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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: 18 hits

  • marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend of Darwins and
  • and discussed them in their letters. The death of Hugh Falconer Darwins first letter
  • having all the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • tone was enthusiastic and energetic. However, on 31 January, Hugh Falconer died after a sudden
  • person (see  Correspondence  vol. 12). In early January Falconer had written to Darwins brother, …
  • had failed to include among the grounds of the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus
  • 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] …
  • a bout of influenza, wrote to Darwin at some length about Falconers life and death, concluding
  • 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 Joness diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] …
  • he wasable 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

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 wasunwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a
  • persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled considerably. The
  • fromsome 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 himgroan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • … ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). Hugh Falconer was also preparing a
  • … ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). Falconer published his criticisms in a letter in
  • Darwin and Hooker repeatedly exchanged regrets about Falconers action towards Lyell, with Darwin
  • … ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). Falconer and Owen were already engaged in a
  • discovered fossil elephant should have priority. When Falconers account of the elephant appeared in
  • Owen following his 1860 review of  Origin , wrote to Falconer: ‘You would laugh, if you could have
  • and I shall watch for a fitting opportunity’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] January [1863] ) …
  • essential elements of the Jurassic fossil. When informed by Falconer of Owensslip-shod and hasty
  • Owen, as a punishment for his crimes… ?’ ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 January [1863] , and
  • transitional form between reptiles and birds ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 January [1863] ). …
  • gap had been filled in the fossil record ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] January [1863] ). …
  • criticisms from supporters or near-supporters of his theory. Hugh Falconer suggested that alaw of
  • … ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 29 May [1863] , and letter to Hugh Falconer, [256 August 1863] ). …

The "wicked book": Origin at 157

Summary

Origin is 157 years old.  (Probably) the most famous book in science was published on 24 November 1859.  To celebrate we have uploaded hundreds of new images of letters, bringing the total number you can look at here to over 9000 representing more than…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … his views on species to Darwin’s.  Others, like Hugh Falconer , couldn't wait to buy ' …

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: 27 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] ): …
  • … 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] ), …
  • … d . like to make out this wonderfully complex case—’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 29 [July 1862] ). …
  • … The case clearly excited Darwin, who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 9 August [1862] ), ‘I …
  • … that the case warranted a paper for the Linnean Society ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 October [1862] …
  • … that had given him ‘great pleasure to ride’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). But he …
  • … know not  in the least , whether the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] …
  • … govern the structure of almost every  flower’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 8 June [1862] ). …
  • … [1862] ). However, his confidence was ill-founded. He told Hugh Falconer, who wondered when he …
  • … trembling; that I dread coming up to London’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 14 November [1862] ). …
  • … was the paper sent to Darwin by one of Owen’s adversaries, Hugh Falconer, concerning the fossil and …
  • … blackguard friend of yours and mine’ ( see letter from Hugh Falconer, 24–7 September [1862] ). …
  • … rubbish’, the ‘frame-work’ would stand ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 1 October [1862] ). As he put it …

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: 16 hits

  • 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
  • 4 One area of controversy centred around claims by Hugh Falconer that Lyell had failed to credit
  • about Lyells 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
  • this initial period of controversy, Lubbock also urged Falconer to tone down his attack on Lyell and
  • originally argued that Lyell had donean injusticeto Falconer and Prestwich. 11 In the
  • 1863b, p. 213).  In May 1864, Lubbock received a letter from Falconer, who reiterated his
  • and went on to say that he intended to make a copy of his letter to show to friends. 18 In
  • wrote to Darwin to ask what he thought of the affair ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 June 1865] ). …
  • he reiterated his admiration for Lubbocks 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 ), …
  • … , see Grayson 1985. 5. For two interpretations of Hugh Falconers attack on Charles Lyell
  • that though Lyell had failed to givedue prominenceto Falconer and Prestwich, his omission was
  • Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.:  Falconer, Hugh. 1863. LetterAthenaeum , …
  • Lyells …  the Antiquity of man : the roots of Hugh Falconers attack on LyellArchives of

Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health

Summary

On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’.  Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…

Matches: 25 hits

  • … of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] , Darwin …
  • … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
  • … As Darwin explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of 30 November [1864] , ‘the …
  • … observations indoors ( Correspondence  vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin …
  • … gradation by which  leaves  produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). …
  • … fearfully for it is a leaf climber & therefore sacred’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 June [1864] …
  • … matters which routinists regard in the light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 …
  • … long series of changes . . .’ When he told Asa Gray in a letter of 29 October [1864] that he was …
  • …  paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] that nothing …
  • … of the two species with the common oxlip. In a letter of 22 October [1864] , Darwin triumphantly …
  • … the ‘splendid case of Dimorphism’ in  Menyanthes  ( letter from Emma and Charles Darwin to W. E. …
  • … this interest. At the start of the year, he received a letter, insect specimens, and an article on …
  • … that it was ‘the best medicine for my stomach’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 17 February [1864] ). …
  • … at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in 1862 with a letter regarding the fertilisation of the …
  • … two years, with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] …
  • … is difficult enough to play your part  over  them’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 April 1864] ). …
  • … troublesome … they do require very careful treatment’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 8 April 1864 ). …
  • … the conclusion that in giving I am hastening the fall’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 April 1864 ) …
  • … his indomitable perseverance, and his knowledge’ ( letter to John Scott, 10 June 1864 ). Hooker …
  • … to any thing from him except á la Darwin!’ ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 November 186[4] ). The …
  • … see letter from J. D. Hooker, [19 September 1864] ). When Hugh Falconer noted that the award of the …
  • … as the latest ‘outburst of bigotry’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 8 November [1864] ). …
  • … descent than he had the previous year, particularly when Hugh Falconer suggested in his letter of …
  • … IV). With the help of supporters on the Council, including Hugh Falconer and George Busk, who had …
  • … had taken so much interest on his behalf ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 4 November [1864] ). …

Dramatisation script

Summary

Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007

Matches: 16 hits

  • … uses the words of Jane Loring Gray, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Hugh Falconer, Louis Agassiz, Adam …
  • … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
  • … 11   My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my …
  • … be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy it… His letter does strike me as most uncommonly …
  • … on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year …
  • … a brace of letters 25   I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received …
  • … might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing …
  • … Atlantic. HOOKER:   28   Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which …
  • … notions of natural Selection and would see whether it or my letter bears any date, I should be very …
  • … 55   My good dear friend, forgive me. This is a trumpery letter influenced by trumpery feelings. …
  • … do a good deal to secure it. Darwin passes Gray’s letter to Hooker with a cringe. …
  • … full relief from all anxiety. Darwin shows Gray’s letter to Hooker. DARWIN:  …
  • … back. JANE GRAY:   189   [Jane Gray. Letter to her sister. Fall, 1868.] Mr Darwin …
  • … DARWIN:   192   My dear Gray. When I look over your letter[s] … and see all the things you …
  • … me, and yet was most anxious till two days ago, when I got a letter from him in excellent spirits. …
  • … TO GRAY AT THIS TIME 189 JANE LORING GRAY, LETTER TO HER SISTER, 1868 or 1869 …

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: 24 hits

  • … Falconers remark on the influence of climate [W. Falconer 1781] [DAR *119: 2v.] …
  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
  • … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
  • … on Sewalik Fossils in 1842 [Cautley 1840 and Cautley and Falconer 1840] The Haras. Vet. Journ …
  • … 1840] Proceedings of Agricult. Soc of India. 1838. Falconer says Royle will probably have it  …
  • … 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] …
  • … 9. 10. 11. 12. (1843). not much except Blyth. Aug 11. Falconer on Tenasserim Forests [H. …
  • … [Lamb 1837] July 18 th  Schools & Schoolmasters by Hugh Miller [H. Miller 1854] …
  • … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
  • … arranged to borrow copies of this rare journal from Royle. Hugh Falconer was in London at this time. …
  • … ( 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 …
  • … this entry with ‘O’ in pencil. 103  Hugh Cuming. John Gould Anthony published  …
  • … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832.  A letter in vindication of   the principles of …
  • … 292–304.  *119: 16v. Cautley, Proby T. and Falconer, Hugh. 1840. Notice on the remains of …
  • … . Padua. [Other eds.]  *119: 12v. Falconer, Hugh. 1852.  Report on the teak forests 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 …
  • … 1859.  On liberty . London.  128: 25 Miller, Hugh. 1841.  The Old Red Sandstone; or, …
  • … *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, …

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: 16 hits

  • … an illustration of how selection might work in nature ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. …
  • … the real structure of varieties’, he remarked to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 September [1856 …
  • … cattle; Carl Johann Andersson about native Swedish ponies; Hugh Falconer about Tibetan mastiffs. The …
  • … ‘& I mean to make my Book as perfect as ever I can.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 8 February [1857] …
  • … plants, he asked Asa Gray, vary in the United States ( letter to Asa Gray, 2 May 1856 )? What …
  • … plants pretty effectually’ complained Darwin in 1857 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [2 May 1857] ). …
  • … John Lubbock that his method of calculation was wrong ( letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1857] ). …
  • … ‘Darwin, an absolute & eternal hermaphrodite’ ( letter to to T. H. Huxley, 1 July [1856] ), …
  • … which the bird had naturally eaten have grown well.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1856] …
  • … he wrote to Syms Covington in New South Wales ( letter to Syms Covington, 9 March 1856 ). …
  • … his work on species and the preparation of his manuscript ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 1 May 1857 ) …
  • … a preliminary sketch was apparently first made in a letter written by Lyell from London on 1–2 May …
  • … and went up to London to see Lyell to discuss it further ( letter to Charles Lyell, 3 May [1856] ) …
  • … Hearing about the party afterwards, Lyell reported in a letter to his brother-in-law that, ‘When …
  • … so far, and not embrace the whole Lamarckian doctrine.’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, …
  • … in his views to explain them in explicit detail in a long letter to Asa Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, …

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: 4 hits

  • … to the entire natural history community by sending a letter to the Gardeners’ Chronicle , …
  • … that Darwin chose to tell were so favourable. His old friend Hugh Falconer, he confessed to Gray, …
  • … it adequately. On 18 June 1858, Darwin received a now lost letter from Wallace enclosing his essay …
  • … I had, however, quite resigned myself & had written half a letter to Wallace to give up all …