From J. D. Hooker 20 February – 16 [March] 1848
Summary
Though correspondence has never ebbed so low, CD is constantly in his thoughts.
Observations on cheetahs used as domesticated hunting animals.
Finds geographical barriers sometimes separate species, but also finds species that remain separate where there are no barriers to migration.
Colour "individuates" isolated animal species.
Plains and alpine animal distribution show altitude not strictly analogous to latitude.
Impact of timber cutting on climate has led to extinction of crocodiles.
Will discuss coal formation in letter to Edward Forbes.
CD often asked whether isolated mountains in southern latitudes had closely allied representatives of Arctic and north temperate plants; JDH has found a representative barberry.
Making for Darjeeling via Calcutta.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Feb – 16 [Mar] 1848 |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (India letters 1847–51: 52–4 JDH/1/10) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1158 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Zoological Society of London: a sketch of its foundation and development and the story of its farm, museum, gardens, …
From J. D. Hooker [24 July 1862]
Summary
Wife’s health improved by trip.
Heer’s collections convince JDH that Miocene vegetation was Himalayan, not American, as Heer supposed.
Zurich promises to be a good natural history school.
Review of Natural History Review in Parthenon [1 (1862): 373–5].
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [24 July 1862] |
| Classmark: | DAR 70: 171, DAR 101: 48–9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3665 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Zoological, Entomological & Geological Cabinets, which will all be united in the new Polytechnicon, Except the Herbaria which will all go to the Bot. Garden. …
From J. D. Hooker [17 February 1865]
Summary
Why botanists will not subscribe to Falconer’s bust with enthusiasm.
Scott has been offered curatorship at Calcutta Botanic Garden.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [17 Feb 1865] |
| Classmark: | DAR 102: 10–11 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4773 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Gardens of empire: botanical institutions of the Victorian British empire. London and Washington: Leicester University Press. Wallace, Alfred Russel. 1862. List of birds from the Sula Islands (east of Celebes), with descriptions of the new species. [Read 13 January 1862. ] Proceedings of the Zoological …
From J. D. Hooker [25 January 1862]
Summary
Will send an Arethusa; offers other specimens.
Dimorphism.
Falconer contradicts Sumatra and Ceylon elephant story.
Lyell as rabid as ever about America.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [25 Jan 1862] |
| Classmark: | DAR 101: 6–7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3394 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Gardens, Kew (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 16 January [1862] ). Charles and Mary Elizabeth Lyell were supporters of the Union cause in the American Civil War and intimates of Charles Francis Adams , the United States’ minister in London ( H. Adams 1918 ). The Lyells dined with the Hookers on 20 January 1862 (see letter from J. D. Hooker, [19 January 1862] ). George Busk was the zoological …
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: 1 hits
- … There are summaries of all Darwin's letters from the year 1879 on this website. The full texts of …
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 …
Before Origin: the ‘big book’
Summary
Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his …
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click …
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: 1 hits
- … In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to …
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, 1821-1836: Childhood to the Beagle voyage
Summary
Darwin's first known letters were written when he was twelve. They continue through school-days at Shrewsbury, two years as a medical student at Edinburgh University, the undergraduate years at Cambridge, and the of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle.…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin's first known letters were written when he was twelve. They continue through his school …
What is an experiment?
Summary
Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand …
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 …
2.11 Christian Lehr, plaster bust
Summary
< Back to Introduction A plaster bust of Darwin by the German artist Christian Wilhelm Jacob Lehr the younger, dating from 1883, has found its way to a historic zoological library in the Netherlands. This is the Artis Bibliotheek, Natura Artis…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction A plaster bust of Darwin by the German artist Christian …
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: 1 hits
- … Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the …
John Stevens Henslow
Summary
The letters Darwin exchanged with John Stevens Henslow, professor of Botany and Mineralogy at Cambridge University, were among the most significant of his life. It was a letter from Henslow that brought Darwin the invitation to sail round the world as…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The letters Darwin exchanged with John Stevens Henslow, professor of Botany and Mineralogy at …
About Darwin
Summary
To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But even before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, he was publicly known through his popular book about the voyage of the Beagle, and he was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But …
About Darwin
Summary
To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But even before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, he was publicly known through his popular book about the voyage of the Beagle, and he was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But …
Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'
Summary
In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that he ‘Began by Lyell’s advice writing …
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: 1 hits
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If …
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 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 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: 1 hits
- … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was …
