skip to content

Darwin Correspondence Project

Search: contains ""

400 Bad Request

Bad Request

Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.


Apache Server at dcp-public.lib.cam.ac.uk Port 443
Search:
in keywords
7 Items

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: 23 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] ). …
  • … out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
  • … book he wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
  • … difficulty in answering Owen  unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). Hugh …
  • … of Lyell’s book being written by others’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). …
  • … to see men fighting so for a little fame’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). …
  • … to capture his and others’ attention ( see letter to J. D. Dana, 20 February [1863] , and letter
  • … a letter to the  Athenæum  in response ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 March [1863] ). He later …
  • … partly composed such  a good letter (!)’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). At the …
  • … Benjamin Carpenter’s book on Foraminifera ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [29 March 1863] , and …
  • … might as well think of origin of matter.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [29 March 1863] ). Owen’s …
  • … the first edition of  Antiquity of man  ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] , and …
  • … science before the public in this way ( see letter from J. D. Hooker, [7 May 1863] , and Appendix …
  • … have been gnashing my teeth at my own folly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [9 May 1863] ). After his …
  • … the Royal Society ( see letter from Edward Sabine to John Phillips, 12 November 1863 ). …
  • … natural sterility of species, when crossed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 10 [January 1863] ). He …
  • … and Lyell’s  Antiquity of man  ( see letter from T. H. Huxley, 25 February 1863 , and letter

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: 11 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 …
  • … 1848] Cuming Lion Hunter [Cumming 1850] Sir C. Phillips Recollections of Curran [C. …
  • … 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] …
  • … Boswell’s life of Johnsons [Boswell 1831] 4 vols 25 Phillips Geology [J. Phillips 1837–9] …
  • … & Forsyth on Forest Trees [Boutcher 1775 and Forsyth 1791] Phillips History of cultivated …
  • … —— 15 th . Phillip’s life of W. Smith [J. Phillips 1844]. —— 30 Abridged Despatches Duke …
  • … Tour in Sweden [Wollstonecraft 1796]. (poor) —— Phillips. Life of Curran [C. Phillips 1818] …
  • … [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 …

Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles

Summary

Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…

Matches: 14 hits

  • … hurrah for my species-work’ ( Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
  • … William Herschel, to write the chapter on geology ( letter to J. F. W. Herschel, 4 February [1848] …
  • … by Darwin on the use of microscopes on board ship ( see letter to Richard Owen, [26 March 1848] ). …
  • … to Milne directly, he sent a long rejoinder in the form of a letter for publication in the Scotsman. …
  • … asked for it to be destroyed. Only the draft of Darwin’s letter remains ( letter to the  Scotsman …
  • … that his original fieldwork was ‘time thrown away’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8 [September 1847] ) …
  • … that it would be a ‘thorn in the side of É de B.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 3 January 1850 ). …
  • … marine invertebrates himself (see Correspondence vol. 2, letter to Leonard Jenyns, 10 April [1837]) …
  • … opinion that such a monograph was a ‘desideratum’ ( letter to J. L. R. Agassiz, 22 October 1848 ), …
  • … abortive stamens or pistils ( Correspondence  vol. 2, letter from J. S. Henslow, 21 November …
  • … Barnacles & Species theory al Diabolo together. But I don’t care what you say, my species theory …
  • … sacrifice the rule of priority for the sake of expedience ( letter to H. E. Strickland, [4 February …
  • … it as ‘the greatest curse to natural History’ ( letter to H. E. Strickland, 29 January [1849] ). …
  • … Museum of Zoology, has been transcribed with Darwin’s letter to H. E. Strickland, 29 January [1849 …

Books on the Beagle

Summary

The Beagle was a sort of floating library.  Find out what Darwin and his shipmates read here.

Matches: 18 hits

  • … 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 ‘immense stock’ which CD mentions may be had from a letter FitzRoy wrote to his sister during an …
  • … 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 …
  • … 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 …
  • … to the mountain barometer.  2d ed. London, n.d. [1802]. (Letter to Robert FitzRoy, [10 October 1831 …
  • … des polypiers.  Paris, 1821. (DAR 30.1: 13v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November 1834). …
  • … r . 1832’; vol. 3 (1833): ‘C. Darwin’; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November 1834). Darwin …
  • … Paradise lost.  ( ’Beagle’ diary , p. 107; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 November 1832). * …
  • … several late voyages.  2 parts. London, 1694. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November 1834). …
  • … Philosophical Society  4 (1833): 209–17. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November 1834). …

Darwin’s student booklist

Summary

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

Matches: 4 hits

  • … who had moved on to London for further medical training (see letter from E. A. Darwin, [29 …
  • … to date precisely. Darwin mentions reading  Granby  in a letter to his sister dated 29 January …
  • … work in 1879 Darwin judged it ‘a wretched production’ (letter to Ernst Krause, 19 March 1879 ); …
  • … CD described Lister 1826 as an ‘entertaining book’ (see letter to S. E. Darwin, 29 January [1826] …

Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'

Summary

In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…

Matches: 16 hits

  • … an illustration of how selection might work in nature ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. …
  • … the real structure of varieties’, he remarked to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 September [1856 …
  • … ‘& I mean to make my Book as perfect as ever I can.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 8 February [1857] …
  • … plants, he asked Asa Gray, vary in the United States ( letter to Asa Gray, 2 May 1856 )? What …
  • … plants pretty effectually’ complained Darwin in 1857 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [2 May 1857] ). …
  • … John Lubbock that his method of calculation was wrong ( letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1857] ). …
  • … ‘Darwin, an absolute & eternal hermaphrodite’ ( letter to to T. H. Huxley, 1 July [1856] ), …
  • … which the bird had naturally eaten have grown well.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1856] …
  • … he wrote to Syms Covington in New South Wales ( letter to Syms Covington, 9 March 1856 ). …
  • … 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] ) …
  • … Hearing about the party afterwards, Lyell reported in a letter to his brother-in-law that, ‘When …
  • … so far, and not embrace the whole Lamarckian doctrine.’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, …
  • … in his views to explain them in explicit detail in a long letter to Asa Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, …

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: 26 hits

  • … of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] , Darwin …
  • … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
  • … As Darwin explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of 30 November [1864] , ‘the …
  • … observations indoors ( Correspondence  vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin …
  • … gradation by which  leaves  produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). …
  • … fearfully for it is a leaf climber & therefore sacred’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 June [1864] …
  • … matters which routinists regard in the light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 …
  • … long series of changes . . .’ When he told Asa Gray in a letter of 29 October [1864] that he was …
  • …  paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] that nothing …
  • … of the two species with the common oxlip. In a letter of 22 October [1864] , Darwin triumphantly …
  • … the ‘splendid case of Dimorphism’ in  Menyanthes  ( letter from Emma and Charles Darwin to W. E. …
  • … this interest. At the start of the year, he received a letter, insect specimens, and an article on …
  • … that it was ‘the best medicine for my stomach’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 17 February [1864] ). …
  • … at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in 1862 with a letter regarding the fertilisation of the …
  • … two years, with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] …
  • … is difficult enough to play your part  over  them’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 April 1864] ). …
  • … … they do require very careful treatment’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 8 April 1864 ). Nevertheless …
  • … that in giving I am hastening the fall’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 April 1864 ). In his …
  • … a first-class cabin for the journey ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 August 1864] ). Darwin …
  • … he thought him ‘sanguine & unsafe’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 February 1864 ). Hooker …
  • … correct if they contradicted the Bible ( see letter from J. D. Hooker, [19 September 1864] ). When …
  • … Lyell 1865] I shall recant for fifth time’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 October [1864] ). Lyell …
  • … forcible’, displaying ‘remarkable genius’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 [May 1864] ). He added that …
  • …  agree’ with Wallace’s views on humans ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 [May 1864] ), and he pointed …
  • … of the Royal Society, Edward Sabine, to the geologist John Phillips revealed Sabine’s fears that in …
  • … had there been any failure of justice’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 4 November 1864 ). …