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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: 16 hits

  • … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition …
  • … & 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 ). …
  • … 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] ). …
  • … various species from Britain and overseas. The dog-breeder George Cupples worked hard on Darwin’s …
  • … 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
  • … varieties ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 25 February [1869] ). The data contined to …
  • … the prescription. Henrietta Emma Darwin wrote to her brother George on  10 April (DAR 245: 291) …
  • … paternal grandfather, Erasmus, to two of Darwin’s sons (George and Leonard), who had recently …

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: 23 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 …
  • … has not been able to do more than look at the plates as Mr. Cupples got hold of it first. …
  • … 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. …
  • Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to Darwin, [13 January 1869] Suffragist and …

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: 21 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., …
  • … 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. …
  • … briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
  • … 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 …
  • … on her experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9426 - Story …
  • … Asa Gray about the observations of orchids made by his son, George. He details George’s findings and …
  • Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John Scott responds to Darwin’s …
  • … Darwin, [11 November 1865] J. S. Henslow’s son, George, passes on the results of some …
  • … the second edition of  Descent  to Darwin's son George. The work is tedious and Wallace …
  • … editing the second edition of  Descent  to his son, George. Darwin warns George that it will …
  • …  - Darwin to  Gunther, A. C. L. G., [21 September 1869] Darwin asks Gunther for “a great …
  • … editing the second edition of  Descent  to his son, George. Darwin warns George that it will …

Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution

Summary

The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’.  Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…

Matches: 28 hits

  • … selection to humans from Alfred Russel Wallace and St George Jackson Mivart, and heated debates …
  • … shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding machine’  ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December …
  • … anything which has happened to me for some weeks’  ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ) …
  • … corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be’  ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ) …
  • … who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
  • … abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February …
  • … thro’ apes & savages at the moral sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] …
  • … how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870 …
  • … in thanks for the drawing ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868] …
  • … patients, but it did not confirm Duchenne’s findings ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March …
  • … muscle’, he complained, ‘is the bane of existence!’ ( letter to William Ogle, 9 November 1870 ). …
  • … to their belief that all demons and spirits were white ( letter from W. W. Reade, 9 November 1870 …
  • … . . Could you make it scream without hurting it much?’ ( letter to A. D. Bartlett, 5 January [1870] …
  • … or crying badly; but I fear he will not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] …
  • … Lucy Wedgwood, who sent a sketch of a baby’s brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). …
  • … is the inclination to finish my note on this subject’  ( letter from F. C. Donders, 17 May 1870 ). …
  • … the previous year (see  Correspondence  vol. 17, letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). His …
  • … (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …
  • … towards each other, though in one sense rivals’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870] ). …
  • … version of the theory of descent by natural selection in a letter to Darwin, prompting much anxiety …
  • … ( letter to H. W. Bates, [22 May 1870] ). St George Jackson Mivart Another set of …
  • … selection to human evolution came from the zoologist St George Jackson Mivart. A protégé of Thomas …
  • … comparative anatomist through his work on primates. In July 1869, Mivart published the first of a …
  • … the form of a Scottish deerhound puppy, the pride and joy of George Cupples, who had written to …
  • … Walter Scott’s celebrated “Maida”’ ( letter from George Cupples, 17 September 1870 ). Darwin …
  • … much with Polly & enjoys English life’  ( postcard to George Cupples, 27 November [1870] ). …
  • … concern of the father for his children were reciprocated. George, who was now a fellow at Trinity …
  • letter from G. H. Darwin, [3 February 1870 or earlier] ). George devoted considerable effort to …

Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?

Summary

Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … I omitted to observe, which I ought to have observed” ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] …
  • … work your wicked will on it—root leaf & branch!” ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 January 1873 ) …
  • … parts of the flower would become modified & correlated” ( letter to T. H. Farrer, 14 August …
  • … it again, “for Heaven knows when it will be ready” ( letter to John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). …
  • … we take notes and take tracings of their burrows” ( letter from Francis Darwin, 14 August [1873] ) …
  • … in importance; and if so more places will be created” ( letter to E. A. Darwin, 20 September 1873 …
  • … our unfortunate family being fit for continuous work” ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 25 September …
  • … 1873). Darwin asked one of his Scottish correspondents, George Cupples, who the author might be, …
  • … on any point; for I knew my own ignorance before hand” ( letter to George Cupples, 28 April [1873] …
  • … “he would fly at the Empr’s throat like a bulldog” ( letter from L. M. Forster to H. E. Litchfield, …
  • … force & truth of the great principle of inheritance!” ( letter to F. S. B. F. de Chaumont, 3 …
  • … the heavy breathing that accompanied sexual intercourse? (letter from ?, [1873?]). The Scottish …
  • … with up lines; & sadness & decay with the reverse—” ( letter from William Main, 2 April …
  • … with the advance of civilisation and good breeding ( letter from Henry Reeks, 3 March 1873 ). …
  • … have never felt an inclination to have a second dose” ( letter from Robert Swinhoe, 26 March 1873 …
  • … of an orbital one produces snapping of the jaws” ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 16 April 1873 …
  • … that illustrated the physiognomy of the disease ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 30 December 1873 …
  • … line of research he had begun with  Hereditary genius  (1869), Galton tried to establish the …
  • … Hooker, John Lubbock, Herbert Spencer, John Tyndall, George Busk, and William Spottiswoode met with …
  • … accepted, than Darwin reconsidered in favour of his son George. Keeping such editorial work in the …
  • … A family affliction The job also suited George’s current situation, for he had been forced to …
  • … problems that bore some resemblance to his father’s, George tried a variety of treatments during the …
  • … recommended by Andrew Clark. “When I have an attack”, George complained, “I’m to starve sweat & …
  • … offering to move the family to Malvern if it would make George more comfortable. Mindful of …
  • … and responsibility for his children’s health. He wrote to George and Horace (who was also often …
  • … to G. H. Darwin, 5 March [1873] ). Darwin worried too that George, perhaps owing to physical …
  • … he was more reserved about an essay on religion, advising George to reconsider publication: “It is …
  • … to G. H. Darwin, 21 October [1873] ). Darwin also warned George of the evils of “giving pain to …
  • … They ran into difficulties, however, with the vicar, George Sketchley Ffinden, who had been …

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: 27 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 …
  • … respectively. In January, Darwin corresponded with George John Romanes about new varieties of …
  • … 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 …
  • … This was confirmed by one of his correspondents. A clerk, George Frederick Crawte, recounted a …
  • … transit of Venus on an expedition to Queensland, Australia. George’s recent work had been highly …
  • … Robert Stawell Ball that was printed in Nature declared George ‘the discoverer of tidal …
  • … the great judges think highly of the work … I believe that George will some day be a great …
  • … family and close friends grew worried. Letters were sent to George, who was soon to return from …
  • … 3 April 1882 ). He sent a cheque for a memorial to the late George Rolleston ( letter to H. N. …
  • … carried him off the next day. Henrietta immediately wrote to George, who had visited Down on 11 …
  • … a rare declaration on the origins of life to the chemist George Warington, who was keen to reconcile …
  • … to remain each man’s private property’ ( letter to George Warington, 11 October [1867] ). …
  • … he attracted many admirers in German-speaking countries. In 1869, his birthday was celebrated by an …
  • … vol. 17, letter from F. M. Malven, 12 February [1869] ). An extract from Darwin’s reply to Malven …
  • … with his’ ( letter to F. M. Malven, [after 12 February 1869] ). Accompanying this extract was the …
  • … some of whom drew substantially on his theory. In 1869, Hermann Müller (brother to Fritz) sent …
  • … theory to flowers and flower-visiting insects; H. Müller 1869)). Darwin was full of admiration and …
  • … Darwin’s other great loves, dogs, was indulged by George Cupples, a writer and experienced deerhound …

Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year

Summary

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

Matches: 26 hits

  • … an anonymous review that attacked the work of Darwin’s son George dominated the second half of 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 …
  • … 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 …
  • … the spirit world. While Darwin was in London, his son George organised a séance at Erasmus’s house. …
  • … in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
  • … Darwin’s cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood. Those present included George Darwin, the psychic researcher …
  • … that Mr Williams was ‘a cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). …
  • … his, ‘& that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874 …
  • … Darwin had allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
  • … edition, published in 1842 ( Correspondence  vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17 …
  • … Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 8 January …
  • … to take so sweetly all the horrid bother of correction’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 21 [March …
  • … sent an apology for misinterpreting Darwin on this point ( letter from J. D. Dana, 21 July 1874 ); …
  • …  2d ed., p. v). Among the many contributors was George Cupples, a Scottish deerhound expert …
  • … in, litters of puppies to other dog breeders (letters from George Cupples, 21 February 1874 and …
  • … from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Darwin's son George had laboured hard on the …
  • … affair Before helping Darwin revise  Descent , George had taken up questions of human …
  • … Lubbock and Edward Burnett Tylor. It included an attack on George’s paper as speaking ‘in an …
  • … in order to check population’. The review was by St George Jackson Mivart, one of the most …
  • … generous Darwin by his previous anonymous attacks ([Mivart] 1869; 1871c). In his review, Mivart …
  • … Descent of man  ( Descent  1: 134). By interpreting George’s article as a defence of such immoral …
  • … a bitter dispute ensued over Mivart’s misrepresentation of George’s views, and more generally the …
  • … on his son ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [27 July 1874] ).  George, however, consulted with his …

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: 26 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 a ‘short essay’ on 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] ) …
  • … would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s 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] ). …
  • … in three parts in the  Pall Mall Gazette , was by George Henry Lewes, well-known in London’s …
  • … reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from the Isle of Wight on the formation …
  • … would strike me in the face, but not behind my back’ ( letter to John Murray, 25 February [1868] ) …
  • … 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 to ‘the 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 11–13 May 1868 for his ‘voluminuous …
  • … of science On 27 February , Darwin sent a letter of thanks to the naturalist and …
  • … he later added, ‘for it is clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). …
  • … to various classes, a dim ray of light may be gained’ ( letter to H. T. Stainton, 21 February [1868 …
  • … as well as of ‘victorious males getting wives’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 25 February [1868] ). …
  • … of females was remarked upon by other entomologists ( letter from Roland Trimen, 20 February 1868 …
  • … advice from the entomologist and librarian at Cambridge, George Robert Crotch, writing to his mother …
  • … Darwin passed Wallace’s pages over to his son George, now a Cambridge-trained mathematician, who …
  • … the expression of natives faces as I meet them,’ wrote George Henry Kendrick Thwaites on 1 April …
  • … for fellowship of the Linnean Society ( letter from George Bentham, [after 29 September 1868] ). …
  • … paper was read before the Linnean Society on 4 February 1869, but remained unpublished until it …
  • … now in life’. In January, the family learned the news that George’s performance on the mathematical …