  • … believe in my results. ’ Undeterred, Darwin reported to Gray at the beginning of August, ‘I have …
  • … triple marriage between three hermaphrodite. ’ Gray replied, ‘ If your Lythrum -paper shall be …
  • … , a species of lungwort also known as blue cowslip. He told Gray in October 1865 that with respect …
  • … of Origin . He encouraged Huxley to read it, noting, ‘ Asa Gray & Fritz Müller (the latter …
  • … you from publishing on the subject ’. In March 1867, Darwin received a small book from …
  • … in as many natural families as possible’, explaining to Gray that he had ‘ become convinced that …
  • … (p. 82) and clarified the meaning to Fritz Müller in a letter in September 1866, ‘ What I meant in …
  • … than in the short-styled form ’, Darwin annotated this letter, wondering, ‘Would it be worth while …
  • … term heterostyly in preference to di- or trimorphism. Gray objected and suggested his own …

Sexual selection

Summary

Although natural selection could explain the differences between species, Darwin realised that (other than in the reproductive organs themselves) it could not explain the often marked differences between the males and females of the same species.  So what…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … Variation under domestication,  neared completion in 1867, that he systematically sought more …
  • … Typical is his query to Fritz Müller in  February 1867 : Do you know of any lowly …
  • … tail, whenever I gaze on it, makes me sick! ( To Asa Gray, 3 April [1860] ) Bernard …
  • … later quoted at length in  Descent . Darwin (whose letter to Brent is missing) seems to …
  • … sight of a feather in a peacock’s tail,' he exclaimed to Asa Gray the previous year, ' …
  • … as an argument in favour of Divine creation (Campbell  1867, pp. 203–4). Brent gave it as his …

Controversy

Summary

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

Matches: 21 hits

  • … such as Thomas Henry Huxley, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Asa Gray, continued to have sharp theoretical …
  • … him as a bitter enemy. Darwin and Sedgwick Letter 2525 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … of a spirit of bravado, but a want of respect. Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, …
  • … of brotherly love and as his true-hearted friend. Letter 2555 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … classes of facts”. Darwin and Owen Letter 2526 — Owen, Richard to Darwin, C. …
  • … the nature of such influences as “heterodox”. Letter 2575 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … his book “the law of higgledy-piggledy”. Letter 2580 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, …
  • … his views now depends on men eminent in science. Letter 2767 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • … prevail without such aggressive tactics. Letter 5500 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. …
  • … reader to take the side of the attacked person. Letter 5533 — Haeckel, E. P. A. to …
  • … of the matter, a vigorous attack is essential. Letter 5544 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, …
  • … political, and religious differences. Letter 2285 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 18 …
  • … MS, but Darwin will offer to send it to journal. Letter 2294 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … 1844. A year ago Darwin sent a short sketch of his views to Asa Gray. Can Darwin honourably publish …
  • … his views from anything Darwin wrote to him. Letter 2295 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … he does not feel this alters the justice of case. Letter 2299 — Hooker, J. D. & …
  • … reasons for arranging the joint presentation. Letter 2306 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
  • … is now planning a 30-page abstract for a journal. Letter 2337 — Wallace, A. R. to …
  • … paper public unaccompanied by his own views. Letter 6024 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. …
  • … of minute variations and sexual selection. Letter 6033 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, …
  • … George Darwin’s notes on Wallace’s argument. Letter 6045 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. …

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: 22 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 ashort essayon 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] ) …
  • Darwin had sent the manuscript to the publisher in February 1867, and had spent a good deal of that
  • Record. Dallas had begun the work in November 1867 and had expected to complete it in a fortnight. …
  • would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwins 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
  • of me. I feel convinced it is by Owen’. John Edward Gray, a colleague of Richard Owens in the
  • 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 tothe 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 1113 May 1868 for hisvoluminuous
  • of science On 27 February , Darwin sent a letter of thanks to the naturalist and
  • emotional expression. His questionnaire, first sent out in 1867, was circulated to remote parts of
  • the theology favoured by some of his supporters, notably Asa Gray, seemed to render natural
  • lines by God. Of Darwins discussion in  Variation , Gray wrote on 25 May : ‘I found your … …
  • perfectly, & feel the weight of it.’ Some thought Grays position still a strong one. An
  • that the outing had done nothing for his health ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 August [1868] ), but it

Orchids

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A project to follow On the Origin of Species Darwin began to observe English orchids and collect specimens from abroad in the years immediately following the publication of On the Origin of Species. Examining…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … 1: "Structure of Orchis") Letters Letter Packet: Orchids …
  • … the pollen will stick on the head of an insect. Letter 3421 —Charles Darwin to Joseph …
  • … at the bottom of the flower’s lengthy nectary. Letter 3662 —Charles Darwin to Asa Gray …
  • … of orchids and their pollinating insects. Letter 5637 - Alfred Russel Wallace to Charles …
  • … attitude towards his work on orchids is shown in an 1860 letter Darwin wrote to the American …

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: 20 hits

  • Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But
  • on the basis of alleged evidence of a global ice age, while Asa Gray pressed Darwins American
  • 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
  • work doing me any harmany how I cant be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
  • production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January
  • hybrids, soliciting assistance from the American botanist Asa Gray, the nurseryman Thomas Rivers, …
  • ofDomestic Animals & Cult. Plantsto 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
  • 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 fatherentered
  • began work on the new translation (Bronn and Carus trans. 1867), incorporating the revisions Darwin
  • across the Atlantic, despite much effort expended by Asa Gray in trying to secure a new American
  • changes, but their proposal was unsatisfactory to Darwin. Gray then approached another American firm
  • become interested in  Rhamnus  (buckthorn) in 1861, when Asa Gray informed him that a North
  • a subject of long discussion in previous years with Lyell, Gray, and Hooker. Wallaces
  • a subject of extensive correspondence between Darwin and Asa Gray for many years, was legally
  • fact that Slavery is at end in your country’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 April [1866] ). …

Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health

Summary

On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’.  Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…

Matches: 24 hits

  • … a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864 : ‘the …
  • … of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] , Darwin …
  • … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
  • … As Darwin explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of 30 November [1864] , ‘the …
  • … observations indoors ( Correspondence  vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin …
  • … gradation by which  leaves  produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). …
  • … fearfully for it is a leaf climber & therefore sacred’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 June [1864] …
  • … matters which routinists regard in the light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 …
  • … the result of a long series of changes . . .’ When he told Asa Gray in a letter of 29 October …
  • …  paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] that nothing …
  • … of the two species with the common oxlip. In a letter of 22 October [1864] , Darwin triumphantly …
  • … the ‘splendid case of Dimorphism’ in  Menyanthes  ( letter from Emma and Charles Darwin to W. E. …
  • … this interest. At the start of the year, he received a letter, insect specimens, and an article on …
  • … that it was ‘the best medicine for my stomach’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 17 February [1864] ). …
  • … at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in 1862 with a letter regarding the fertilisation of the …
  • … two years, with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] …
  • … is difficult enough to play your part  over  them’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 April 1864] ). …
  • … troublesome … they do require very careful treatment’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 8 April 1864 ). …
  • … the conclusion that in giving I am hastening the fall’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 April 1864 ) …
  • … his indomitable perseverance, and his knowledge’ ( letter to John Scott, 10 June 1864 ). Hooker …
  • …  species. References and enclosures in letters from Gray and Hooker show how Darwin was able to …
  • … activities of collectors and curators at a great distance. Gray forwarded a letter from Charles …
  • … old Testament’ ( Correspondence vol. 10, letter to Asa Gray, 6 November [1862] ). A …
  • … read aloud to him by his ‘dear womenkind’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 29 October [1864] ). It was …

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: 26 hits

  • … out anything about dried flowers’, Darwin complained to Asa Gray on 8 March , ‘I never look at …
  • … 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 …
  • … blending and swamped within a larger population ([Jenkin] 1867). Darwin had addressed this criticism …
  • … not give up Pangenesis with wicked imprecations’ (Trollope 1867; letter to G. J. Romanes, [1 and 2 …
  • … 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 …

3.5 William Darwin, photo 2

Summary

< Back to Introduction Darwin’s son William, who had become a banker in Southampton, took the opportunity of a short visit home to Down House in April 1864 to photograph his father afresh. This half-length portrait was the first to show Darwin with a…

Matches: 11 hits

  • and would beenchantedby Darwins new persona. When Asa Gray received the photograph, he reacted
  • … ‘InsaneandIdiotic’. Darwin himself, in a letter of 1848, had jested that an acquaintance with a
  • … (but this was a cause of later confusion). According to a letter from Darwins daughter Henrietta to
  • to the German edition of Origin published in 1867, again with a facsimile of Darwins signature, …
  • in May 1864, since the photograph subsequently sent to Asa Gray, and referred to in Grays
  • An autograph collection of documents which passed from Asa Grays widow Jane to the archive of the
  • dating suggesting that this was indeed Darwins gift to Asa Gray. However, no original copy of
  • kindly provided by Danielle Castronovo, archivist in the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University, about
  • vol. 2, Clark-Green, call no. gra00084. Darwins letter to Joseph Hooker, who was then in Calcutta, …
  • and Grays reply, 11 July 1864 (DCP-LETT-4558). Darwins letter to Hooker, 10 June [1864], enclosing
  • from 4 th English edition (Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart, 1867), frontispiece engraved by August

Interview with Randal Keynes

Summary

Randal Keynes is a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, and the author of Annie’s Box (Fourth Estate, 2001), which discusses Darwin’s home life, his relationship with his wife and children, and the ways in which these influenced his feelings about…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … a quotation towards the beginning of your book in a letter that Darwin writes to Emma just …
  • … And then there's one correspondence with his colleague Asa Gray in the 1860s, I think …
  • … of the correspondence we've just been working through in 1867 and 1868 shows an enourmous …
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