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Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution

Summary

The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…

Matches: 16 hits

… The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The …
… shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding machine’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December …
… anything which has happened to me for some weeks’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ) …
… corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ) …
… who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
… abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February …
… thro’ apes & savages at the moral sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] …
… how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870 …
… in thanks for the drawing ( Correspondence vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868] …
… patients, but it did not confirm Duchenne’s findings ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March …
… muscle’, he complained, ‘is the bane of existence!’ ( letter to William Ogle, 9 November 1870 ). …
… to their belief that all demons and spirits were white ( letter from W. W. Reade, 9 November 1870 …
… . . Could you make it scream without hurting it much?’ ( letter to A. D. Bartlett, 5 January [1870] …
… or crying badly; but I fear he will not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] …
… Lucy Wedgwood, who sent a sketch of a baby’s brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). …
… is the inclination to finish my note on this subject’ ( letter from F. C. Donders, 17 May 1870 ). …

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: 28 hits

… handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller, 22 February …
… Correspondence about Darwin’s Questionnaire (click on the letter dates to see the individual letters …
… Correspondent Letter date Location …
… Africa)? ] mentioned in JPM Weale letter, but Bowker's answers not found …
… Brooke, C.A.J. 30 Nov 1870 Sarawak, Borneo …
… Woolston, Southampton, England letter to W.E. Darwin shrugging …
… Square W London, England enclosed in a letter from Henry Maudsley …
… Crichton-Browne, James 15 March 1870 West Riding …
… Crichton-Browne, James 18 March 1870 Down, Kent, …
… Donders, F.C. 27 May 1870 Utrecht, Netherlands …
… Forbes, David 13 June 1870 Portman Square, London W. …
… 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 …
… Nicol, Patrick 13 May 1870 Sussex Lunatic Asylum, …
… Reade, Winwood W. [c.8 or 9 Apr 1870] Accra, West …
… Reade, Winwood W. 4 June 1870 Lagos, Africa …
… Reade, Winwood W. 3 Sept 1870 Conservative Club, St …
… Reade, Winwood W. 9 Nov 1870 11 St Mary Abbot's …
… W., London, England enclosed in letter from W. W. Reade Hottentots …
… Weale, J.P.M. [25 May 1870] Bedford, Cape of Good …
… Weir, J.J. 27 June 1870 Blackheath, London, England …
… England (about Australia) encloses letter from Austrialian friend, letter not …
… forwarded by Smyth; Wilson sent letter to Ferdinand von Mueller Victoria Aborigines …

Women as a scientific audience

Summary

Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…

Matches: 26 hits

… Were women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
… Tollet for proofreading and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. …
… her to read to check that she can understand it. Letter 7312 - Darwin to Darwin, F. …
… from all but educated, typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E …
… he seeks her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 …
… in order to minimise impeding general perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, …
… he uses to avoid ownership of indelicate content. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to …
… so as not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
… which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to …
… Darwin’s female readership Letter 5391 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [6 February …
… of the Manchester Ladies Literary Society . Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to …
… the chapter on pangenesis, which is a revelation. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. …
… Darwin assumes that 'A. B. Blackwell' is a man. Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to …
… him to the psychology of Herbert Spencer. Letter 7624 - Bathoe, M . B. to Darwin …
… his statements on a lack of reasoning in animals. Letter 7644 - Barnard, A. to …
… during a visit to an asylum with her father. Letter 7651 - Wedgwood, F. J. to …
… on any comments that she feels might be suitable. Letter 7411 - Pfeiffer, E. J. to …
… and beauty in the process of sexual selection. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, …
… of a woman’s natural thinking”. Letter 8778 - Forster, L. M . to Darwin, H. …
… and the showing of teeth in Expression . Letter 10072 - Pape, C. to …
… and hopes Darwin will complete her questionnaire. Letter 10390 - Herrick, S. M. B. …
… of questions which she hopes aren’t too silly. Letter 10415 - Darwin to Herrick, S. …
… and is pleased that his work has interested her. Letter 10508 - Treat, M. to Darwin …
… it nearly all night before she could lay it down. Letter 13547 - Tanner, M. H. …
… involving worms which occurred in her garden. Letter 13650 Kennard, C. A. to Darwin …
… Reading Variation Letter 5712 - Dallas, W. S. to Darwin, [8 December 1867] …

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: 29 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 …
… observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
… 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 from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L …
… Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
… expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
… is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
… of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
… briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
… expression of emotion in dogs with Emma Darwin. Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, …
… birds, insects or plants on Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to …
… of an angry pig and her niece’s ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
… that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 …
… on her experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9426 - Story …
… without the birds attacking the buds and flowers. Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to …
… and her father of plants and insects. Men: Letter 2221 - Blyth, E. to Darwin …
… specimens and bird observations from Calcutta. Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 …
… “enthusiasm and indomitable patience”. Letter 4242 - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin …
… contained in “a little treatise”. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 …
… he has moved one or two of them into his bedroom. Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to …
… expression of emotion in chimpanzees and orangs. Letter 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von …
… to show in his museum in Canterbury, New Zealand. Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to …
… to be attracted to dark spots on the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. …
… the black letters in a marble tablet”. Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July …
… Fieldwork Women: Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June …
… Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] Darwin seeks Henrietta’s …
… Letter 7123 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [March 1870] Darwin thanks his daughter, …

Science: A Man’s World?

Summary

Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…

Matches: 17 hits

… feminine world of family, home and sociability. Letter 489 - Darwin to Wedgwood, E., …
… an hour “with poor Mrs. Lyell sitting by”. Letter 3715 - Claparède, J. L. R. A. E. to …
… whose attractions are not those of her sex”. Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 …
… her own steam and is a “first rate critic”. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, …
… ornaments in the making of feminine works”. Letter 4441 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [30 …
… the young, especially ladies, to study nature. Letter 4940 - Cresy, E. to Darwin, E., …
… Anderson is “neither masculine nor pedantic”. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. B., …
… to him as a published science author, is a man. Letter 7314 - Kovalevsky, S. to Darwin, …
… Theoriae Functionum Ellipticarum , (1829). Letter 7329 - Murray, J. to Darwin, [28 …
… to prick up what little is left of them ears”. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, …
… almost out of a woman’s natural thinking”. Letter 8079 - Norton, S. R. to Darwin, [20 …
… but has not read the pamphlet herself. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, [16 May …
… narrative so not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
… which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 10746 – Darwin to Dicey, E. M., …
… inability to cope well with the sight of blood. Letter 12389 - Johnson, M. to Darwin, …
… to have entered the cave “since the flood”. Letter 13414 - Darwin to Harrison, L., [18 …
… and possess strong powers of patience. Letter 13607 – Darwin to Kennard, C. A., [9 …

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: 17 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. …
… A GRAY 25 MAY 1868 182 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 1870 183 C DARWIN, …
… TO GRAY AT THIS TIME 189 JANE LORING GRAY, LETTER TO HER SISTER, 1868 or 1869 …
… NOV 1865 196 FROM A GRAY 27 FEBRUARY & 1 MARCH 1870 197 A GRAY TO JD …

Cross and self fertilisation

Summary

The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom, published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells us, in the most emphatic manner, that she abhors…

Matches: 5 hits

… depends’ ( From Fritz Müller, 15 June 1869 ). By May 1870, Darwin reported that he was ‘rearing …
… of English fertile plants’ ( To Fritz Müller, 12 May 1870 ). From a fairly early stage in …
… 17 March [1867] ). He noted another factor in a letter to Gray, remarking, ‘I am going on with my …
… [1873] ). In September, Darwin wrote a long letter to Nature commenting on a seemingly …
… A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this letter has been found, but Darwin had long …

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, …

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: 25 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 asks him to append the ranges of the species. Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. …
… and relationships of alpine flora in the USA. Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
… and their approach to information exchange. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D …
… first describer’s name to specific name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., …
… perpetuity of names in species descriptions. Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
… ends with a discussion of lamination of gneiss. Letter 1319 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, …
… up his doubts about Darwin’s doctrines. In his second letter he talks about his visit with Falconer. …
… was on the Beagle voyage and afterwards. Letter 152 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. …
… is Henslow’s “bounden duty to lecture me”. Letter 196 — Henslow, J. S. to Darwin, C. R. …
… sends home a copy of his notes on the specimens. Letter 249 — Henslow, J. S. to Darwin, …
… sends news of Cambridge and mutual friends. Letter 251 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S …
… illness and specimens are sent to Henslow. Letter 272 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S. …
… collection and plans to cross the Cordilleras. Letter 1189 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, …
… Hermann Müller. Darwin and Lubbock Letter 1585 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, …
… and it has reawakened his passion for entomology. Letter 1720 — Darwin, C. R. to …
… 147 (1857): 79–100]. Darwin and Müller Letter 5457 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, …
… of the floral anatomy of Lopezia miniata . Letter 5471 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, H. …
… Fritz Müller is Hermann Müller’s brother. Letter 5481 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. …
… 7124 — Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] Darwin writes to his daughter …

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: 25 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 ). …
… find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
… sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
… leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
… on the summit, whence it rolls down the sides’ ( letter from J. F. Simpson, 7 January 1882 ). The …
… light on it, which would have pleased me greatly’ ( letter from J. H. Gilbert, 9 January 1882, …
… annelid seemed to have rather the best of the fight’ ( letter from G. F. Crawte, 11 March 1882 ). …
… by the American educator Emily Talbot (Talbot ed. 1882). His letter to Talbot written the previous …
… by the flippant witlings of the newspaper press’ ( letter from A. T. Rice, 4 February 1882 ). Rice …
… men, and their role as providers for the family. In his letter, he conceded that there was ‘some …
… of our homes, would in this case greatly suffer’ ( letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). …
… she be fairly judged, intellectually his inferior, please ( letter from C. A. Kennard, 28 January …
… he has allied himself to so dreadful a man, as Huxley’ ( letter to John Collier, 16 February 1882 …
… Would my actions be the same without my consciousness?’ ( letter from John Collier, 22 February …
… a solid scientific foundation cannot be overestimated’ ( letter to William Jenner, 20 March [1882] …
… to delight in his children’s accomplishments. In a letter to Anthony Rich, he shared several of his …
… to take a long trip to Jamaica ‘for complete rest’ ( letter to Anthony Rich, 4 February 1882 ). …
… contents of bats?’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, 14 March 1870 ). One of Darwin’s other great …
… much of him’ ( letter to George Cupples, 20 September [1870] ). Despite Darwin’s insistence …

Darwin on race and gender

Summary

Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…

Matches: 3 hits

… ( Beagle diary , p. 143). He was delighted to receive a letter from an African correspondent …
… and Progress Key letters: Letter to J. S. Henslow, 11 April 1833 …
… Correspondence with women Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February …

Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts

Summary

At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…

Matches: 27 hits

… & I am sick of correcting’ ( Correspondence vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868 …
… Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). …
… made any blunders, as is very likely to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). …
… than I now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , …
… is strengthened by the facts in distribution’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Darwin …
… tropical species using Croll’s theory. In the same letter to Croll, Darwin had expressed …
… a very long period before the Cambrian formation’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] …
… data to go by, but don’t think we have got that yet’ ( letter from James Croll, 4 February 1869 ). …
… I d have been less deferential towards [Thomson]’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 19 March [1869] ). …
… completed revisions of the ‘everlasting old Origin’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 1 June [1869] ), he was …
… him however in his researches I would willingly do so’ ( letter from Robert Elliot to George …
… with his noisy courting of the female in the garden ( letter from Frederick Smith, 8 October 1869 …
… doubted her ability to recognise the different varieties ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 25 February …
… weary of everlasting males & females, cocks & hens.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 November …
… with much more of the same description’ ( enclosure to letter from Henry Maudsley, 20 May 1869 ). …
… in an additional & proximate cause in regard to Man’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 …
… orang-utan, and the bird of paradise (Wallace 1869a; letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 March [1869] ) …
… does himself an injustice & never demands justice’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). …
… geological structures of the South American cordillera ( letter to Charles Lyell, 20 May 1869 ), …
… of the same species that Darwin had investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February …
… role of earthworms in the formation of the soil ( letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle , 9 May [1869] …
… sundew), a genus that he had studied in the early 1860s ( letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March …
… the basis for a new German edition (Bronn and Carus trans. 1870), prepared by Julius Victor Carus, …
… for either the fourth or the fifth English editions ( see letter from Victor Masson, 29 September …
… own evolutionary views and critical commentary (Royer trans. 1870). Darwin complained to Hooker, …
… not employ [her] to translate “Domestic Animals”’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 November [1869] ). …
… work some hours daily’ ( letter to Anton Dohrn, 4 January 1870 ). Darwin’s health was generally …

Moral Nature

Summary

In Descent of Man, Darwin argued that human morality had evolved from the social instincts of animals, especially the bonds of sympathy and love. Darwin gathered observations over many decades on animal behavior: the heroic sacrifices of social insects,…

Matches: 11 hits

… save another. Letters Letter 7048 : Darwin, W. E., to Darwin, …
… but rather in a muddle on the whole subject" Letter 7645 : Morley, John to Darwin, …
… but 'in the air' from generation to generation." Letter 7685 : Darwin to …
… that man ever existed as a non-social animal." Letter 7691 , Morley, John, to …
… the moral sense, at a time when Paris is aflame". Letter 7145 : Darwin to Cobbe, F. …
… apes & savages at the moral sense of mankind." Letter 7149 : Cobbe, F. P. to …
… metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?" Letter 7470 : Wedgwood, …
… which look with reverence or respect is shame." Letter 7537 : Darwin, C. R. to …
… dissatisfied with himself & regret his conduct." Letter 9377 : Darwin, C. R. to …
… the same so-called instinctive nature as before?" Letter 12610 : Preston, S. T. to …
… or random) is Self or Self-Interest." Letter 12615 : Darwin, C. R. to Preston, …

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: 29 hits

… What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 8 November [1872] …
… anything more on 'so difficult a subject, as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 27 July …
… 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 …
… by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war in July 1870, and was now halted so that the further …
… 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 …
… hoping for reconciliation, if only `in another world’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 10 January …
… have been ungracious in him not to thank Mivart for his letter. He promised to send a copy of the …
… partly in mind, `chiefly perhaps because I do it badly’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 3 August [1872] …
… Darwinism is to be the theme. Surely the world moves!’ ( letter from Mary Treat, 13 December 1872 …
… to find that Weismann accepted it at least in part ( letter to August Weismann, 5 April 1872 ). ‘I …
… few naturalists in England seem inclined to believe it’ ( letter to Herman Müller, [before 5 May …
… reached the buzzing place where I myself was standing’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, [before 5 May …
… ‘as for myself it is dreadful doing nothing’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was …
… to stand closer (a serried mass) and to be more erect’ ( letter to Briton Riviere, 19 May [1872] ) …
… and amused rather than offended by `that clever book’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 21 November 1872 …
… wrote offering Arthur May’s drawings shortly afterwards ( letter from Samuel Butler to Francis …
… 'exactly where, from his ignorance, he feels no doubts’ ( letter to F. C. Donders, 17 June …
… music provided by her husband, Richard Buckley Litchfield ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 13 May 1872 …
… to Henrietta; 'I know that I am half-killed myself’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 25 July 1872 …
… fellow’ was Darwin’s wholeheartedly partisan reply ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 May 1872 ). On 13 …
… was delivered to Gladstone a week later ( enclosure to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, …
… was `enough to make one turn into an old honest Tory’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 July [1872] ). …
… hypothesis of Mr. Darwin , and Darwin wrote a cutting letter to Nature in Wallace’s defence …

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: 28 hits

… Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But …
… able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
… once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
… see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 …
… work doing me any harm—any how I can’t 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 …
… of “Domestic Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
… good deal I think, & have come to more definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December …
… ‘I quite follow you in thinking Agassiz glacier-mad’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8[–9] September …
… ten times more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] …
… past few years. Emma described the Royal Society event in a letter to George: ‘Your father … entered …
… you—& told me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). …
… 3 calls! & then went for ¾ to Zoolog. Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 April 1866 …
… delighted to come on those terms so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [ c . 10 May …
… very much to see him, though I dread all exertion’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [12 May 1866] ). …
… to Madeira. His visit to Down House is described in a letter from Henrietta to George: ‘when first …
… most magnificent eulogium which it has ever received’ ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 18 August [1866] …
… like myself weak in his Greek, is something dreadful’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1866] …
… progressive, teleological development ( see for example, letter to C. W. Nägeli, 12 June [1866] ). …
… and a revised American edition was not published until 1870. Further botanical research: …
… His drawings of C. scoparius , sent to Darwin with his letter of 8 May [1866] , allowed …
… initial state of dimorphism’ (Correspondence vol. 9, letter from Asa Gray, 11 October 1861 ). …
… that the species was ‘merely ordinaryly diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, [7 May – 11 June 1866 …
… the Rhamnus is a case of dimorphic becoming diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 20 June [1866] ) …
… blows up— I am well accustomed to such explosions’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 22 June [1866] ). He …
… be honest, & admit how little is known on the subject’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 and 4 August …
… to see how differently we look at every thing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 August [1866] ). Yet …
… a world of good, & we have been at it many a long year’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February …

Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest

Summary

The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…

Matches: 28 hits

… do to talk about it, which no doubt promotes the sale’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 26 March 1871 ) …
… to her liking, ‘to keep in memory of the book’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, 20 March 1871 ). …
… and had forsaken his lunch and dinner in order to read it ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 19 …
… they believe to be the truth, whether pleasant or not’ (letter from W. W. Reade, 21 February 1871). …
… and Oldham … They club together to buy them’ ( letter from W. B. Dawkins, 23 February 1871 ). …
… one’s n th . ancestor lived between tide-marks!’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 February 1871 ). …
… habits, furnished with a tail and pointed ears” (letter from Asa Gray, 14 April 1871) …
… ‘will-power’ and the heavy use of their arms and legs ( letter from C. L. Bernays, 25 February 1871 …
… in order to make it darker than the hair on his head ( letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, [before 25 …
… together with an image of an orang-utan foetus ( letter from Hinrich Nitsche, 18 April 1871 ). …
… of himself, adding that it made a ‘very poor return’ ( letter to Hinrich Nitsche, 25 April [1871] …
… each night, returning to its allotted space each morning ( letter from Arthur Nicols, 7 March 1871 …
… without having a high aesthetic appreciation of beauty ( letter from E. J. Pfeiffer, [before 26 …
… endowment of spiritual life’ at some time in the past ( letter from Roland Trimen, 17 and 18 April …
… to the white’. Darwin thanked Innes for his ‘pleasant letter’, but asserted his antipathy to human …
… myself a good way ahead of you, as far as this goes’ ( letter to J. B. Innes, 29 May [1871] ). …
… ‘whereas the baboon is as the Creator made it’ ( letter from George Morrish, 18 March 1871 ). …
… could also redeem the wayward author of Descent ( letter from a child of God, [after 24 …
… with the most deep and tender religious feeling’ ( letter from F. E. Abbot, 20 August 1871 ). The …
… charges of atheism amongst his ‘clerical brethren’ ( letter from George Henslow, 5 December 1871 ) …
… from one and the same catarrhine monkey !’ ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 21 December 1871 ). …
… review as ‘a windbag full of metaphysics & classics’ ( letter to John Murray, 13 April [1871] …
… law &c’, and transmitted by culture, not biology ( letter from John Morley, 30 March 1871 ). …
… dog when it was confronted by the presence of its master. ( Letter from Hensleigh Wedgwood, [3–9 …
… sense was especially troubling to Emma, as indicated in a letter that she wrote to Cobbe on 25 …
… was emotionally and morally bound. In one particularly long letter to Wedgwood, Darwin alluded to …
… ‘Every point of agreement is a satisfaction to me’ ( letter to Hensleigh Wedgwood, 9 March 1871 ). …
… activity would have on the elevation of land. In October 1870, two separate square yards of ground …

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: 29 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 ) …
… 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 …
… the heavy breathing that accompanied sexual intercourse? (letter from ?, [1873?]). The Scottish …
… with up lines; & sadness & decay with the reverse—” ( letter from William Main, 2 April …
… with the advance of civilisation and good breeding ( letter from Henry Reeks, 3 March 1873 ). …
… have never felt an inclination to have a second dose” ( letter from Robert Swinhoe, 26 March 1873 …
… of an orbital one produces snapping of the jaws” ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 16 April 1873 …
… that illustrated the physiognomy of the disease ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 30 December 1873 …
… or previously acquired knowledge” (A. R. Wallace 1870, p. 204). Moggridge suggested instead that …
… by an individual could be transmitted to its offspring ( letter from J. T. Moggridge, 1 February …
… a related discussion in Nature magazine, forwarding a letter from William Huggins on a case of …
… Kepler who was fearful of butchers and butcher’s shops ( letter to Nature , [before 13 February …
… smell. Darwin joined the debate, writing to Nature ( letter to Nature , [before 13 March …
… The debate later shifted to ants when Darwin forwarded a letter from the mining engineer James …
… disperse wildly after he had smashed some with his finger ( letter to Nature , [before 3 April …
… danger by seeing the corpses of a fellow species” ( letter to Nature , [before 24 July 1873] ). …
… cousin’s aims but regarded the project as “utopian” ( letter to Francis Galton, 4 January [1873] ) …
… in correspondence, and investing money very well” ( letter to Francis Galton, 28 May 1873 ). Among …
… his father’s virtues: “sober, honest & industrious” ( letter to Francis Galton, 28 May 1873 ). …
… who thought it would offend his father ( enclosure to letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 December 1873 ). …
… to reject what we should feel it a privilege to offer” ( letter from E. F. Lubbock, [before 7 April …

Henrietta Darwin's diary

Summary

Darwin's daughter Henrietta kept a diary for a few momentous weeks in 1871. This was the year in which Descent of Man, the most controversial of her father's books after Origin itself, appeared, a book which she had helped him write. The small…

Matches: 3 hits

… by Henrietta herself. Darwin’s letters in 1870 and 1871 ( Correspondence , vols 18 and 19) …
… F. J. Wedgwood to H. E. and C. R. Darwin, [1867–72], letter nos. 7058–62). She had published a …
… when I feel my day made bright & happy by one short letter. I want him to take me in his arms …

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: 28 hits

… had considered combining the works in a single volume ( letter to J. V. Carus, 7 February 1875 ). …
… , 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 …
… the botanist Gaetano Durando, to find plants and seeds ( letter to Francis Darwin, [4 February – 8 …
… the self-registering auxanometer, invented by Sachs around 1870, but a version of it was made by …
… 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 …
… 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 ). …
… Plants’ or ‘The Nature of the Movements of Plants’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 23 April [1880] ). …
… Phytographie (A. de Candolle 1880). In his letter of thanks for the book, Darwin promised to send …
… for advice about the number of copies they should print ( letter to John Murray, 10 July 1880 ). …
… works, Murray was willing to publish on the usual terms ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 15 July 1880 ). …
… only suggest printing more copies or raising the price ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). …
… Stahl’s paper with him, for the relevant page numbers ( letter to Francis Darwin, 5 August [1880] …
… publisher, Eduard Koch had already agreed to publish it ( letter from J. V. Carus, 18 September …
… as stereotypes of the text were available from Murray ( letter from D. Appleton & Co., 17 …
… corollas or the reactive movement of pistils and stamens ( letter from Édouard Heckel, 23 September …
… for the translations and asked about the cost of these ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 16 October 1880 ). …
… last chapter & you will know whole contents of book ’. No letter to Balfour survives, but …
… from colleagues at home and abroad. Cohn concluded his letter of praise, remarking, ‘ I don’t know …

	CCD intro	(6)
	co-adaptation	(1)
	controversy	(1)
	Descent	(4)
	Featured	(1)
	human evolution	(2)
	Mivart	(2)
	Human nature	(2)
	drama	(1)
	Life sciences	(2)
	Survival of the fittest	(2)
	emotion	(1)
	heredity	(1)
	ice ages	(1)
	Nägeli	(1)
	natural selection	(1)
	Origin	(2)
	distribution	(1)
	Germany	(1)
	glacier	(1)
	illness	(1)
	Variation	(1)
	disagreement	(1)
	expression	(1)
	morality	(1)
	Pangenesis	(1)
	reaction	(1)
	worms	(1)
	book sales	(1)
	celebrity	(1)
	cross-fertilisation	(1)
	electrocution	(1)
	genius	(1)
	insectivorous plants	(1)
	instinct	(1)
	Historical documents	(1)
	Natural selections: a longer read	(2)
	Religion	(1)

Darwin Correspondence Project

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