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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: 17 hits

  • … In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
  • … been supposed, but his views were generally derided. 1  In 1859, Lyell visited several …
  • … species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. …
  • … the age of the human species. The visits by both Lyell and Lubbock reflected the growing interest, …
  • … to establish the age of the human race.  In 1861, Lubbock joined Thomas Henry Huxley, Busk, …
  • … recent geologico-archaeological researches in Denmark’ (Lubbock 1861) for the October 1861 issue. …
  • … (kitchen-middens) of ancient Danish settlements. Lubbock reviewed the literature on the topic and …
  • … also added the following note on page 11: *Mr. John Lubbock published, after these sheets …
  • … Galton.   In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, evidently in response …
  • … about Lyell’s 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 …
  • … 1863b, p. 213).  In May 1864, Lubbock received a letter from Falconer, who reiterated his …
  • … wrote to Henrietta Emma Darwin, ‘whereas after talking to John, he thought him not wrong, after …
  • … avoiding any mention of the note in the preface (letter to John Lubbock, 11 June [1865] ). No …
  • … on page 11, C. Lyell 1863c (original version) *Mr. John Lubbock published, after these sheets …
  • … on page 11, C. Lyell 1863c (revised version) *Mr. John Lubbock published, in the October …
  • … Van Riper 1993. 2. Letter from Charles Lyell to John Lubbock, 20 February 1863 (British …

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: 17 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 …
  • … of sterility between varieties of  Verbascum . When John Scott, foreman of the propagating …
  • … letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 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 …
  • … to publish on  Linum  ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), writing up his …
  • … buy it. When he submitted the manuscript to his publisher, John Murray, he boasted: ‘I can say with …
  • … in the least , whether the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] ). To his …
  • … paper for the  Natural History Review  ( see letter to John Lubbock, 16 [December 1862] ). Aware …
  • … of the old  Beagle  crew, Bartholomew James Sulivan, John Clements Wickham, and Arthur Mellersh, …
  • … of this, he prescribed strict conditions for a meeting with John Lubbock: ‘if you could … let me go …
  • … at 9 o clock I do not think it would hurt me’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 23 October [1862] ). …
  • … of Darwin’s circle was in Switzerland in the summer: John Lubbock briefly met up with Tyndall and …

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: 20 hits

  • … on a paper on  Verbascum (mullein) by CD’s protégé, John Scott, who was now working in India. …
  • … also a serious dispute between two of Darwin’s friends, John Lubbock and Charles Lyell . These …
  • … The death of Hugh Falconer Darwin’s first letter to Hooker of 1865 suggests that the family …
  • … having all the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • … 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] …
  • … 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] …
  • … Appendix II). In May, he invited a new doctor, John Chapman, to Down and began a course of Chapman’s …
  • … Variation . In March Darwin wrote to his publisher, John Murray, ‘Of present book I have 7 …
  • … forward, except the last & concluding one’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 March [1865] ). In …
  • … will be ready for the press in the autumn’ ( letter to John Murray, 4 April [1865] ). In early …
  • … ‘I am never idle when I can do anything’ ( letter to John Murray, 2 June [1865] ). It was not …
  • … questions and suggesting new lines of research. John Scott A similar, though not so …
  • … effort took place in the beginning of the year when John Scott, a protégé of Darwin’s whom Darwin …
  • … varieties (see  Correspondence  vol. 10, letter to John Scott, 19 November [1862] ). Darwin had …
  • … the end of May, the dispute between Charles Lyell and John Lubbock over alleged plagiarism by …
  • … in Correspondence vol. 13, Appendix V. In 1865, Lubbock published  Prehistoric times , …

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: 22 hits

  • The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the
  • been the naturalist and traveller Alexander von Humboldts 105th birthday, Darwin obliged with a
  • be done by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August
  • pleasures of shooting and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ).  Such
  • Andone looks backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). …
  • Andrew Clark, whom he had been consulting since August 1873. Darwin had originally thought that
  • was an illusory hope.— I feel very old & helpless’  ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] …
  • inferred that he was well from his silence on the matter ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 26 October
  • in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
  • that Mr Williams wasa cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). …
  • his, ‘& that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874
  • Quarterly Review  discussing works on primitive man by John Lubbock and Edward Burnett Tylor. It
  • of anonymous reviews. Its proprietor was none other than John Murray, Darwins publisher. So
  • to review me in a hostile spirit’ ( letter to John Murray, 11 August 1874 ). Darwin was
  • number of the Review & in the same type’  ( letter from John Murray, 12 August 1874 ). George
  • anonymous reviews. While staying with Hooker over Christmas, John Tyndall, professor at and
  • asthe natural outflow of his character’ ( letter from John Tyndall, 28 December 1874 ). …
  • to purchase the wooded land, which he had been renting from John Lubbock, led to a straining of
  • with lawyers over a doubt that it may have been included in Lubbocks marriage settlements, the sale
  • for about a week ( letter from E. E. Klein, 14 May 1874 ). John Burdon Sanderson sent the results
  • printed appeal for funds, raising £860 ( Circular to John Lubbock, P. L. Sclater, Charles Lyell, W. …
  • Tyndall, 12 August [1874] ). Hooker reported thatLubbocks Lecture went off admirablybut

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: 12 hits

  • … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
  • … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
  • … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
  • … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
  • … Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
  • … is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
  • … pig and her niece’s ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, [1873] …
  • … 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John Scott responds to Darwin’s queries …
  • …  - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments he is undertaking …
  • … J., [5 April 1859] Darwin asks his publisher, John Murray, to forward a manuscript copy of …
  • … writing. Letter 3001  - Darwin to Lubbock, J., [28 November 1860] Darwin …
  • …  - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments he is undertaking …

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: 15 hits

  • … that he was ‘unwell & 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 …
  • … from ‘some 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 him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • … were himself, Hooker, Huxley, Alfred Russel Wallace, and John Lubbock. Honours abroad …
  • … of the Royal Society ( see letter from Edward Sabine to John Phillips, 12 November 1863 ). …
  • … year with the Hertfordshire nurseryman Thomas Rivers. John Scott Darwin had found a …
  • … of hybridity and sterility at the end of the previous year. John Scott, a gardener at the Royal …
  • … the results of which were published in 1868 ( see letter to John Scott, 25 and 28 May [1863] ). …
  • … hoped would counteract Huxley’s criticism ( letter from John Scott, 23 July [1863] ). Darwin …
  • … Darwin had also encouraged him to write ( see letter to John Scott, 12 April [1863] ). In this …
  • … that your paper will have permanent value’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ). Scott received …

Scientific Networks

Summary

Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…

Matches: 15 hits

  • … and colonial authorities. In the nineteenth-century, letter writing was one of the most important …
  • … in times of uncertainty, controversy, or personal loss. Letter writing was not only a means of …
  • … botanist Asa Gray. Darwin and Hooker Letter 714 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • … and he is curious about Hooker’s thoughts. Letter 729 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., …
  • … to Hooker “it is like confessing a murder”. Letter 736 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • … wide-ranging genera. Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • … and relationships of alpine flora in the USA. Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
  • … Mentors Darwin's close relationship with John Stevens Henslow, the professor of botany …
  • … he mentored. The first is between Darwin and his neighbour, John Lubbock and the second is between …
  • Letter 1585 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, [Sept 1854] Darwin sends Lubbock a beetle he …
  • Letter 1720 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, 19 [July 1855] Darwin congratulates Lubbock on …
  • Letter 1979 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, 27 Oct [1856] Darwin provides detailed …
  • … expert William Bernard Tegetmeier and the Scottish gardener John Scott, illustrate how the rigid …
  • … him to publish in his journal. The debate about John Scott Letter 3800 — …
  • Letter 3805 — Darwin, C. R. to Scott, John, 12 Nov [1862] Darwin thanks Scott for bringing …

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: 17 hits

  • The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of
  • of scientific admirers at Down, among them Robert Caspary, John Traherne Moggridge, and Ernst
  • Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But
  • …  ( Variation ). Although it was not published until 1868, all but the concluding chapter of the
  • … & what is delightful, I am able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. …
  • of coffee to two cups a day, since coffee, with the10 drops of Muriatic acid twice a day (with
  • once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
  • regime led to Darwins being teased by his neighbour, John Lubbock, about the prospect of riding to
  • work doing me any harmany how I cant be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
  • production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January
  • ofDomestic Animals & Cult. Plantsto Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
  • On 21 February Darwin received notification from John Murray that stocks of the third edition of  …
  • good deal I think, & have come to more definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December
  • Henry Walter Batess article on mimetic butterflies, Lubbocks observations of diving Hymenoptera
  • George Henslow, the son of his Cambridge mentor, John Stevens Henslow, stayed for two days in April
  • In June, Darwin was visited by the orchid specialist John Traherne Moggridge, whose work on the self
  • out, ‘business would be totally paralysed’. Similarly, John Murray gave as a reason for his decision

1.18 John Collier, oil in Linnean

Summary

< Back to Introduction By 1881 it was clear to Darwin’s intimates that he was increasingly frail, and that, as he approached death, he had finally escaped from religious controversy to become a heroic figure, loved and venerated for his achievements…

Matches: 11 hits

  • … in May 1881, dominated by Darwinians. Its President was Sir John Lubbock; Romanes was its Zoological …
  • … if, as you say, he would like to paint me’. The Hon. John Collier’s marriage to Huxley’s daughter …
  • … newly published Primer on Art , and received a pleasant letter of thanks. Darwin assured Collier …
  • … holder Linnean Society 
 originator of image John Collier 
 date of creation …
  • … . Linnean Society archive, manuscript letter LL/8, Darwin to Romanes, 27 May 1881. Correspondence …
  • … of Mr. Darwin’, Daily Telegraph (21 April 1882), p. 5. John Collier, A Primer of Art (London …
  • … The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin , 3 vols (London: John Murray, 1887), vol. 3, pp. 222–3, 371 …
  • … (eds), More Letters of Charles Darwin , 2 vols (London: John Murray, 1903), vol. 1, pp. 398–9. …
  • … 14–18, 35. Walter Herries Pollock, ‘The art of the Hon. John Collier’, Art Annual 1914. John
  • … artist on celebrities he has painted’, interview with John Collier in The Singapore Free Press and …
  • … Companion (New Jersey: World Scientific, 2021), entry for John Collier, p. 56, and ‘Iconography’, …

Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small

Summary

In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…

Matches: 16 hits

  • … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
  • … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
  • … François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20 …
  • … quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January …
  • … probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
  • … we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He …
  • … of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
  • … Quarterly Review , owned by Darwin’s publisher John Murray, carried an anonymous article on the …
  • … or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The author …
  • … Darwin had a less heated discussion with the painter John Collier on the topic of science and art. …
  • … himself to so dreadful a man, as Huxley’ ( letter to John Collier, 16 February 1882 ). Collier had …
  • … be the same without my consciousness?’ ( letter from John Collier, 22 February 1882 ; T. H. Huxley …
  • … and admirers. One of the most touching was from John Lubbock, whose interest in natural history at …
  • … we adjourned as a small tribute of respect’ (letter from John Lubbock to Francis Darwin, 20 April …
  • … ). Darwin’s former mentor at University of Cambridge, John Stevens Henslow, was not a …
  • … Origin, a number of Darwin’s friends, Huxley, John Lubbock, and Charles Lyell, each addressed the …

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: 17 hits

  • … anything more on 'so difficult a subject, as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace,  27 July …
  • … to spread my views’, he wrote to his publisher, John Murray, on 30 January , shortly after …
  • … best efforts, set the final price at 7 s.  6 d.  ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 February 1872 ) …
  • … condition as I can make it’, he wrote to the translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September …
  • … translation remained unpublished at the end of the year ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 23 November …
  • … to the comparative anatomist St George Jackson Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart,  11 January …
  • … comparison of Whale  & duck  most beautiful’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 3 March 1872 ) …
  • … a person as I am made to appear’, complained Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). …
  • … Darwin would renounce `fundamental intellectual errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January …
  • … was silly enough to think he felt friendly towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872 …
  • … Hooker’s cause was taken up by his friends, in particular John Lubbock and John Tyndall, as one …
  • … to Gladstone a week later ( enclosure to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, 20 June 1872 …
  • … photographic plates with his overseas publishers, and with John Murray’s assistant, the excitable …
  • … of the booksellers, encouraged an originally cautious John Murray to gamble on the book’s success: & …
  • … attractive dishes in his `Literary Banquet’ (letters from John Murray, 6 November [1872] and 9 …
  • … to supply comparative observations, and Darwin’s protégé John Scott, now employed as a curator in …
  • … a copy of  Expression  to another old Cambridge friend, John Maurice Herbert, who when they were …

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: 20 hits

  • … from that of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] …
  • … 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 a paper by another of his orchid correspondents, John Traherne Moggridge, who in June sent him …
  • … of insect pollinators in 1864 and following years. John Scott again Much of Darwin’s …
  • … plight of another of Darwin’s fellow orchid-experimenters, John Scott. Their correspondence had been …
  • … five years. Scott felt that his superiors, James McNab and John Hutton Balfour, no longer treated …
  • … indomitable perseverance, and his knowledge’ ( letter to John Scott, 10 June 1864 ). Hooker met …
  • … support ‘on the grounds of science’ ( letter to John Scott, 9 April 1864 ), but Scott declined …
  • … 1864 ). A notably rambling and long letter arrived from John Beck, a Shrewsbury schoolfellow of …
  • … by a merciful deity for the use of humankind ( letter from John Beck, 6 October 1864 ). …
  • … his brother Erasmus told him of a subscription fund for John William Colenso, bishop of Natal, South …
  • … that a Neanderthal race once extended across Europe. John Lubbock mentioned his forthcoming volume …
  • … so little degree the Council’s award’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 21 December [1864] ). In letters …

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: 14 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 …
  • … ‘& 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] ). …
  • … acknowledged when told by his neighbour and young protégé John Lubbock that his method of …
  • … ‘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 ). …
  • … Athenæum Club. Several letters touch on the publication of John Tyndall’s theory concerning the …
  • … phenomenon of cleavage, still unresolved in 1856, with John Phillips and entered into a useful …
  • … 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] ) …

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: 12 hits

  • … in zoology. New studies of animal instincts by George John Romanes drew upon Darwin’s early …
  • … Erasmus’s life and other bits of family history. On 1 January , a distant cousin, Charles …
  • … 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 …
  • … much powder & shot’ ( Correspondence vol. 27, letter from Ernst Krause, 7 June 1879 , and …
  • … 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] …
  • … of Epping Forest’. In October, Darwin had discussions with John Lubbock and Huxley and was …
  • … the year’s end, a Christmas card from another old friend, John Maurice Herbert, inspired happy …

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: 19 hits

  • … I omitted to observe, which I ought to have observed” ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] …
  • … work your wicked will on it—root leaf & branch!” ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 January 1873 ) …
  • … Thomas Lauder Brunton, a specialist in pharmacology, and John Scott Burdon Sanderson, a professor at …
  • … parts of the flower would become modified & correlated” ( letter to T. H. Farrer, 14 August …
  • … it again, “for Heaven knows when it will be ready” ( letter to John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). …
  • … we take notes and take tracings of their burrows” ( letter from Francis Darwin, 14 August [1873] ) …
  • … in importance; and if so more places will be created” ( letter to E. A. Darwin, 20 September 1873 …
  • … our unfortunate family being fit for continuous work” ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 25 September …
  • … on any point; for I knew my own ignorance before hand” ( letter to George Cupples, 28 April [1873] …
  • … “he would fly at the Empr’s throat like a bulldog” ( letter from L. M. Forster to H. E. Litchfield, …
  • … force & truth of the great principle of inheritance!” ( letter to F. S. B. F. de Chaumont, 3 …
  • … with leading physiologists such as David Ferrier and John Hughlings Jackson. Darwin declined to …
  • … Instinct  In February, Darwin received a letter from John Traherne Moggridge on the nature of …
  • … as not to cause offence or embarrassment. As Ellen Frances Lubbock advised, “I  do  think … it …
  • … A group of Huxley’s close friends, including Hooker, John Lubbock, Herbert Spencer, John Tyndall, …
  • … your own power & usefulness”, citing the examples of John Stuart Mill and Charles Lyell, who …
  • … from Ernst Meitzen, 17 January 1873 ). A poor-law officer, John Farr, wrote: “Faith like Species, …
  • … more permanent than species are permanent” ( letter from John Farr, 7 July 1873 ). Further …
  • … closer to home, when he was graced by an invitation from John Jenner Weir to act as a patron of the …

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: 15 hits

  • … [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 …
  • … The Emigrant, Head [F. B. Head 1846] St. John’s Highlands [C. W. G. Saint John 1846] …
  • … M rs  Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … B.M. 6. 6. Black Edin. Longman [Ramsay 1848] St. John’s Nat. Hist. of Sutherlanshire, Murray …
  • … Liebigs Lectures on Chemistry [Liebig 1851]. Sir John Davies. China during the War and Peace …
  • … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … d . Series. vol 3. p. 1 to 312 30 th  Colquhoun (John) The Moor & the Loch [Colquhoun …
  • … Buffon [Milne-Edwards 1834–40]. March 5 th  St. John’s Highlands [Saint John 1846] 8 …
  • … Tone Autobiography [Tone 1826] very amusing March 10 John Galt Autobiography [Galt 1833] poor …
  • … 1848] Madam Malguet [Torrens] 1848] —— Lives of John & Alex. Belthune [?Bethune 1840 and …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
  • … ( 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 …

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: 13 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. …
  • Letter 12041 — Darwin, C. R. to Fordyce, John, 7 May 1879 In this letter marked “private”, …
  • … and School Letter 1536 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, J. W. (b), 11 Oct [1853] Darwin …
  • … R. to Down School Board, [Nov–Dec 1873] Darwin, Sir John Lubbock, Ellen Frances Lubbock, and S. …
  • … vicar of Down is concerned about the rumours regarding John Robinson [curate of Down]. He will seek …

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: 26 hits

  • relief during his periods of severe illness. Yet on 15 January 1875 , Darwin confessed to his
  • Darwin had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book
  • preparing new Editions’, he complained again to Hooker on 18 August. Finally, by autumn, he
  • than insectivorous plants. As he confessed to Hooker on 12 December , ‘I have not felt so angry
  • attack upon Darwins son George, in an anonymous review in 1874 (see Correspondence vol. 22, …
  • On 8 January , he told Hooker: ‘I will write a savage letter &amp; that will do me some good, if I
  • from his family, he sent a curt note to Mivart on 12 January , breaking off all future
  • mouthpiece ofJesuitical Rome’ ( Academy , 2 January 1875, pp. 1617). ‘How grandly you have
  • … .’ Hooker also directed some of his anger toward John Murray, the publisher of the
  • to the EditorPoor Murray shuddered again &amp; again’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 January
  • Instead of supporting her, he worked closely with Huxley and John Burdon Sanderson to draft an
  • Edward Emanuel Klein, a German histologist who worked with John Burdon Sanderson at the Brown Animal
  • offered to pay the costs for printing an additional 250 ( letter to John Murray, 3 May 1875 ). …
  • the book in the Academy , 24 July 1875, by Ellen Frances Lubbock: ‘in Utricularia they are
  • … &amp; bless the day That ever you were born (letter from E. F. Lubbock, [after 2
  • further research on the effects of grafting by George John Romanes. A scientific friendship had
  • that the originally red half has become wholly white’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [before 4
  • pp. 18890). He drew attention to this discussion in a letter to George Rolleston, remarking on 2
  • Darwin wrote, ‘I beg ten thousand pardon &amp; more’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [ c . February
  • signed himself, ‘Your affect sonthe proofmaniac’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, 1 and 2 May [1875
  • in parish affairs (see Correspondence vol. 21). Lubbock tried to bring about a
  • also you intended to slight him.’ Darwin assured Lubbock that he never meant to show
  • 24 December , Emma wrote triumphantly to the former vicar, John Brodie Innes, that a new reading
  • both critical and reverential. On 16 July he received a letter from an advocate of womens
  • Darwin had hoped to arrange for the meeting to take place at Lubbocks home, High Elms, so that he
  • within the short time I can talk to anyone’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 3 May [1875] ). Finally it

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…

Matches: 15 hits

  • … expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to …
  • … for other peoples or vice versa. The Scottish botanist John Scott wrote from Calcutta, 4 May 1868 …
  • … Correspondence about Darwin’s Questionnaire (click on the letter dates to see the individual letters …
  • … funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the John Templeton Foundation. …
  • … Woolston, Southampton, England letter to W.E. Darwin shrugging …
  • … Square W London, England enclosed in a letter from Henry Maudsley …
  • … South Africa possibly included in letter from Mansel Weale …
  • … Peradeniya, Ceylon enclosed in letter from G.H.K. Thwaites …
  • … Egypt] possibly included in letter(s) from Asa Gray Nile …
  • … Lake Wellington, Australia letter to F.J.H. von Mueller nodding, …
  • … Abbey Place, London, England letter to Emma Darwin baby expression …
  • … Penmaenmawr, Conway, Wales letter to Emma Darwin infant daughter …
  • … Square W, London, England Enclosed letter from Dr. C. Browne …
  • … to East Asia Scott, John 4 May 1868 …
  • … India   Scott, John 2 July 1869 …

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: 18 hits

  • … his accusations in Unconscious memory in November 1880 and in an abusive letter about Darwin in …
  • … 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] …
  • … eager to send his draft to the printers without delay, asked John Murray, his publisher, to make an …
  • … about the sale of books being ‘a game of chance’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 12 April 1881 ). On 18 …
  • … laboratory. The Lake District may have reminded Darwin of John Ruskin, who lived there. Sending the …
  • … 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 ). …
  • … ). His scientific friends, however, did not agree. Both John Lubbock and Hooker asked for Darwin’s …
  • … about the year 1840(?) on all our minds’ ( letter to John Lubbock, [18 September 1881] ). When …
  • … on 27 May . Romanes assured Darwin that the artist, John Collier, Huxley’s son-in-law, was ‘such a …
  • … Darwin told his old Cambridge University friend John Price on 27 December . As Darwin rejoiced in …
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