To Frederick Smith [c. 17 February 1864?]
Summary
Sends, for identification, specimens of bees and wasps which fertilise orchids. [Notes in FS’s hand on the same sheet identify the specimens.]
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Frederick Smith |
| Date: | [c. 17 Feb 1864?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 70: 162 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3365 |
From John Scott 12 [February 1864]
Summary
Regrets sending his MS missing two pages.
Has proofs of his paper on the monoecious spikes of maize [Edinburgh New Philos. J. 2d ser. 19 (1864): 213–20].
J. H. Balfour objected to notion of maize descent from a hermaphrodite.
Reading of JS’s paper on Selaginella hybrid [Edinburgh New Philos. J. 2d ser. 19 (1864): 192–9] deferred until March. Believes it is first example of experimentally produced hybridity in higher cryptogams.
| Author: | John Scott |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 [Feb 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 100 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4386 |
From J. D. Hooker [before 9 February 1864]
Summary
Bentham proposes John Scott be made an associate of the Linnean Society.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 9 Feb 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 101: 182 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4399 |
From E. A. Darwin 1 February [1864]
Summary
Tells of a declaration and a subscription list to defend the rights of Bishop Colenso.
| Author: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Feb [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 105: B23–4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4400 |
From J. D. Hooker 5 February 1864
Summary
John Scott’s paper [see 4332] read at Linnean Society; praised by George Bentham.
Himalayan pine in Macedonia.
JDH is in a quarrel with H. C. Watson.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 5 Feb 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 100: 161; DAR 101: 180–1, 201 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4401 |
To John Scott 6 February [1864]
Summary
JS’s Primula paper was read at the Linnean Society and praised warmly by G. Bentham. Hooker was not present.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Scott |
| Date: | 6 Feb [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 93: B33–4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4402 |
To J. D. Hooker [8 February 1864]
Summary
Compares Clematis and Tropaeolum with respect to touch response. Tropaeolum shows a momentary response and quick recovery. Clematis takes hours to respond, and shows no recovery.
CD can show the gradations between leaves and tendrils, but how a branch passes into a tendril utterly puzzles him.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [8 Feb 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 219 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4403 |
To John Scott 9 February [1864]
Summary
Bentham so impressed with JS’s paper that he is invited to become Associate Member of Linnean Society.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Scott |
| Date: | 9 Feb [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 93: B17–19 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4405 |
From Emma Darwin to J. D. Hooker 15 February [1864]
Summary
John Scott is gratified at Bentham’s proposal that he become an associate of the Linnean Society.
| Author: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 15 Feb [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 220 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4406 |
From Andrew Murray 15 February 1864
Summary
A regular column is to appear in the Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society on successful and failed interspecific crosses.
| Author: | Andrew Dickson (Andrew) Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Feb 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 326 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4407 |
From J. D. Hooker 16 February 1864
Summary
CD’s climbing plant experiments make it impossible to deny nerve force in plants.
Has discussed Frankland’s new glacial theory with Lyell.
Bishop Colenso’s trial.
Possibility of Scott’s coming to Kew as a curator.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Feb 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 101: 183–5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4408 |
From Asa Gray 16 February 1864
Summary
Is sending his monograph ["A revision and arrangement of the North American species of Astragalus and Oxytropis", Proc. Am. Acad. Arts & Sci. 6 (1863): 188–236].
Death of Francis Boott.
U. S. is now determined to do away with slavery.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Feb 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 142 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4409 |
To Daniel Oliver 17 February [1864]
Summary
Sends Hermann Crüger’s paper ["A few notes on the fecundation of orchids and their morphology", J. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Bot.) 8 (1865): 127–35] for publication.
"Boasts" of confirmation that sexes are separate in Catasetum.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Daniel Oliver |
| Date: | 17 Feb [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 261.10: 58 (EH 88206041) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4410 |
From Daniel Oliver 18 February 1864
Summary
Thinks the paper by H. Crüger should appear in the Journal of the Linnean Society.
| Author: | Daniel Oliver |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 Feb 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 173: 26 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4411 |
To J. D. Hooker [20–]22 February [1864]
Summary
Does not know Scott’s qualifications to be curator at Kew.
Frankland’s theory of glaciers is absurd.
Has JDH heard claim that plants in Northern and Southern Hemispheres turn in opposite directions?
Are there plant families with no twining and climbing plants?
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [20–]22 Feb [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 221a–c |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4412 |
From J. D. Hooker [20 February 1864]
Summary
Sends a Corydalis.
Hermann Crüger’s paper [see 4394] splendid, but he has made a mess of propagating Cinchona in Trinidad.
JDH’s opinion of Germans.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [20 Feb 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 101: 186–7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4413 |
To J. D. Hooker 24 [February 1864]
Summary
Asks for a Smilax to study movement.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 24 [Feb 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 222 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4414 |
To Asa Gray 25 February [1864]
Summary
Has not worked for six months due to illness.
Has been looking at climbing plants.
Hermann Crüger’s paper shows that CD was right about Catasetum pollination. Crüger’s account of pollination of Coryanthes "beats everything".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 25 Feb [1864] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (80) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4415 |
From William Bernhard Tegetmeier 1 February 1864
Summary
Would like his fowl skulls back.
Breeding experiments seem to show mongrels are just as fertile as pure breeds.
| Author: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Feb 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 61 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4761 |
To W. B. Tegetmeier 2 February [1864]
Summary
Returns WBT’s box of skulls. One or two skulls may be elsewhere, but CD does not have the strength to search for them.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 2 Feb [1864] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5389 |
| Darwin, C. R. | (10) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (4) |
| Scott, John | (2) |
| Gray, Asa | (1) |
| Oliver, Daniel | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (19) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (8) |
| Scott, John | (3) |
| Gray, Asa | (2) |
| Oliver, Daniel | (2) |
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: 23 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 …
- … 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., …
- … expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
- … 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 …
- … father of plants and insects. Men: Letter 2221 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [22 …
- … Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 March 1864] Darwin thanks Hooker for …
- … Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John Scott responds to Darwin’s …
- … Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868] Doubleday responds to Darwin’s …
- … Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] Amy Ruck reports the …
- … Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin asks his …
- … ridges. Letter 8169 - Wedgwood, L. to Darwin, [20 January, 1872] Darwin’s …
- … Letter 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, [22 August 1874] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, …
- … Letter 4433 - Wright, Charles to Gray, A., [20, 25, 26 March & 1 April 1864] …
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: 10 hits
- … sites in both France and Germany (K. M. Lyell ed. 1881, 2: 336). In April 1860, Lubbock travelled …
- … species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. …
- … Galton. In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, evidently in response …
- … of errata’ that he may have seen, and then mentioned: 2 have struck out Galton …
- … about Lyell’s failure to support him. In April 1863, in a letter to the Athenæum , he discussed a …
- … transmutation; he also wrote to Lyell telling him about the letter to the Athenæum . 9 …
- … and went on to say that he intended to make a copy of his letter to show to friends. 18 In …
- … he reiterated his admiration for Lubbock’s book ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [4 June 1865] ). A week …
- … in the dispute. When Hooker pressed him for an opinion ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 July 1865 ), …
- … with Huxley in June and July and had seen Huxley’s letter to Hooker about the affair, 24 he …
Darwin The Collector
Summary
Look at nature more closely and create and record your own natural collections.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Activities provide an introduction to Charles Darwin, how and why he collected so many specimens …
Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots
Summary
Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…
Matches: 21 hits
- … his publishers, he warned that it was ‘dry as dust’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 9 September 1879 ). …
- … turned out, alas, very dull & has disappointed me much’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 15 [June …
- … home again’, he fretted, just days before his departure ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [after 26 …
- … many blessings, was finding old age ‘a dismal time’ ( letter to Henry Johnson, 24 September 1879 ) …
- … wrinkles one all over like a baked pear’ ( enclosure in letter from R. W. Dixon, 20 December 1879 …
- … office to complete Horace’s marriage settlement ( letter from W. M. Hacon, 31 December 1879 ). …
- … his wife sent birthday greetings and a photograph of their 2-year-old son named Darwin, who, they …
- … but they were ‘as nice and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ) …
- … on your life’s work, which is crowned with glory’ ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 9 February 1879 ). …
- … to wish Darwin a ‘long and serene evening of life’. This letter crossed with one from Darwin, …
- … the statement ‘In the beginning was carbon’ ( letter from Hermann Müller, 14 February 1879 ). …
- … as the ‘organ of “uncultivated materialism”’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 2 June 1879 ]). …
- … up the glory & would please Francis’, he pointed out ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 13 March [1879 …
- … wholly & shamefully ignorant of my grandfathers life’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 14 March 1879 …
- … known philosopher and poet’ ( Correspondence vol. 1, letter from Francis Beaufort to Robert …
- … other than Darwin’s sister Caroline (who was around 2 years old at the time of Erasmus’s death). …
- … these things with the when & the where, & the who—’ ( letter from V. H. Darwin, 28 May …
- … ‘perfect in every way’ ( letter from E. A. Wheler, 25 March 1879 ). She suggested that Darwin …
- … & always with pride’ ( letter from Reginald Darwin, 29 March 1879 ). It was from …
- … ‘interfering with each other’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 27 March 1879 ). Darwin’s aim was ‘to give …
- … obstacles from the start, as he reported in a letter of 29 May . Sachs had changed his views on …
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 Darwin’s 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 Jones’s diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] …
- … he was ‘able 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 …
- … abstract of the paper was read before the Linnean Society on 2 February, and in April Darwin wrote …
- … 1864 ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to Ernst Haeckel, 21 November [1864] ). Since it was, …
- … to do any scientific work’ ( letter to Fritz Müller, 20 September [1865] ), he clearly read Müller …
- … ( Correspondence vol. 9, letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 September [1861] ). Scott had …
- … (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from John Scott, 21 September [1863] ), and wrote up his …
- … suffering from sea-sickness ( letter from John Scott, 21 July 1865 ). This may have been unwise: …
- … the work again when he had time ( letter from John Scott, 21 July 1865 ); at the time of writing, …
- … 1867), and Darwin summarised them in Variation 2: 106–7, concluding, ‘it follows from Mr. Scott …
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: 14 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 ). …
- … first 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 …
3.3 Maull and Polyblank photo 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction Despite the difficulties that arose in relation to Maull and Polyblank’s first photograph of Darwin, another one was produced, this time showing him in three-quarter view. It was evidently not taken at the same session as the…
Matches: 5 hits
- … the publication of Origin in late November 1859. In his letter of spring 1862, Darwin’s brother …
- … he expressed with it (if correctly identified) in his 1861 letter to Gray was shared by many readers …
- … These shortcomings also explain why, as early as 1861-2, Darwin decided to go literally and …
- … accession or collection number DAR 225.175 and DAR 257.2 (cropped) copyright holder …
- … print references and bibliography Letter from Darwin to Hooker, 17 Dec. [1860], DCP-LETT …
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: 4 hits
- … ‘Insane’ and ‘Idiotic’. 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 Darwin’s daughter Henrietta to …
- … there, which is in the Jane Gray autograph collection, vol. 2, Clark-Green, call no. gra00084. …
- … and Gray’s reply, 11 July 1864 (DCP-LETT-4558). Darwin’s letter to Hooker, 10 June [1864], enclosing …
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: 15 hits
- … Stoke’s Library 1 Cambridge. Library 2 Royal Coll of Surgeons [DAR *119 …
- … de l’Homme,” by Dr. Pierquin, published in Paris (in 2 vols.), so long ago as 1839 4 …
- … 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] …
- … 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 …
- … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832. A letter in vindication of the principles of …
- … 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, …
That monstrous stain: To J. M. Herbert, 2 June 1833
Summary
Darwin did not consider himself to be a particularly good writer, but many of his letters contain not just a wealth of information, but also beautifully expressed descriptions and impressions that would be the envy of any essayist or novelist. Such is the…
Matches: 3 hits
I never trusted Drosera: From E. F. Lubbock, [after 2 July] 1875
Summary
Francis Neary has set his favourite letter to music (with additional vocals and bass by Deen Manning). The satirical verses were sent to Darwin by Ellen Frances Lubbock in 1875 after the publication of his book on insectivorous plants. They…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Francis Neary has set his favourite letter to music (with additional vocals and bass by …
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: 20 hits
- … Hooker, ‘or as far as I know any scientific man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1878] ). …
- … or arched.… Almost all seedlings come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). …
- … in plants , pp. 112–13). He explained to Francis on 2 July : ‘I go on maundering about the …
- … when he finds out that he missed sensitiveness of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] …
- … Darwin complained. ‘I am ashamed at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). …
- … tomorrow to Wurzburg,’ Darwin wrote to Thiselton-Dyer on 2 June , ‘& work by myself will be …
- … accursed German language: Sachs is very kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June …
- … have nobody to talk to, about my work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] …
- … but it is horrid not having you to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). …
- … determine whether they had chlorophyll, Francis reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 …
- … ‘There is one machine we must have’, Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July …
- … ‘He seems to me to jump to conclusions rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] …
- … the pot-plant every day & never the bedded out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July …
- … ‘I have borrowed Cieselski & read him,’ he reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [22 June 1878 …
- … books & red-wine which is here the cure for all evils’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [24 and 25 …
- … is very sweet & pretty,’ he added a week later ( letter to Francis Darwin, 14 July [1878] ). …
- … in a booboo, whereas I ought to have said a gee-gee’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 17 July [1878] ). …
- … animal instinct and intelligence. ‘Frank’s son, nearly 2 years old (& we think much of his …
- … but he will always do so’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 20 August [1878] ). Darwin remarked that a …
- … more expertly. ‘I conclude that a child—just under 2 years is inferior in intellect to a monkey.’ …
German poems presented to Darwin
Summary
Experiments in deepest reverence The following poems were enclosed with a photograph album sent as a birthday gift to Charles Darwin by his German and Austrian admirers (see letter from From Emil Rade, [before 16] February 1877). The poems were…
Matches: 7 hits
- … Charles Darwin by his German and Austrian admirers (see letter from From Emil Rade , [before 16 …
- … unaufhörlich ringen; Manch’ ein Eppur si muove! 2 klang Den dichten Nebel zu …
- … shall be in eternal strife; Many an Eppur si muove! 2 was uttered To pierce the heavy …
- … poet Ludovico Ariosto, first published in 1516. 2. Eppur si muove!: And yet it moves! …
- … lift this veil, till I myself do raise it.) Letter from Emil Rade 1 …
- … 5 Notes 1. This letter is published in vol. 25 of The …
- … The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to Emil Rade, 16 …
Rewriting Origin - the later editions
Summary
For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions. Many of his changes were made in…
Matches: 9 hits
- … edition published, 1872 1 st to 2 nd editions I have …
- … buried Darwin under a blizzard of letters (see especially letter to Charles Lyell, 11 October …
- … getting permission to quote prominently from Kingsley’s letter in the revised summary: A …
- … the voids caused by the action of His laws.” ( Origin 2d ed, p. 481). 2 nd …
- … sufficiently acknowledged earlier work. According to a letter to Asa Gray he had yet to start …
- … an animal’s colour and its immunity to poison (see letter from Jeffries Wyman, [ c . 15] …
- … “Origin” for the first time, for I am correcting for a 2 nd . French Edition; & upon my life, …
- … hitherto slurred it over. In his Christmas Day letter to his old friend Joseph Hooker, …
- … of population increase in elephants in response to a letter published in the Athenaeum by a …
Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species
Summary
Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…
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: 20 hits
- … that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
- … summer, and persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled …
- … diminished even further when he and his family departed on 2 September for more than a month at a …
- … from ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
- … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
- … than Origin had (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
- … from animals like the woolly mammoth and cave bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, 23 …
- … leap from that of inferior animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
- … book he wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
- … I respect you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … against stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). …
- … thinking, while Huxley’s book would scare them off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In …
- … answering Owen unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). Hugh Falconer was …
- … being written by others’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). Falconer published his …
- … Falconer, 3 January [1863] , and letter to Hugh Falconer, 20 [January 1863] ). Aside from Owen’s …
- … his and others’ attention ( see letter to J. D. Dana, 20 February [1863] , and letter to Charles …
- … book on Foraminifera ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [29 March 1863] , and Appendix VII). The …
- … think of origin of matter.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [29 March 1863] ). Owen’s endorsement of …
- … of Antiquity of man ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] , and letter to …
Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Matches: 11 hits
- … whom he exchanged information and ideas. Letter 346: Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, C. S., 27 Feb …
- … Caucasian languages separated from one stock.” Letter 2070: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, …
- … is the grinding down of former continents.” Letter 3054: Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 2 …
- … former,—which I tell him is perfectly logical.” Letter 5605: Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. …
- … whilst young, do they scream & make loud noise?” Letter 7040: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to …
- … speech from gradually growing to such a stage” Letter 8367: Darwin, C. R. to Wright, …
- … & thus unconsciously altering the breed. Letter 8962: Darwin, C. R. to Max Müller, …
- … judge of the arguments opposed to this belief[.]” Letter 10194: Max Müller, Friedrich to …
- … want, at least in the Science of Language […]” Letter 9887: Dawkins, W. B. to Darwin, C. R. …
- … hold that language is not a test of race […]” Letter 11074: Sayce, A. H. to Darwin, C. R., …
- … of wanting to eat, for this movement makes a sound like the letter m.” “For some time past I have …
Language: Interview with Gregory Radick
Summary
Darwin made a famous comment about parallels between changes in language and species change. Gregory Radick, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Leeds University, talks about the importance of the development of language to Darwin, what…
Matches: 4 hits
- … to Darwin, how did language begin? 2. Was this an important topic for Darwin? And …
- … sense, a more developed moral sense, and so forth. 2. Was this an important topic for Darwin? …
- … conversion, not quite at the deathbed, but in 1881, a letter in which Darwin wrote to a friend of …
- … into this a little bit further, and actually looking at the letter myself, I came to see that this …
Darwin's Fantastical Voyage
Summary
Learn about Darwin's adventures on his epic journey.
Matches: 1 hits
- … These activities explore Darwin’s life changing voyage aboard HMS Beagle. Using letters home, …
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: 22 hits
- … but really I do think you have a good right to be so’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 and] 20 …
- … species. Darwin attempted to dissuade him from this view ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 [January 1862 …
- … partially sterile together. He failed. Huxley replied ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 January 1862 …
- … and pronounced them ‘simply perfect’, but continued ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 18 December [1862] ) …
- … resigned to their difference of opinion, but complained ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1862 …
- … letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] …
- … protégé, telling Hooker: ‘he is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). …
- … Towards the end of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): …
- … condition in Primula ’, p. 92 ( Collected papers 2: 59)). Darwin later recalled: ‘no little …
- … and added, ‘new cases are tumbling in almost daily’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). In …
- … hopeful, became increasingly frustrated, telling Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 March [1862] ) …
- … on the problem: ‘the labour is great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ), ‘I …
- … resulted from his ‘ enormous labour over them’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [October 1862] ; …
- … Oliver: ‘I can see at least 3 classes of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), …
- … result once out of four or five sets of experiments’ ( letter to M. T. Masters, 24 July [1862] ). …
- … one species may be said to be generically distinct’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 14 July [1862] ). The …
- … and determined to publish on Linum ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), …
- … wonderfully complex case—’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 29 [July 1862] ). The three forms had …
- … him ‘great pleasure to ride’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). But he worried about the …
- … selection through the back door ( letter to Asa Gray, 23[–4] July [1862] ). Moreover, it …
- … opposition to the Origin ’ ( letter from Asa Gray, 2–3 July 1862 ). Henry Walter Bates …
- … of their letters; Darwin remarked ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 [March 1862] ): ‘It is really …
