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Darwin Correspondence Project

human evolution

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Erasmus Alvey Darwin with Charles Darwin's sons
Erasmus Alvey Darwin with Charles Darwin's sons
CUL DAR 225: 40
Cambridge University Library

Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution

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 human ancestry, including the origin of language, mind, morals, and religious temperament. The year was otherwise coloured by controversies, including vigorous objections to the application of natural selection to humans from Wallace and St George Jackson Mivart.

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Darwin family at Caerdeon
Darwin family at Caerdeon, 1869 (from left, Henrietta, Francis, Leonard, Horace, Elizabeth)
CUL DAR 225: 72
Cambridge University Library

Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts

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 remainder of the year was spent researching and revising chapters for  Descent, and gathering additional material on emotional expression. Yet the scope of Darwin’s interests remained extremely broad, many letters throughout the year touching on subjects such as South American geology, barnacle morphology, insectivorous plants, and earthworms, subjects that had exercised Darwin for decades.

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