To Benjamin Dann Walsh 3 April [1869]
Summary
Glad BDW has proved his case on dimorphism of Cynips.
Interested in galls
and BDW’s Cicada articles [Proc. Entomol. Soc. Philadelphia (1864)].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Benjamin Dann Walsh |
| Date: | 3 Apr [1869] |
| Classmark: | Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (Walsh 17) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5482 |
To ? 6 April [1869–71]
Summary
"My experiment was intended solely to show that colour reappeared, and I choose kinds which breed [true] to colour, as is certainly the case with [sports] and those which I tried . . .
I have recorded an undoubted case of wild rock Pigeons caught in Scotland having bred in confinement …"
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 6 Apr [1869-71] |
| Classmark: | L’Autographe S.A. (dealers) (Catalogue 21) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6098A |
From E. A. Darwin [after 21 April 1869]
Summary
Discusses CD’s health and James Paget’s "verdict".
| Author: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 21 Apr 1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 105: B65 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6521 |
From Richard Spruce [before 1 April 1869]
Summary
Sends CD a paper ["Ant-agency in plant structure", published in Spruce Notes of a botanist on the Amazon and Andes, ed. A. R. Wallace (1908)] on plant structures he believes are the work of insects; asks him to forward it to the Linnean Society [read 15 Apr 1869].
Writes of his support for the Origin, before which he had been much concerned by the delimitation of so-called species.
| Author: | Richard Spruce |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 1 Apr 1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 241 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6690 |
To Richard Spruce 1 April 1869
Summary
RS’s facts are remarkable. A year or two ago CD would not have believed ants could produce an inherited effect, but he has "lately come to believe rather more in inherited mutations". However, CD is not satisfied that the sacs are inherited and urges RS to produce any other evidence he might have.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Richard Spruce |
| Date: | 1 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | Spruce 1908, 2: 385 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6691 |
From George M’Ilvaine Ramsey 5 April 1869
Summary
Describes the work he is writing, Cosmology (Ramsay 1870).
| Author: | George M’Ilvaine Ramsey |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 05 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 271.6: 3 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6692F |
To W. C. Tait 7 April [1869]
Summary
Drosophyllum plants recovering [from trip]. Describes experiments on them.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Chester Tait |
| Date: | 7 Apr [1869] |
| Classmark: | Natural History Museum (General Special Collections DC AL 1/10) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6693 |
From Alfred Newton 9 April 1869
Summary
Regrets Frank [Darwin] did not pass the Trinity scholarship examination, but he hears Frank did well on the viva voce part.
Pleased CD is willing to help the University’s Museum of Zoology; he encloses the printed appeal.
| Author: | Alfred Newton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 172: 47 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6694 |
From W. C. Tait 13 April 1869
Summary
Insectivorous plants; Drosophyllum lusitanicum.
Descriptions of the local sheep.
| Author: | William Chester Tait |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 46 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6696 |
From Richard Spruce 15 April 1869
Summary
Describes the floral structure and fertilisation of some melastomes;
discusses the direct agency of insects in modifying the structure of flowers.
| Author: | Richard Spruce |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 242 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6697 |
To W. B. Tegetmeier 17 April 1869
Summary
Wants information on plumage of chickens
and table of sex ratios in greyhounds.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 17 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6698 |
From Edward Blyth 17 April 1869
Summary
Will attempt to provide CD with the information requested as soon as he can.
Gives references to some recent papers and articles which might interest CD.
Is currently reviewing Wallace’s new book [Malay Archipelago].
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 224 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6699 |
From W. B. Tegetmeier [before 18 April 1869]
Summary
Numerical proportion of males to females in greyhound puppies.
| Author: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 18 Apr 1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 85: B29–33 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6700 |
To George Charles Wallich 18 April [1869]
Summary
Regrets he cannot come to London to be photographed [for GCW’s Eminent men of the day (1870)]. Invites GCW to Down.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George Charles Wallich |
| Date: | 18 Apr [1869] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.374) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6701 |
To W. B. Tegetmeier 18 April [1869]
Summary
Thanks for greyhound table; interested in transmission of colour in greyhounds and relationship to sex.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 18 Apr [1869] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6702 |
From A. R. Wallace 18 April [1869]
Summary
Expands upon their differences in regard to man and the question of the existence of forces not yet recognised by science.
| Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 Apr [1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: B79–80 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6703 |
From George Maw 18 April 1869
Summary
He has found abundant Drosophyllum in Andalusia.
| Author: | George Maw |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 104 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6704 |
To W. C. Tait 18 April [1869]
Summary
Not well owing to fall from horse.
[Drosophyllum] plants going on very well.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Chester Tait |
| Date: | 18 Apr [1869] |
| Classmark: | Alan R. Tait (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6705 |
To J. Noordhoek Hegt 19 April 1869
Summary
Enquires about spurs in the last year’s birds of Pavo Spicifer and cristatus.
Enquires about sexual differences in mandrills.
Asks the correct spelling of JNH’s surname and offers to send a copy of Journal of Researches.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | J. Noordhoek Hegt |
| Date: | 19 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | Stadsarchief Amsterdam (395: 614) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6705F |
To A. R. Wallace 14 April 1869
Summary
ARW’s review of 10th ed. of Lyell’s Principles [see 6684] is admirable.
But he differs "grievously" with ARW on man. CD sees no necessity for an additional and proximate cause.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Date: | 14 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | British Library (Add MS 46434: 181–3) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6706 |
| letter | (40) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (16) |
| Blyth, Edward | (2) |
| Spruce, Richard | (2) |
| Bennett, A. W. | (1) |
| Brusina, Spiridion | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (22) |
| Hegt, J. N. | (2) |
| Tait, W. C. | (2) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (2) |
| Darwin, Francis | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (38) |
| Hegt, J. N. | (3) |
| Spruce, Richard | (3) |
| Tait, W. C. | (3) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (3) |
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
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: 23 hits
- … (1) Alberts, Karl (4) Alberts, Maurice …
- … (2) Allman, G. J. (4) Althaus, Julius …
- … (1) Atkinson, Edward (4) Aubertin, J. J. …
- … (1) Bailey, W. W. (4) Baillie, A. F. …
- … (1) Bary, Anton de (4) Bashford, Frederick …
- … (1) Behrens, Wilhelm (4) Beke, C. T. …
- … (1) Bianconi, G. G. (4) Bibliogr. Inst. …
- … (8) Blackwall, John (4) Blackwell, A. L. B. …
- … (7) Blair, R. H. (4) Blake, C. C. (3 …
- … (2) Broca, Paul (4) Broderip, W. J. …
- … (1) Browne, Hugh (4) Browne, W. R. …
- … (1) Canning, A. S. G. (4) Capes, Frederick …
- … (1) Cardwell, Edward (4) Carlier, A. G. …
- … (1) Chapman, John (4) Charles, R. F. …
- … (2) Cheeseman, T. F. (4) Chemical supplier …
- … (1) Chester, J. L. (4) Chiantore, G. …
- … (2) Clark, J. W. (b) (4) Clarke, Benjamin …
- … (3) Coan, T. M. (4) Cobbe, F. P. (13 …
- … (2) Crotch, G. R. (4) Crotch, W. D. …
- … (56) Dallinger, W. H. (4) Daly, J. …
- … (11) Dobson, G. E. (4) Dodel-Port, Arnold …
- … (3) Dunker, Wilhelm (4) Dupré, August …
- … (2) Fawcett, Henry (4) Fayrer, Joseph …
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: 4 hits
- … translation, 1863 2d French translation 1865 4 th English edition published, 1866 …
- … Lyell, 11 October [1859] and letter from Charles Lyell, 4 October 1859 ). Despite having …
- … doomed to disappointment. 3 rd to 4 th editions This …
- … Everything which I have read during last 4 years I find is quite washy in my mind . Once …
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, …
Detecting Darwin
Summary
Who was Charles Darwin? What is he famous for? Why is he still important?
Matches: 1 hits
- … Pupils act as Darwin detectives, exploring clues about Darwin’s life and work. No prior knowledge …
Darwin And Evolution
Summary
What is evolution? What did Darwin discover and how did he come to his conclusions?
Matches: 1 hits
- … Activities give an introduction to Charles Darwin and his theories of evolution. Specimens brought …
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…
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: 7 hits
- … improvement to Jones’s diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] ). It was not until …
- … for the press in the autumn’ ( letter to John Murray, 4 April [1865] ). In early June, he wrote to …
- … from the Linnean Society ( letter to [Richard Kippist], 4 June [1865] ). The paper was published …
- … to high scientific account’ (A. Gray 1865–6, pp. 273-4). Darwin had also written to Gray on 19 …
- … for him to read attentively ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [4 June 1865] ). The fact that …
- … do it if it ever can be done’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [4 June 1865] ); the hard work of …
- … keep out of contact with him’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 4 May [1865] ). Darwin contributed …
Teachers notes: Offer of a lifetime
Summary
The Offer of a Lifetime? Activities for: English Key Stage 3 and 4 When Darwin was 22 he received an exciting and unique opportunity to join HMS Beagle. The voyage changed his life but the letters show how close he came to not going at all! …
Matches: 1 hits
- … Activities for: English Key Stage 3 and 4 When Darwin was 22 he received an exciting and …
Home learning: 7-11 years
Summary
Do try this at home! Support your children’s learning by downloading our free and fun activities for those aged between 7-11 and 11-14 years, using Darwin’s letters.
Matches: 1 hits
- … More Darwin the Collector activities 4 How did Darwin develop his ideas on …
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: 9 hits
- … published in Paris (in 2 vols.), so long ago as 1839 4 [Pierquin de Gembloux 1839]. Said to …
- … et anim: on sleep & movements of plants £ 1 ..s 4. [Dutrochet 1837] Voyage aux …
- … observations on increase & decrease of different diseases 4 to . 1801 [Heberden 1801] quoted …
- … worth reading [Dampier 1697] Sportsman’s repository 4 to . [W. H. Scott 1820]— contains …
- … Audubons Ornithol: Biography [Audubon 1831–9]— 4 Vols. well worth reading [DAR *119: 4v.] …
- … 31 An analysis of British Ferns. G. W. Francis 4 s [Francis 1837]— plates of every …
- … of Rural Sports [Blaine 1840] (at Athenæum?) Book II Chapt. 4 on variation by Blaine .— & on …
- … Yak.— Steudel Botan. Nomenclature [Steudel 1821–4]. Synonym of every plant & country— …
- … Paper on transmutation of shells [Haldeman 1843–4] already (1844) VI. vols. published Lib. …
New material added to the American edition of Origin
Summary
A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…
Darwin and vivisection
Summary
Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…
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: 4 hits
- … mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. 3; Hutchinson 1914, …
- … partly inspired by the controversies associated with it. 4 One area of controversy centred …
- … admiration for Lubbock’s book ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [4 June 1865] ). A week later he sent …
- … of the situation was succinct. In his letter to Hooker of [4 June 1865] he warned that no one …
Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest
Summary
The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…
Matches: 4 hits
- … of Descent , he wrote to Philip Lutley Sclater on 4 January , ‘Heaven knows, whether the book …
- … produce physiological changes ( letter from Michael Foster, 4 June [1871] ). Pangenesis …
- … can hardly sit up, so no more’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 4 August [1871] ). On 23 September he …
- … good as twice refined gold’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 September [1871] ). The months …
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: 7 hits
- … me’, Darwin wrote enthusiastically to Reginald Darwin on 4 April , declaring that reading it was …
- … independent of him as possible’, Francis told Darwin on 4 July, after reporting that he had …
- … with Ubba about your return’, Darwin wrote to Francis on 4 July , ‘He said “it is likely he will …
- … neither cross nor ennuied’ (Emma Darwin to W. E. Darwin, [4 August 1879] (DAR 219.1: 125)). Darwin …
- … has opposed it’ (letter from Emma Darwin to W. E. Darwin, [4 August 1879] (DAR 219.1: 125)). Nothing …
- … ‘to be planted in my honour!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 4 November [1879] ). While in Coniston, …
- … frog be published in Nature ( letter to J. N. Lockyer, 4 and 6 March [1879] ). When Darwin’s …
Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life
Summary
1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…
Matches: 5 hits
- … curs in London’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [4 February 1876] ). 'The heat of …
- … as stemming a torrent with a reed’, he told Romanes on 4 June , but added, ‘Frank … who sputters …
- … the previous year ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [after 4 September 1876] ). ...all sorts of …
- … say is do not commit suicide’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [4 June 1876] ). By midsummer, Darwin …
- … size of pollen grains & state of stigma’, he told Gray on 4 December. Darwin also adopted …
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 5 hits
- … He expressed his views to his daughter Henrietta on 4 January : ‘I wd gladly punish severely …
- … eyes of one variety into another ( Variation 2d ed. 1: 420–4, 2: 360). Darwin had encouraged …
- … become wholly white’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [before 4 November 1874] ). Testing …
- … am very glad indeed of your work,’ Darwin replied on 4 November , ‘though I cannot yet follow all …
- … occasions and finally arranged a visit to Down House on 4 May, but was not content with just one …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
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: 4 hits
- … [1866] ). Darwin began riding the cob, Tommy, on 4 June 1866, and in a letter to his …
- … before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 ). More predictably, however, …
- … is known on the subject’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 and 4 August [1866] ). And on the next day: …
- … he had sounded the charge’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [4 September 1866] ). 'Natural …
