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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: 19 hits
- … considerably improved. His increased vigour was apparent in a busy year that included two trips to …
- … Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But …
- … of special creation on the basis of alleged evidence of a global ice age, while Asa Gray pressed …
- … the details of Hooker’s proposed talk formed the basis of a lengthy and lively exchange of letters …
- … responded philosophically to these deaths, regarding both as a merciful release from painful illness …
- … was a report on his condition to his doctor, Henry Bence Jones: ‘I am able now to walk daily on an …
- … able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
- … the other meals & these I think suit me best.’ He sought Jones’s approval to increase his intake …
- … he still usually suffered daily bouts of flatulence. Jones replied in encouraging terms, enclosing a …
- … 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] …
- … think, & have come to more definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1866] ). …
- … to me in raptures at seeing you—& told me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D …
- … come on those terms so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [ c . 10 May 1866] ). …
- … weak in his Greek, is something dreadful’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1866] ). …
- … as a ‘thinking pump’: ‘I read aloud your simile of H. Spencer to a thinking pump, & it was …
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: 20 hits
- … was far more extensive than Darwin had anticipated. As a result, Descent , like Variation , …
- … the material on emotion; it would eventually appear as a separate book in 1872 ( Expression of the …
- … Lyell, ‘thank all the powers above & below, I shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding …
- … 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] ) …
- … eighteen years of age. Darwin clearly expected her to make a considerable contribution, instructing …
- … He worried that parts of the book were ‘too like a Sermon: who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn …
- … abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February …
- … looking exclusively into his own mind’, and himself, ‘a degraded wretch looking from the outside …
- … how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870 …
- … side of human descent. On 7 March 1870, Darwin made a note on the shape of human ears: ‘W. has seen …
- … made drawings of ears of monkeys & shortly afterwards he saw a man with tip & instantly …
- … 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 …
- … is to criticise them? No one but yourself’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 20 May 1870 ). Darwin very …
- … able to say that I never write reviews’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, [22 May 1870] ). St …
- … if I once began to answer objectors’ ( letter to W. H. Flower, 25 March [1870] ). In his letters …
- … out seven devils worse than that first!’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 22 June 1870 ). In the …
- … highly important for the welfare of mankind’ ( letter to [H. H. Vivian?], [April or May 1870?] ). …
- … dark to me and to every one else I suspect’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 2 August 1870 ). …
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 26 hits
- … to correct proofs, and just when completion seemed imminent, a further couple of months were needed …
- … oversized two-volume Variation and instead write a short (as he then expected) ‘Essay on Man’. …
- … selection in forming human races, and there was also to be a chapter on the meaning and cause of the …
- … ), published in 1871, and the chapter on expression into a book, The expression of the emotions in …
- … for decades, it was only now that he began to work with a view to publishing his observations. …
- … his work on expression in 1867, as he continued to circulate a list of questions on human expression …
- … Darwin corrected them. Closer to home, two important works, a book by the duke of Argyll, and an …
- … self-sterility, pollination, and seed dispersal with a growing network of correspondents who worked …
- … atmosphere that he so much needed in what was becoming a highly combative and emotional arena. …
- … chapter and remained doubtful whether or not to include a chapter ‘on Man’. After a few days, he …
- … suppose abuse is as good as praise for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] …
- … to the printer, but without the additional chapter. In a letter written on 8 February [1867] to …
- … books, Descent and Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his …
- … variation of animals and plants under domestication . In a letter to his son William dated 27 …
- … of his brother’s embryological papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although …
- … . Indeed, he told his publisher, John Murray, in a letter of 4 April [1867] , not to send …
- … tell me, at what rate your work will be published’ ( letter from J. V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). This …
- … & sent to him, he may wish to give up the task’ ( letter to Carl Vogt, 12 April [1867] ). …
- … fit person’ to introduce the work to the German public ( letter from J. V. Carus, 15 April 1867 ). …
- … Vogt should translate my book in preference to you’ ( letter to J. V. Carus, 18 April [1867] ). …
- … varieties at the eye, which resulted in a mottled hybrid ( letter from Robert Trail, 5 April 1867 …
- … seems to me, if true, a wonderful physiological fact’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). …
- … it will be a somewhat important step in Biology’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 22 August [1867] ). …
- … if you attack it & me with unparalleled ferocity’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1867] …
- … ‘I hear he is down on both of us’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, [before 7 January 1867] ). In …
- … for this month; except on wet days’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 1 October [1867] ). There is no …
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: 22 hits
- … year he was optimistic about publishing it that autumn, but a recurrence of illness forced him to …
- … climbing plants to make another paper. Darwin also submitted a manuscript of his hypothesis of …
- … and persuaded his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker to comment on a paper on Verbascum (mullein) by CD …
- … to be discussed in both scholarly and popular publications. A lengthy discussion written by George …
- … received news of an exchange of letters on his theory in a New Zealand newspaper; the letters were …
- … deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend of Darwin’s and prominent …
- … J. D. Hooker’s father, died in August. There was also a serious dispute between two of Darwin’s …
- … when illness made work impossible, Darwin and Hooker read a number of novels, and discussed them in …
- … energetic. However, on 31 January, Hugh Falconer died after a sudden illness. Falconer was 56, …
- … had failed to include among the grounds of the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus …
- … his letters to Darwin, and Darwin responded warmly: ‘Your letter is by far the grandest eulogium …
- … 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] …
- … ineffective, and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] …
- … better, attributing the improvement to Jones’s diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] …
- … he was ‘able to write about an hour on most days’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 December [1865] ). …
- … hang on it a good many groups of facts.’ ( Letter to T. H. Huxley, 27 May [1865] .) The …
- … humans (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter from J. H. Balfour, 14 January 1862 ). According …
- … a trying year. In January he had influenza ( letter from F. H. Hooker, [27 January 1865] ); before …
Books on the Beagle
Summary
The Beagle was a sort of floating library. Find out what Darwin and his shipmates read here.
Matches: 26 hits
- … ‘Considering the limited disposable space in so very small a ship, we contrived to carry more …
- … Captain FitzRoy in the Narrative (2: 18). CD, in his letter to Henslow, 9 [September 1831] , …
- … . . . There will be plenty of room for Books.’ (Letter from Robert FitzRoy, 23 September 1831 …
- … The names of those who take Books are to be written in a list kept for that Purpose. Any …
- … are not already Duplicates in the Catalogue will confer a general benefit by lending them in a …
- … zoological and geological notes it is possible to compile a list of works used by CD during the …
- … of the ‘immense stock’ which CD mentions may be had from a letter FitzRoy wrote to his sister during …
- … and geological notes in the Darwin Archive (DAR 29–38), a brief description of those records may be …
- … be distinguished — they are usually in pencil or in a different ink. During the voyage pencil was …
- … Brahma pens. References to books in pencil, or in ink of a different shade from that normal to the …
- … of three kinds: References to which CD prefixed a ‘V[ide]’ or ‘Mem’. For example, ‘V. …
- … intended to consult them after the voyage unless they follow a specific reference, or a quoted …
- … on board the Beagle § — mentioned in a letter or other source as being on board …
- … Naturelle 3 (1834): 84–115. (DAR 37.1: 677v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 12 July 1835). * …
- … d’histoire naturelle . 17 vols. Paris, 1822–31. (Letter from J. S. Henslow, 15–21 January [1833]). …
- … a report of the proceedings . . . Cambridge, 1833. (Letter to Charles Whitley, 23 July 1834). …
- … of the 2d meeting . . . Oxford, 1832 . London, 1833. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, March 1834 and …
- … †. Byron, George Anson, 7th Baron. Voyage of H.M.S. Blonde to the Sandwich Islands, in …
- … also Hawkesworth, John). (DAR 32.2: 89v.; Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the South African Christian …
- … residence in New Zealand in 1827 . . . London, 1832. (Letter to Caroline Darwin, 27 December 1835). …
- … 33: 254). § Euclid. Elements of geometry. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 30 October 1831). …
- … The philosophy of zoology . . . 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1822. (Letter from Susan Darwin, 15 October …
- … Darwin Buenos Ayres’). Darwin Library–CUL. Jones, Thomas. A companion to the mountain …
- … 3d ed. London, 1802. (Notes on fly-leaf: ‘Taken from Jones’ (see Jones, T.)). Darwin Library–CUL †. …
- … * New Testament (German). (Signed ‘C. Darwin H.M.S. Beagle’. Copy examined by Sydney Smith c. …
- … Atlantic Ocean, in the years 1828, 29, 30, performed in H.M. Sloop Chanticleer . . . 2 vols. …
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: 27 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 …
- … 1724] Life of Wilkie [Cunningham 1843] & Chantry [G. Jones 1849]. Grote’s History …
- … M rs Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
- … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
- … [ Asiatick Researches ] 5. vol. 8vo.— Chiefly Sir. W. Jones’ work [W. Jones 1799a and 1799b].— re …
- … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
- … 8] 1854 Jan 15. Seeman’s Narrative of H.M.S. Herald [Seeman 1853]. Feb 6. …
- … 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 …
- … Belcher, Edward. 1848. Narrative of the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang during the years 1843–46; …
- … Bernier, François. 1826. Travels in the Mogul Empire A.D. 1656–1668 . Translated by Irving …
- … Bethune, John. 1840. Poems by the late John Bethune; with a sketch of the author’s life by his …
- … eds.] 119: 11a Blacklock, Ambrose. 1838. A treatise on sheep; with the best means …
- … Blaine, Delabere Pritchett. 1824. Canine pathology; or, a full description of the diseases of …
- … ——. 1840. An encyclopædia of rural sports; or, a complete account, historical, practical, …
- … 1844. Algeria, past and present. Containing a description of the country … with a review of …
- … Artaud. 2 vols. Metz. 128: 24 ——. 1807. A short system of comparative anatomy . …
- … Narrative of a voyage round the world, performed in H.M.S. Sulphur, 1836–42 . 2 vols. …
- … . Pt 1 of The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in …
- … The botany . London. [Darwin Library.] 128: 6 Jones, George. 1849. Sir Francis Chantrey …
- … Beete. 1847. Narrative of the surveying voyage of H.M.S. Fly … in the Torres Strait, New …
- … Keppel, Henry. 1846. The expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido for the suppression of piracy; …
- … ——. 1853. A visit to the Indian Archipelago, in H.M.S. Mæander, with portions of the private …
- … Macgillivray, John. 1852. Narrative of the voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, commanded by the late …
- … … Together with a narrative of the operations of H.M.S. Iris. 2 vols. London. *119: 22 …
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: 21 hits
- … Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of On the origin of …
- … his cousin William Darwin Fox, ‘My work will have to stop a bit for I must prepare a new edit. of …
- … views on all points will have to be modified.— Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( …
- … Darwin’s most substantial addition to Origin was a response to a critique of natural selection …
- … of species. Darwin correctly assessed Nägeli’s theory as a major challenge requiring a thorough and …
- … morphological features (Nägeli 1865, p. 29). Darwin sent a manuscript of his response (now missing) …
- … 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 …
- … fossil discoveries in Patagonia and Wales ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 7 May 1869 , letter from W …
- … fools of themselves than they did’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 28 September 1869 ). …
- … which … I do not care to follow him’ ( letter from T. H. Farrer, 9 October 1869 ). Farrer ventured …
- … and Will and High Design—’ (letter from T. H. Farrer, 13 October 1869). Darwin was …
- … to set foot on summit of a mountain.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 9 July [1869] ). Earlier …
- … horse. Having been advised in 1866 by the doctor Henry Bence Jones to go riding for his health, …