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From C. H. Blackley   13 January 1879

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Summary

Relates anecdote about a provincial girl’s reaction to being told men descended from monkeys.

Author:  Charles Harrison Blackley
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  13 Jan 1879
Classmark:  DAR 160: 194
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11826

To C. H. Blackley   14 January 1879

Summary

Thanks CHB for his anecdote about a provincial girl’s reaction to being told men descended from monkeys.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Harrison Blackley
Date:  14 Jan 1879
Classmark:  Formerly in the private collection of Dr T. B. Robinson
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11826F

To Karl Höchberg   13 January 1879

Summary

Thanks for essay on origin of taste for music. Will send to Edmund Gurney.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Karl Höchberg
Date:  13 Jan 1879
Classmark:  DAR 145: 129
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11827

To John Fiske   14 June [1879]

Summary

Will send carriage to station on 18th.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Fiske
Date:  14 June [1879]
Classmark:  The Huntington Library (HM 8266)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11828

To Melchior Neumayr   15 January 1879

Summary

Asks MN about trustworthiness of Leopold Würtenberger. Would like to aid LW financially in his work.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Melchior Neumayr
Date:  15 Jan 1879
Classmark:  Christie’s (dealers) (13 December 2017)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11829

To Leopold Würtenberger   15 January 1879

Summary

Is sorry that LW’s circumstances interfere with his scientific work. Does not think any English scientific society can help.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Leopold Würtenberger
Date:  15 Jan 1879
Classmark:  Helmut Würtenberger (private collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11829F

From Gaston de Saporta   16 January 1879

Summary

Sends his photograph; asks for CD’s.

Author:  Louis Charles Joseph Gaston (Gaston) de Saporta, comte de Saporta
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  16 Jan 1879
Classmark:  DAR 177: 37
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11830

From W. K. Parker   17 January 1879

Summary

Sends CD a book on science and scriptures written by a clergyman friend [unidentified].

Author:  William Kitchen Parker
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  17 Jan 1879
Classmark:  DAR 174: 21
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11831

From Karl Höchberg   17 January 1879

Summary

Points out comment by Grant Allen supporting his theory of the origin of colour sense. Is English translation of his essay possible?

Author:  Karl Höchberg
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  17 Jan 1879
Classmark:  DAR 166: 226
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11832

To G. J. Romanes   [18 January 1879]

Summary

Notes advertisement of Tito Vignoli, Fundamentalgesetz der Intelligenz im Thierreiche [1879].

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  George John Romanes
Date:  [18 Jan 1879]
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.558)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11833

To T. H. Huxley   18 January 1879

Summary

Has read Hume with great pleasure, but found parts very stiff reading.

George Darwin has visited Anthony Rich.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Thomas Henry Huxley
Date:  18 Jan 1879
Classmark:  Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 333)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11834

To Gaston de Saporta   19 January 1879

Summary

Thanks GdeS for his photograph; sends his own. Glad to hear GdeS’s work [Le monde des plantes (1879)] is popular in France.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Louis Charles Joseph Gaston (Gaston) de Saporta, comte de Saporta
Date:  19 Jan 1879
Classmark:  Archives Gaston de Saporta (private collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11835

To Raphael Meldola   20 January 1879

Summary

Sends the Fritz Müller article from Kosmos.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Raphael Meldola
Date:  20 Jan 1879
Classmark:  Oxford University Museum of Natural History (Hope Entomological Collections 1350: Hope/Westwood Archive, Darwin folder)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11836

To H. N. Moseley   20 January 1879

Summary

Thanks for HNM’s [Notes by a naturalist on the "Challenger" (1879)].

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Henry Nottidge Moseley
Date:  20 Jan 1879
Classmark:  Christie’s, London (dealers) (online 31 October – 8 November 2018, lot 11)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11837

From Melchior Neumayr   21 January 1879

Summary

Respects Leopold Würtenberger’s work. Will initiate inquiry if CD wishes. LW’s work suffers from his limited circumstances. Will assist him if he asks.

Mentions his own forthcoming work ["Zur Kenntniss der Fauna des untersten Lias in den Nordalpen", Abh. K.-K. Geol. Reichsanst. 7 (1874–82), vol. 5].

Author:  Melchior Neumayr
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  21 Jan 1879
Classmark:  DAR 172: 16
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11838

From Fritz Müller   21 January 1879

Summary

Has lately found frog that has eggs on its back.

Pupae of caddis-flies living on rocks have lost fringe of hairs on their feet. In species that live in the water these are used for swimming.

Author:  Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  21 Jan 1879
Classmark:  Nature, 20 March 1879, pp. 463–4
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11839

From H. N. Moseley   21 January 1879

Summary

Thanks CD for accepting dedication.

Asks CD to support his candidacy for position as Registrar of the University of London by talking to Sir John Lubbock, one of the most influential members of the Senate.

Author:  Henry Nottidge Moseley
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  21 Jan 1879
Classmark:  DAR 171: 257
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11840

To ?   23 January [1879?]

Summary

Orders a sheet of gold-beater’s skin for plant experiments.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Unidentified
Date:  23 Jan [1879?]
Classmark:  Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11841

To Emil du Bois-Reymond   23 January 1879

Summary

Acknowledges receipt of diploma.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Emil Heinrich (Emil) Du Bois-Reymond
Date:  23 Jan 1879
Classmark:  Archiv der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11842

From W. S. Dallas   23 January 1879

Summary

Suggests references that might answer CD’s [unidentified] request for information about coral islands.

Author:  William Sweetland Dallas
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  23 Jan 1879
Classmark:  DAR 162: 28
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11843
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Abney, W. de W. (1)
Alberts, Karl (3)
Allen, Grant (3)
Asher, G. M. (1)
Balfour, F. M. (1)
Bary, Anton de (2)
Bates, H. W. (2)
Behrens, Wilhelm (1)
Blackley, C. H. (1)
Blyth, E. K. (1)
British Museum (1)
Brunton, T. L. (4)
Buckley, A. B. (2)
Burdon Sanderson, J. S. (1)
Butler, A. G. (1)
Candolle, Casimir de (1)
Carus, J. V. (1)
Cheadle, W. B. (1)
Chester, J. L. (1)
Christophe, N. N. (1)
Collings, E. J. (1)
Cooke, R. F. (3)
Coues, Elliott (1)
Crawley, J. A. (1)
Crick, W. D. (1)
Dallas, W. S. (1)
Darwin, C. M. C. (3)
Darwin, C. R. (317)
Darwin, Caroline (2)
Darwin, Elizabeth (1)
Darwin, Emma (2)
Darwin, Francis (23)
Darwin, G. H. (18)
Darwin, H. E. (2)
Darwin, Horace (4)
Darwin, Leonard (4)
Darwin, Reginald (9)
Darwin, W. E. (3)
Dodel-Port, Arnold (2)
Dohrn, Anton (1)
Du Bois-Reymond, Emil (1)
Edinburgh University (1)
Errera, L. A. (2)
Farrer, T. H. (6)
Ffinden, G. S. (4)
Fiske, John (4)
Fordyce, John (1)
Forster, L. M. (1)
Frankland, Edward (3)
Gaertner, Albin (1)
Galton, E. A. (6)
Galton, E. S. (2)
Galton, Francis (7)
Garrison, W. P. (2)
Gascoyne-Cecil, M. C. (1)
Gladstone, W. E. (1)
Goodacre, F. B. (5)
Gray, Asa (2)
Grey, Thomas de (1)
Günther, Albert (1)
Haast, Julius von (1)
Hacon, W. M. (1)
Haeckel, Ernst (5)
Harvard University Library (1)
Henslow, George (1)
Hildebrand, Friedrich (1)
Hill, George Birkbeck (1)
Hooker, J. D. (10)
Hubrecht, A. A. W. (1)
Huxley, T. H. (2)
Höchberg, Karl (2)
John Murray (3)
Johnson, Henry (a) (1)
Jung, Mary (1)
Kaufman, K. P. von (1)
Kellogg, Fanny (1)
Krause, Ernst (27)
Lankester, E. R. (1)
Lindvall, C. A. (1)
Litchfield, H. E. (2)
Lockyer, Norman (1)
Lubbock, John (1)
Ludwig, Friedrich (1)
Mackintosh, Daniel (2)
Marchand, Felix (1)
Marks, Newman (1)
Marshall, Victor (3)
Marston, Ann (1)
McLachlan, Robert (1)
Meldola, Raphael (5)
Mengden, Nicolai (2)
Mojsisovics von Mojsvár, Edmund (1)
Morse, E. S. (1)
Moseley, H. N. (3)
Murray, John (b) (2)
Müller, Fritz (1)
Müller, Hermann (1)
Nature (4)
Neumayr, Melchior (2)
Newton, Alfred (1)
Nägeli, C. W. von (1)
O’Callaghan, E. H. (1)
Packard, A. S., Jr (1)
Paget, James (2)
Payne, A. H. (1)
Pfeffer, Wilhelm (1)
Pitman, H. A. (2)
Pozzi, S. J. (1)
Reichardt, H. W. (1)
Reinwald, C.-F. (3)
Retzius, Gustaf (2)
Ribeiro, Carlos (1)
Richardson, B. W. (2)
Romanes, G. J. (3)
Royal College of Physicians (1)
Sackville-West, M. C. (1)
Saporta, Gaston de (1)
Scherzer, Karl von (1)
Schulte, Eduard (1)
Semper, C. G. (1)
Sharpe, R. B. (1)
Shaw, E. R. (1)
Sim, George (1)
Sleigh, George (1)
Stanley, M. C. (1)
Stokes, G. G. (1)
Sulivan, B. J. (2)
Tegetmeier, W. B. (1)
Thiselton-Dyer, W. T. (19)
Tindal, C. H. (2)
Torbitt, James (6)
Tyndall, John (2)
Unidentified (5)
Vries, Hugo de (3)
Wedgwood, Caroline (2)
Wedgwood, Emma (2)
Weismann, August (1)
Weyenbergh, Hendrik (1)
Wheatley, H. B. (1)
Wheler, E. A. (6)
White, Francis Buchanan (1)
Wilks, Samuel (1)
Wilson, A. S. (3)
Woodward, Henry (1)
Wright, E. P. (1)
Würtenberger, Leopold (1)
Zeuthen, H. G. (1)
Date
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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: 18 hits

  • … There are summaries of all Darwin's letters from the year 1879 on this website.  The full texts …
  • … Press . Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back …
  • … his publishers, he warned that it was ‘dry as dust’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 9 September 1879 ). …
  • … turned out, alas, very dull & has disappointed me much’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 15 [June …
  • … home again’, he fretted, just days before his departure ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [after 26 …
  • … many blessings, was finding old age ‘a dismal time’ ( letter to Henry Johnson, 24 September 1879 ) …
  • … wrinkles one all over like a baked pear’ ( enclosure in letter from R. W. Dixon, 20 December 1879
  • … itself, or gone some other way round?’ At least the last letter of 1879 contained a warmer note and …
  • … office to complete Horace’s marriage settlement ( letter from W. M. Hacon, 31 December 1879 ). …
  • … but they were ‘as nice and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ) …
  • … on your life’s work, which is crowned with glory’ ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 9 February 1879 ). …
  • … to wish Darwin a ‘long and serene evening of life’. This letter crossed with one from Darwin, …
  • … the statement ‘In the beginning was carbon’ ( letter from Hermann Müller, 14 February 1879 ). …
  • … as the ‘organ of “uncultivated materialism”’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 2 June 1879 ]). …
  • … up the glory & would please Francis’, he pointed out ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 13 March [1879
  • … wholly & shamefully ignorant of my grandfathers life’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 14 March 1879
  • … known philosopher and poet’ ( Correspondence vol. 1, letter from Francis Beaufort to Robert …
  • … these things with the when & the where, & the who—’ ( letter from V. H. Darwin, 28 May …

1879 Letters now online

Summary

In 1879, Darwin continued his research on movement in plants and researched, wrote, and published a short biography of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin as an introduction to a translation of an essay by Ernst Krause on Erasmus’s scientific work. Darwin’s son…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … In 1879, Darwin continued his research on movement in plants and researched, …
  • … of over 640 letters written to and from Darwin in 1879 are now online. Read more about  Darwin& …
  • … myself a perfect fool to have undertaken such a job. ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 December [1879] ) …
  • … to common sense & not to professional advisors .  ( Letter to the Darwin children, 21 …
  • … a specialised centre for receiving certain irritations  ( Letter t o Francis Darwin, 2 July …
  • … other to attend to the real interests of the country .  ( Letter to T. H. Farrer, 23 October 1879
  • … of the theory of natural selection. Nothing came of it in 1879, but it was to bear fruit later. He …
  • … or distinction, & more even than strong health .  ( Letter to T. H. Farrer, 13 October 1879 ) …

Diagrams and drawings in letters

Summary

Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … map of the sandhills in central Sweden,  16 February 1879 C. W. Hamilton's …
  • … of germination in Megarrhiza californica , enclosed in a letter from Asa Gray,   4 April 1880 …

Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms

Summary

‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … book, Erasmus Darwin , had been published in November 1879. It was received well by his relations …
  • … my grandfather’s character is of much value to me’ ( letter to C. H. Tindal, 5 January 1880 ). …
  • … have influenced the whole Kingdom, & even the world’ ( letter from J. L. Chester, 3 March 1880 …
  • … delighted to find an ordinary mortal who could laugh’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin to Charles and …
  • … he had written for the German journal Kosmos in February 1879, an issue produced in honour of …
  • … Butler, Evolution old and new , which had appeared in May 1879. Krause wanted to correct Butler’s …
  • … much powder & shot’ ( Correspondence vol. 27, letter from Ernst Krause, 7 June 1879 , and …
  • … Darwin stated that Krause’s piece had been written in 1879 (before Evolution old and new was …
  • … modified; but now I much regret that I did not do so’ ( letter to Samuel Butler, 3 January 1880 ). …
  • … and ‘decided on laying the matter before the public’ ( letter from Samuel Butler, 21 January 1880 …
  • … and uncertain about what to do. He drafted two versions of a letter to the Athen æum , sending …
  • … in which he will have the last word’, she warned ( letter from H. E. Litchfield, [1 February 1880] …
  • … who will fight to the end’, added her husband Richard ( letter from R. B. Litchfield, 1 February …
  • … him & given him Darwinophobia? It is a horrid disease’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 February …
  • … squashing the ‘mosquito inflated to an elephant’ ( letter from Ernst Krause, 9 December 1880 ). …
  • … had raised the plant from seeds sent by Asa Gray in December 1879. His observations differed, …
  • … by Gray in an article and textbook (A. Gray 1877 and A. Gray 1879, pp. 20–1). ‘I think you cannot …
  • … inches of soil as a protection against enemies.’ ‘Your letter … made me open my eyes’, Gray replied …
  • … his original description. Darwin was puzzled: ‘If my letter opened your eyes, yours has opened mine …
  • … to the same species, should behave so differently.’ ( Letter to Asa Gray, 17 February 1880 .) But …
  • … of the plant in its native habitat. He forwarded a letter from a botanist and schoolteacher in …
  • … ‘Where is the profit for Author or publisher?’ ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). ‘I must …
  • … vol. 27, letter from J. D. Hooker, 18 December 1879 ). For some years, Wallace’s main source of …

Movement in Plants

Summary

The power of movement in plants, published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work that Darwin wrote. It was the only work in which the assistance of one of his children, Francis Darwin, is mentioned on the title page. The research for this…

Matches: 20 hits

  • … had considered combining the works in a single volume ( letter to J. V. Carus, 7 February 1875 ). …
  • … Francis worked in this laboratory in the summers of 1878 and 1879,  he encountered some of the most …
  • … , a plant that exhibited all three types of movement ( letter from R. I. Lynch, [before 28 July …
  • … the woodblock using photography for scientific accuracy ( letter from J. D. Cooper, 13 December …
  • … lost colour, withered, and died within a couple of days ( letter from A. F. Batalin, 28 February …
  • … how their observations could have been so much at odds ( letter to Hugo de Vries 13 February 1879
  • … When Francis spent a month in Algiers in early 1879, Darwin asked him to visit the botanist Gaetano …
  • … ’. The lull in experimental work continued into March 1879, and Darwin seemed weary when he told …
  • … the subject of bloom from his book.  In mid-June 1879, Darwin was pleased to get back to …
  • … only the regulator & not cause of movement ’. In the same letter, Darwin discussed terminology, …
  • … to replace Frank’s ‘Transversal-Heliotropismus’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 10 February [1880] ). …
  • … experiments and devised a new test, which he described in a letter to his mother, ‘ I did some …
  • … and it appeared in 1880 (F. Darwin 1880b). In the same letter, Francis revealed the frustration of …
  • … on holiday in the Lake District, Darwin received a long letter from De Vries detailing his latest …
  • … the Spring ’. Luckily, De Vries published two papers in 1879 and 1880 that Darwin was later able to …
  • … ‘A horrid bore’ In late October 1879, Darwin told Gray, ‘ I have written a rather big …
  • … described as ‘little discs’ and ‘greenish bodies’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 29 October 1879
  • … of cotton that he had not been able to observe earlier ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 20 …
  • … might have been too weak to lift the weight of the seed ( letter from Asa Gray, 3 February 1880 ). …
  • … germination occurred, the plant would be killed by frost ( letter from Asa Gray, 4 April 1880 ). …

Darwin’s student booklist

Summary

In October 1825 Charles Darwin and his older brother, Erasmus, went to study medicine in Edinburgh, where their father, Robert Waring Darwin, had trained as a doctor in the 1780’s. Erasmus had already graduated from Cambridge and was continuing his studies…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … who had moved on to London for further medical training (see letter from E. A. Darwin, [29 …
  • … to date precisely. Darwin mentions reading  Granby  in a letter to his sister dated 29 January …
  • … it was first published in 1804. On rereading this work in 1879 Darwin judged it ‘a wretched …
  • … CD described Lister 1826 as an ‘entertaining book’ (see letter to S. E. Darwin, 29 January [1826] …

1.14 William Richmond, oil

Summary

< Back to Introduction William Blake Richmond’s portrait of Darwin, dating from 1879, celebrated his honorary degree of LL.D (Doctor in Laws), awarded by Cambridge University in 1877. Darwin’s return to his alma mater for the presentation ceremony…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … William Blake Richmond’s portrait of Darwin, dating from 1879, celebrated his honorary degree of LL …
  • … of Fine Art at Oxford in this same year.   In a letter of 18 June 1879, Darwin told Thiselton …
  • … William Blake Richmond 
 date of creation 1879-80 
 computer-readable date 1879
  • … in DAR 215.31b. Letters from Darwin to John Fiske, 10 June 1879 (DCP-LETT-12098) and to Thiselton …

Religion

Summary

Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … of departure reviews of Origin . The second is a single letter from naturalist A. R. Wallace to …
  • … everything is the result of “brute force”. Letter 2855 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 3 …
  • … nature, as he is in a “muddle” on this issue. Letter 3256 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
  • … shares a witty thought experiment about an angel. Letter 3342 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • … He asks Gray some questions about design. Letter 6167 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 8 …
  • … of my precipice”. Darwin and Wallace Letter 5140 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, …
  • … of variations. Darwin and Graham Letter 13230 — Darwin, C. R. to Graham, …
  • … of people, including members of his own family. Letter 441 — Wedgwood, Emma to Darwin, …
  • … about his “honest & conscientious doubts”. Letter 471 — Darwin, Emma to Darwin, C. …
  • … there is a danger in giving up revelation”. Letter 2534 — Kingsley, Charles to Darwin, …
  • … need of an act of intervention to bring change. Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, …
  • … with that knowledge which only He can give me.” Letter 5303 — Boole, M. E. to Darwin, C …
  • … that his theory be compatible with her faith. Letter 5307 — Darwin, C. R. to Boole, M. …
  • … and science should each run its own course. Letter 8070 — Darwin, C. R. to Abbot, F. E. …
  • … “with qualifications”, if he wishes. Letter 8837 — Darwin, C. R. to Doedes, N. D., 2 …
  • … man’s intellect, “but man can do his duty”. Letter 12041 — Darwin, C. R. to Fordyce, …
  • … most correct description of my state of mind”. Letter 12757 — Darwin, C. R. to Aveling, …
  • … as examples to illustrate his ideas on beauty. Letter 4752 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … discusses humming birds and orchids as examples. Letter 4939 — Shaw, James to Darwin, C …
  • … a long discussion on beauty in the natural world. Letter 4943 — Darwin, C. R. to Shaw, …
  • … beauty of flowers is solely to attract insects. Letter 5003f — Shaw, James to Darwin, C …
  • … Beauty against the Duke of Argyll’s criticisms. Letter 5004 — Darwin, C. R. to Shaw, …
  • … of beauty being displayed in conspicuous parts. Letter 5060 — Shaw, James to Darwin, C. …

John Murray

Summary

Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … end of 1845, Darwin was not happy with Colburn’s terms ( Letter 856 ). Instead he asked his friend …
  • … John Murray, to open negotiations with his own publisher ( Letter 824 ). Lyell’s talk with Murray …
  • … have transacted the business with me’ (27 August [1845] Letter 908 ). Thus began the business …
  • … copies some pages in Darwin’s chapter were transposed ( Letter 1244 ). Darwin was anxious lest an …
  • … & make the poor workman some present’ (12 June [1849] Letter 1245 ). Darwin’s next …
  • … his ‘big species book’; on 18 June 1858, he received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace with the …
  • … asked Lyell to act as his intermediary with John Murray ( Letter 2437 ), who, without even reading …
  • … not repent of having undertaken it’ (15 October [1859] Letter 2506 ). Murray decided on a retail …
  • … proud at the appearance of my child’ ([3 November 1859] Letter 2514 ). In the event, all Murray’s …
  • … – and a second edition was immediately called for ( Letter 2549 ). In the end Murray paid Darwin …
  • … (Variation ), but work progressed slowly ( Letter 3078 ); meanwhile in 1862 Murray published  On …
  • … Murray only offered Darwin half profits for this title ( Letter 3261 ); it was never a best-seller …
  • … ‘I fear it can never pay’ (3 January [1867] Letter 5346 ). In the end Murray decided to print …
  • … to Brazil, the beginning of a life-long correspondence ( Letter 4881 ). Subsequently Darwin …
  • … the risk himself. Murray suggested printing 750 copies ( Letter 6597 ), but Darwin decided on 1000 …
  • … fail, I think, to be much read’ (28 September [1870] Letter 7329 ). Murray decided to print 2500 …
  • … hope to Heaven book will sell well’ (12 January [1871] Letter 7438 ). A second printing was …
  • … America, of St George Mivart‘s Genesis of species  ( Letter 7907 ) ;  this was Darwin’s …
  • … By November of that year, fourteen copies had been sold ( Letter 8044 ). Meanwhile, Darwin was …
  • … Darwin chose to print the photographic illustrations ( Letter 7773 ), proved to be expensive ( …
  • … profits ( Letter 12219 ), and the book was published in 1879. The following year Darwin …

Power of movement in plants

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Family experiments Darwin was an active and engaged father during his children's youth, involving them in his experiments and even occasionally using them as observational subjects. When his children…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … its transmitted effects Letters Letter Pack: Power of movement in plants …
  • … are in danger of compromising their character. Letter 10517 - Darwin to Francis …
  • … about Francis’ experimental technique. Letter 11586 - Darwin to Francis Darwin, 2 …
  • … been made, but that they would be worth making. Letter 11628 - Francis Darwin to …
  • … remarking that he was “too floppy to work”. Letter 12152 - Francis Darwin to Darwin, …

Life of Erasmus Darwin

Summary

The Life of Erasmus Darwin (1879) was a curious departure for Darwin. It was intended as a biographical note to accompany an essay on Erasmus's scientific work by the German writer Ernst Krause. But Darwin became immersed in his grandfather's…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … The Life of Erasmus Darwin (1879) was a curious departure for Darwin. It was intended as a …
  • … the book into grist for controversy.  In February 1879, Darwin received an unusual birthday …
  • … my grandfathers life ', Darwin wrote to Krause on 14 March 1879. He made contact with family …
  • … my tether '. The book was published in November of 1879. Darwin filled his notice with …
  • … whose Evolution Old and New had been published in May of 1879, had not failed to find the …
  • … much regret that I did not do so '. On the top of Butler's letter, Emma Darwin wrote: & …
  • … the matter before the public '. He stated his case in a letter to the Athenaeum , a leading …

Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions

Summary

Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …

Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers

Summary

In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…

Matches: 28 hits

  • … had concealed this in his preface to his and Krause’s 1879 book Erasmus Darwin . Although Darwin …
  • … in Unconscious memory in November 1880 and in an abusive letter about Darwin in the St James’s …
  • … memory in Kosmos and sent Darwin a separate letter for publication in the Journal of Popular …
  • … publishers decided to print ‘500 more, making 2000’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January 1881 ) …
  • … the animal learnt from its own individual experience ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 7 March 1881 ). …
  • … whether observations of their behaviour were trustworthy ( letter to Francis Galton, 8 March [1881] …
  • … about the sale of books being ‘a game of chance’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 12 April 1881 ). On 18 …
  • … for more suggestions of such plants, especially annuals ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 21 March …
  • … supposed he would feel ‘less sulky in a day or two’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 29 July 1881 ). The …
  • … dead a work falls at this late period of the season’ ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 30 July 1881 ). …
  • … conversation with you’, a Swedish teacher told him ( letter from C. E. Södling, 14 October 1881 ), …
  • … add, however little, to the general stock of knowledge’ ( letter to E. W. Bok, 10 May 1881 ). …
  • … regular ‘bread-winners’ ( Correspondence vol. 30, letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). …
  • … any future publication & to acknowledge any criticism’ ( letter to C. G. Semper, 19 July 1881 …
  • … view of the nature & capabilities of the Fuegians’ ( letter to W. P. Snow, 22 November 1881 ). …
  • … the kindly protection of the high priests of science’ ( letter from Francisco de Arruda Furtado, 29 …
  • … Nature , which he thought ‘an excellent Journal’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 4 July [1881] ). In …
  • … minds, without being in the least conscious of it’ ( letter to Alexander Agassiz, 5 May 1881 ). …
  • … this produced about the year 1840(?) on all our minds’ ( letter to John Lubbock, [18 September 1881 …
  • … big one’ and had ‘gone much out’ of his mind ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 20 June [1881] ). Feeling …
  • … than for originality’, and telling Hooker, ‘Your long letter has stirred many pleasant memories of …
  • … poured in so atrocious a manner on all physiologists’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 18 April 1881 ). …
  • … George Jesse and Frances Power Cobbe. Jesse, in a private letter, stated that Darwin must not have …
  • … Royal Commission for the regulation of vivisection, and a letter from Cobbe in The Times made …
  • … Cobbe’s claims. To Darwin’s relief, a second letter from Cobbe, published on 23 April, was answered …
  • … April , Darwin asked, ‘did you notice how in her second letter she altered what she quoted from her …
  • … Darwin, however, prevented Jesse from publishing a private letter he had written to him, explaining …
  • … Leopold Würtenberger, who had received £100 from Darwin in 1879 to continue his work on the …

3.18 Elliott and Fry photos, c.1869-1871

Summary

< Back to Introduction The leading photographic firm of Elliott and Fry seems to have portrayed Darwin at Down House on several occasions. In November 1869 Darwin told A. B. Meyer, who wanted photographs of both him and Wallace for a German…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … 1869, and which in summer 1871: the indication in Darwin’s letter, quoted above, that one of the …
  • … frame and published in The Examiner on 11 October 1879. There was even a wood-engraved version …
  • … series of eminent men portrayed in The Examiner (11 Oct. 1879), facing p. 1312. Engraving by …

3.16 Oscar Rejlander, photos

Summary

< Back to Introduction Darwin’s plans for the illustration of his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) led him to the Swedish-born painter and photographer, Oscar Gustaf Rejlander. Rejlander gave Darwin the notes that he had…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … London Photographic Society, February 12, 1863. Darwin’s letter to his daughter Henrietta of 20 …
  • … Litchfield to a family servant as her leaving present in 1879. Henry Eeles Dresser’s album of …
  • … of Manchester, English MS 1404, pp. 52–3, with a letter to Dresser from Darwin, dated 10 Sept. 1875 …

3.14 Julia Margaret Cameron, photos

Summary

< Back to Introduction In the summer of 1868 Darwin took a holiday on the Isle of Wight with his immediate family, his brother Erasmus, and his friend Joseph Hooker. The family’s accommodation at Freshwater was rented from the photographer Julia…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … in his journal after an encounter with the great man in 1879, ‘his features are not good’; yet ‘his …
  • … tonal subtlety of the original; as Darwin complained in a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace, the image …
  • … Hooker to Darwin, 30 Aug. 1868 (DCP-LETT-6333). Darwin’s letter to Wallace, 5 Dec. [1869] (DCP-LETT …

Darwin in Conversation exhibition

Summary

Meet Charles Darwin as you have never met him before. Come to our exhibition at Cambridge University Library, running from 9 July to 3 December 2022, and discover a fascinating series of interwoven conversations with Darwin's many hundreds of…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … 9 July – 3 December 2022 Milstein Exhibition Centre, Cambridge University …

What did Darwin believe?

Summary

What did Darwin really believe about God? the Christian revelation? the implications of his theory of evolution for religious faith? These questions were asked again and again in the years following the publication of Origin of species (1859). They are…

Matches: 16 hits

  • … often seeking direction for their own. Mary Boole’s letter In December 1866 Darwin …
  • … of Science & the promises of religion. See the letter Boole, like a number …
  • … meeting point should still be far off. See the letter In his response to Boole …
  • … feeling. But he does not venture into such territory in this letter to a stranger. Emma …
  • … description of my state of mind. See the letter In this letter, Darwin is …
  • … & I cannot help being open with you. See the letter We know from Darwin’s …
  • … means so in eternity. There is a marked tension in Emma’s letter between reason and feeling, and …
  • … as a guide to moral conduct, as in his remarks on Paul’s letter to Galatians, chapter six: ‘read …
  • … it derive from inner feelings or instincts? In a letter written to Charles several months …
  • … trying to learn the truth, you cannot be wrong … See the letter Yet she is concerned …
  • … by adopting … the first fashionable view. Letter from T. H. Huxley to H. A. Heathorn, …
  • … life. Huxley could not accept this, but Kingsley’s letter opened a line of communication that …
  • … conception of entire surrender to the will of God.’ (Letter from T. H. Huxley to C. Kingsley, …
  • … blows are everywhere necessary. See the letter Darwin is often portrayed as …
  • … potential allies and disturb old allegiances. Haeckel’s letter had been prompted by an admonition …
  • … of the truth of his own conclusions. See the letter Cautious style and self …

4.24 'Daily Graphic', Nast satire

Summary

< Back to Introduction In 1874 the Harvard philosopher John Fiske published his magnum opus, Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, in which he set out to explain the far-reaching significance of Darwin’s and Herbert Spencer’s evolutionary theories. He…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … Darwin himself in London in 1873 and was invited to Down in 1879 and 1880. When Cosmic Philosophy …
  • … polemic was clearly an ordeal to the recipient. Darwin’s letter of thanks to Fiske was …
  • … 1874); there were many subsequent editions. Fiske’s letter to Darwin, introducing himself and …
  • … inviting Fiske to Down House: DCP-LETT-12098 (10 June 1879) and DCP-LETT-12606 (14 May [1880]). John …

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

  • … 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 …
  • … 1872 208  JD HOOKER TO C DARWIN, 29 NOVEMBER 1879 209 A GRAY, 1882, …
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