To William Erasmus Darwin [1 May 1864]
Summary
Writes of dimorphic plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | [1 May 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 122 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5127 |
To W. E. Darwin [after 14 April – 5 May 1864]
Summary
Describes difference between Pulmonaria flowers; wishes to know whether it is general.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | [after 14 Apr – 5 May 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 97: 9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4822 |
To W. E. Darwin 4 August [1881]
Summary
Reports on a luncheon of scientific savants at which the Crown Prince of Germany [and Prince of Wales?] were present.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Aug [1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 181 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13274 |
To W. E. Darwin 22 June [1866]
Summary
Polymorphism in Rhamnus.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 22 June [1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 185: 15 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5131 |
To W. E. Darwin 14 January [1881]
Summary
Discusses earthworm activity
and animal grazing on slopes.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Jan [1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 171 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13013 |
To W. E. Darwin 3 May [1864]
Summary
Thanks WED for measuring cowslip pollen. Sends dimorphic flowers.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 3 May [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 97: A8, A10 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4480 |
To W. E. Darwin 20 May [1881]
Summary
Discusses his investments.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 20 May [1881] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.590) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13167 |
From Emma Darwin to W. E. Darwin [17 May 1864]
Summary
CD says Meneanthes is now in flower.
| Author: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | [17 May 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 219.1: 80 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4498F |
To W. E. Darwin 14 May [1864]
Summary
Discusses WED’s observations on polymorphic flowers.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 14 May [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 97: A1–2, A4–5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4495 |
Matches: 3 hits
- … and Echium (see Correspondence vol. 11, letters to W. E. Darwin, [5 May 1863] and n. …
- … to his earlier letter of 4 May [1863] ( Correspondence vol. 11) in which he mentioned …
- … letter to W. E. Darwin, 3 May [1864] , n. 2, and ‘Three forms of Lythrum salicaria ’ , pp. 171–4 ( Collected papers 2: 108–9). As a result of this, and other structural differences between the two forms that he had observed, he concluded that many heterostyled plants were ‘tending to become diœcious’ ( Forms of flowers , p. 257), or in some cases what he later called gyno-dioecious; in either case, the anthers would become rudimentary in the long-styled form (see nn. 8, 11, …
To W. E. Darwin 26 April [1862]
Summary
Thanks WED for eyeglass.
Reports on health of Horace and family matters.
Has finished Orchids.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 26 Apr [1862] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 96 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3520 |
To W. E. Darwin 20 [January or February 1871?]
Summary
Asks WED’s help in acquiring expression photographs and engravings.
Wishes to send Langstaff a copy of his book [Expression], in gratitude for his valuable notes.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 20 [Jan or Feb] 1871 |
| Classmark: | Natural History Museum, Library and Archives (General Special Collections MSS DAR 32) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8529 |
From H. E. Darwin to W. E. Darwin [18 May 1864]
Summary
CD would like to see Rhamnus, as an American species is dimorphic.
Sends red cowslip pollen to be measured.
| Author: | Henrietta Emma Darwin; Henrietta Emma Litchfield |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | [18 May 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 118 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4442 |
To W. E. Darwin [31 May 1862]
Summary
Wants WED to forward dried Malaxis to G. C. Oxenden.
Has been dissecting Viola flowers.
[Letter from Emma Darwin to WED, verso p. 3.]
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | [31 May 1862] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 98 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3580 |
To W. E. Darwin 27 [February 1858]
Summary
CD intends to enter WED at Christ’s College.
Thanks him for inquiries made about horses.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 27 [Feb 1858] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 23 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2227 |
To W. E. Darwin [26 April 1858]
Summary
Has been at Moor Park since Tuesday. Is passing his time watching ants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | [26 Apr 1858] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 24 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2265 |
To W. E. Darwin 28 October [1876]
Summary
Discusses legal arrangements [unspecified].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Oct [1876] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 146 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10657 |
To W. E. Darwin [after 11 November 1871]
Summary
Sends enclosure for Captain Jones.
Comments on essay by E. D. Cope ["On the origin of genera", Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 20 (1868): 242–300].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | [after 11 Nov 1871] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.502) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8039 |
To W. E. Darwin 19 [June 1866]
Summary
Different forms of flowers of Rhamnus.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 19 [June 1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 185: 14 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5125 |
To W. E. Darwin 15 March [1871]
Summary
Wants WED to thank F. de Chaumont for some valuable observations.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Mar [1871] |
| Classmark: | Wellcome Collection (RAMC/473/1). Trustees of the Army Medical Services Museum. |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11936 |
From F. S. B. F. de Chaumont to W. E. Darwin 16 April 1871
Summary
Answers to questions about expression.
| Author: | Francis Stephen Bennet François de Chaumont |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Apr 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 136 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7688 |
| letter | (54) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (50) |
| Darwin, Emma | (3) |
| Wedgwood, Emma | (3) |
| François de Chaumont, F. S. B. | (2) |
| Darwin, H. E. | (1) |
| Darwin, W. E. | |
| Darwin, G. H. | (3) |
| Darwin, Elizabeth | (2) |
| Darwin, Francis | (2) |
| Darwin, H. E. | (2) |
| Darwin, Horace | (2) |
| Darwin, Leonard | (2) |
| Litchfield, H. E. | (2) |
| Darwin, Sara | (1) |
| Sedgwick, Sara | (1) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (54) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (50) |
| Darwin, Emma | (3) |
| Darwin, G. H. | (3) |
| Darwin, H. E. | (3) |
The Lyell–Lubbock dispute
Summary
In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … In March 1862, Heinrich Georg Bronn wrote to Darwin stating his intention to prepare a second …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
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: 1 hits
- … As the sheer volume of his correspondence indicates, 1862 was a particularly productive year for …
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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
Darwin's 1874 letters go online
Summary
The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1874 through his letters and see a full list of the letters. The 1874 letters…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 …
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: 1 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I …
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: 1 hits
- … When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations …
Race, Civilization, and Progress
Summary
Darwin's first reflections on human progress were prompted by his experiences in the slave-owning colony of Brazil, and by his encounters with the Yahgan peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh conditions, privation, poor climate, bondage and servitude,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letters | Selected Readings Darwin's first reflections on human progress were …
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: 1 hits
- … Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants …
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: 1 hits
- … I cannot bear to think of the future The year 1876 started out sedately enough with …
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: 1 hits
- … no little discovery of mine ever gave me so much pleasure as the making out the …
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: 1 hits
- … On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July …
Charles Harrison Blackley
Summary
You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 million people in the UK who suffer from hay fever, you are indebted to him. For it was he who identified pollen as the cause of the allergy. Darwin was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 …
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: 1 hits
- … Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's …
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: 1 hits
- … Re: Design – performance version – 25 March 2007 – 1 Re: Design – Adaptation of the …
Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … I think we have proved that the sleep of plants is to lessen injury to leaves from radiation …
Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and …
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
