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Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year

Summary

The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…

Matches: 18 hits

  • The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the
  • 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
  • Andone 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 wasa 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 alloweda spirit séanceat 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
  • in a few hours dissolve the hardest cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. …
  • with extracts from a dogs stomach ( letter from T. L. Brunton, 28 February 1874 ), and Edward
  • whether at theclose of the putrefaction of flesh, skin &c, any substance is produced before
  • details of an Australian variety of sundew ( letter from T. C. Copland, 23 June 1874 ). …
  • the face, with a physiological explanation ( letter from T. L. Brunton, [29] October [1874] ). …
  • head that M r  Spencers terms of equilibration &c always bother me & make everything less

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: 18 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 …
  • … Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L …
  • … Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
  • … Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 …
  • … 9426 - Story-Maskelyne , T. M. to Darwin, [23 April 1874] Thereza Story-Maskelyne …
  • Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to Darwin, [September 1874] Theodosia Marshall sends …
  • … New Zealand. Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S. E., [9 November 1868] …
  • … the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9 …
  • Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris …
  • … lakes in Pennsylvania. Letter 3681  - Wedgwood, M. S. to Darwin, [before 4 August …
  • … on holiday in Llandudno. Letter 4823  - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, H. E., [May 1865] …
  • … 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, [22 August 1874] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, sends a …
  • Letter 9616  - Marshall, T.  to Darwin, [September 1874] Theodosia Marshall details …
  • Letter 9485 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [8 June 1874] Mary Treat details her experiments …

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: 20 hits

  • … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
  • … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
  • … François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20 …
  • … quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January …
  • … probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
  • … we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He …
  • … of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
  • … find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
  • … sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
  • … leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
  • … on the summit, whence it rolls down the sides’ ( letter from J. F. Simpson, 7 January 1882 ). The …
  • … light on it, which would have pleased me greatly’ ( letter from J. H. Gilbert, 9 January 1882, …
  • … annelid seemed to have rather the best of the fight’ ( letter from G. F. Crawte, 11 March 1882 ). …
  • … our homes, would in this case greatly suffer’ ( letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). Kennard …
  • … judged, intellectually his inferior, please ( letter from C. A. Kennard, 28 January 1882 ). …
  • … William Jenner, 20 March [1882] ; see also letter from T. L Brunton, 12 February 1882 , and …
  • … grant us this our modest request!’ ( letter from J. L. Ambrose, 3 April 1882 ). Darwin immediately …
  • … to some Estancia,’ wrote Hughes, ‘as the scenery &c. will amply repay your trouble’ ( letter
  • … before I am able to work’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [ c . 10 April 1864] ). To the physician …
  • … father confessor. ( Letter from Charles Lyell, 1 September 1874 .) Darwin’s fame continued …

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: 25 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. …
  • … in her garden. Letter 13650 Kennard, C. A. to Darwin, [28 January 1882] …
  • … Variation . Letter 6126 - Binstead, C. H. to Darwin, [17 April 1868] …
  • … of variation”. Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to Darwin, [13 January 1869] …
  • … 9633 - Nevill, D. F. to Darwin, [11 September 1874] Dorothy Nevill tells Darwin …

Darwin as mentor

Summary

Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…

Matches: 13 hits

  • … of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 …
  • … sweeping conclusions on insufficient grounds. Letter 3934 - Darwin to Scott, J., [21 …
  • … how to make the material worthy of publication. Letter 4185 - Darwin to Scott, J., [25 …
  • … indefatigable worker you are!”. Letter 7605 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [20 March …
  • … memorial” in memory of the book. Letter 8140 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [3 …
  • … how he made so many observations without aid. Letter 8146 - Darwin to Treat, M., [5 …
  • … “in some well-known scientific journal”. Letter 8171 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L., [21 …
  • … that Lucy is worth her weight in gold. Letter 9005b - Darwin to Treat, M., [12 …
  • … flies until he had repeated the experiment. Letter 9580 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H. D., …
  • … should not yet be submitted to the publisher. Letter 9613 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
  • … and thinks that it ought to be published. Letter 10523 - Darwin to Treat, M., [1 June …
  • … in the pursuit of her “admirable work”. Letter 11096 - Darwin to Romanes, G. J., [9 …
  • … her manuscript to Nature for publication. Letter 13414 - Darwin to Harrison, L., …

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: 27 hits

  • What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 8 November [1872] …
  • anything more on 'so difficult a subject, as evolution’ ( letter to ARWallace,  27 July
  • best efforts, set the final price at 7 s.  6 d.  ( letter from RFCooke, 12 February 1872 ) …
  • condition as I can make it’, he wrote to the translator ( letter to JJMoulinié, 23 September
  • translation remained unpublished at the end of the year ( letter from C.-FReinwald, 23 November
  • to the comparative anatomist St George Jackson Mivart ( letter to St GJMivart,  11 January
  • comparison of Whale  & duck  most beautiful’ ( letter from ARWallace, 3 March 1872 ) …
  • a person as I am made to appear’, complained Darwin ( letter to St GJMivart, 5 January 1872 ). …
  • Darwin would renounce `fundamental intellectual errors’ ( letter from St GJMivart, 6 January
  • was silly enough to think he felt friendly towards me’ ( letter to St GJMivart, 8 January [1872
  • hoping for reconciliation, if only `in another world’ ( letter from St GJMivart,  10 January
  • have been ungracious in him not to thank Mivart for his letterHe promised to send a copy of the
  • partly in mind, `chiefly perhaps because I do it badly’ ( letter to ARWallace, 3 August [1872] …
  • Darwinism is to be the theme. Surely the world moves!’ ( letter from Mary Treat, 13 December 1872
  • to find that Weismann accepted it at least in part ( letter to August Weismann, 5 April 1872 ). ‘I
  • few naturalists in England seem inclined to believe it’ ( letter to Herman Müller, [before 5 May
  • reached the buzzing place where I myself was standing’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, [before 5 May
  • … ‘as for myself it is dreadful doing nothing’ ( letter to THHuxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was
  • to stand closer (a serried mass) and to be more erect’ ( letter to Briton Riviere, 19 May [1872] ) …
  • and amused rather than offended by `that clever book’ ( letter to JMHerbert, 21 November 1872
  • from his ignorance, he feels no doubts’ ( letter to FCDonders, 17 June 1872 ). Right up to the
  • Charlton Bastians recent book on the origin of life (HCBastian 1872; Wallace 1872d) left him
  • Lord Sackville Cecil, to attend a séance ( letter from MCStanley, 4 June 1872 ). There was
  • gift, although he doubted he would ever use it ( letter to CLDodgson, 10 December 1872 ). …
  • to contain wormcasts from India. Darwins niece Lucy Wedgwood, who had started her observations the
  • Ruck, the sister of an old schoolfriend; he married Amy in 1874Francis, still a medical student
  • to which any scientific man can look’ ( letter to FCDonders, 29 April [1872] ). …

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: 26 hits

  • he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C ( Notebooks , pp. 31928). In 1839, …
  • … (DAR 119) opens with five pages of text copied from Notebook C and carries on through 1851; the
  • to be Read [DAR *119: Inside Front Cover] C. Darwin June 1 st . 1838
  • de la Folie des Animaux de ses Rapports avec celle de lHomme,” by Dr. Pierquin, published in Paris
  • …  [Pierquin de Gembloux 1839]. Said to be good by D r  L. Lindsay 5 [DAR *119: 1v.] …
  • Cuvier 1822] read Flourens Edit [Flourens 1845] read L. Jenyns paper on Annals of Nat. Hist. …
  • … [DAR *119: 2v.] Whites regular gradation in man [C. White 1799] Lindleys
  • 8 vo  p 181 [Latreille 1819]. see p. 17 Note Book C. for reference to authors about E. Indian
  • Hist. genérale et Particulière des Anomalies de lorganization des hommes & des Animaux by Isid. …
  • in brutes Blackwood June 1838 [J. F. Ferrie 1838]. H. C. Watson on Geog. distrib: of Brit: …
  • Wiegman has pub. German pamphlet on crossing oats &c [Wiegmann 1828] Horticultural
  • in Library of Hort. Soc. [DAR *119:5v.] M c .Neil 16  has written good article
  • of the Agricultural Association meeting at Oxford. paper by L d  Spencer on gestation of animals
  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824
  • … “Resume analytique des observations par F. Cuvier sur linstinct”—LInstitut 1839. p. 408 [Flourens
  • Histoire Générale et particulière des anomalies de lorganisation chez lhomme et les animaux, …
  • 183440]: In Portfolio ofabstracts34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm
  • M rs  Frys Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleays letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to
  • … (Liebig 1851). 50  Probably Elizabeth Wedgwood. 51  This note is a
  • … ( Notebooks , pp. 31928). 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
  • design . (Bridgewater Treatise no. 4.) London. [9th ed. (1874) in Darwin Library.]  119: 5a
  • 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832A letter in vindication of   the principles of