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Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Hensleigh Wedgwood
Summary
Hensleigh Wedgwood, Emma Darwin’s brother and Charles’s cousin, was a philologist, barrister and original member of the Philological Society, which had been created in 1842. In 1857, while Wedgwood was preparing a dictionary of English etymology, he wrote…
The origin of language
Summary
Darwin started thinking about the origin of language in the late 1830s. The subject formed part of his wide-ranging speculations about the transmutation of species. In his private notebooks, he reflected on the communicative powers of animals, their…
The "wicked book": Origin at 157
Summary
Origin is 157 years old. (Probably) the most famous book in science was published on 24 November 1859. To celebrate we have uploaded hundreds of new images of letters, bringing the total number you can look at here to over 9000 representing more than…
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- … H. C. Watson J. J. Weir H. W. Bates Hensleigh Wedgwood J. S. Henslow C …
Julia Wedgwood
Summary
Charles Darwin’s readership largely consisted of other well-educated Victorian men, nonetheless, some women did read, review, and respond to Darwin’s work. One of these women was Darwin’s own niece, Julia Wedgwood, known in the family as “Snow”. In July…
Matches: 15 hits
- … to his work. One of the foremost was his niece, Julia Wedgwood. She was the eldest child of …
- … on religion and Eliot’s irregular private life. Wedgwood’s The Moral Ideal , the outcome …
- … to devote her time to her work. Emma Darwin was irritated by Wedgwood family criticism of this …
- … said, “to have been something larger than I am”. Wedgwood’s reactions to Darwin’s work went …
- … of Science”, about On the Origin of Species . Wedgwood welcomed Darwin’s discoveries and sought …
- … rare event with my critics”. ( Charles Darwin to F. J. Wedgwood, 11 July [1861] .) Wedgwood …
- … of its authorship. (The other was by Alfred Wallace.) In it Wedgwood largely avoided the debate on …
- … her conclusion she reclaimed Darwin as a Theist. When Fanny Wedgwood disclosed the review’s …
- … with approbation.” ( Charles and Emma Darwin to F. J. Wedgwood, [March 1871?] .) In 1885, …
- … religion in the biography of him Frank Darwin was preparing, Wedgwood was invited by her cousin, …
- … sons rejected it as not what Darwin had written and Wedgwood stepped back from the continuing family …
- … the Darwin sons but was accepted by Emma Darwin, with whom Wedgwood remained on close terms until …
- … the head”. Sources: Sue Brown, Julia Wedgwood, the unexpected Victorian: the …
- … Nineteenth Century Series, 2022) Jose Harris, ‘Wedgwood, (Frances) Julia (1833–1913)’, …
- … 134–8; 4 (1861): 237-47. Wedgwood Barbara and Hensleigh Wedgwood. 1980. The Wedgwood Circle …
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: 4 hits
- … from within his own family circle, especially his cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood, whom Darwin had cited …
- … was confronted by the presence of its master. ( Letter from Hensleigh Wedgwood, [3–9 March 1871] . …
- … point of agreement is a satisfaction to me’ ( letter to Hensleigh Wedgwood, 9 March 1871 ). …
- … home, Leith Hill Place in Surrey, and CD’s niece Lucy Wedgwood collected and weighed the dried …
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
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- … H. E. (1) Wedgwood, Hensleigh (20) …
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,…
Journal of researches
Summary
Within two months of the Beagle’s arrival back in England in October 1836, Darwin, although busy with distributing his specimens among specialists for description, and more interested in working on his geological research, turned his mind to the task of…
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- … FitzRoy ’. In contrast, when Darwin’s cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood and his wife Fanny read the …
- … ‘I am not in general a good reader of travels’, Hensleigh confessed, ‘ but I found no part of yours …
- … length of the journal kept during the voyage, while another Wedgwood cousin continued to encourage …
- … attending the renowned Birmingham Music Festival with his Wedgwood cousins. ‘ To write a book, I do …
2.19 Montford, bust at the Royal Society
Summary
< Back to Introduction Horace Montford’s marble bust of Darwin at the Royal Society, dating from 1898, derives from his bronze statue at Shrewsbury. It was normal for sculptors to re-use their models in this way for the creation of busts and…
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- … Baron Farrer, who had married Katherine Euphemia (Effie) Wedgwood, daughter of Hensleigh Wedgwood; …
Emma Darwin
Summary
Emma Darwin, Charles Darwin's wife and first cousin, was born Emma Wedgwood, the eighth and youngest child of Josiah Wedgwood II and Bessy Allen. Her father was the eldest son of the famous pottery manufacturer, Josiah Wedgwood I. Her mother was one…
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1.2 George Richmond, marriage portrait
Summary
< Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more may once have existed. In a letter of 1873 an old Shrewsbury friend, Arthur Mostyn Owen, offered to send Darwin a watercolour sketch of him, painted many years…
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- … theories. As early as February 1839, Elizabeth Wedgwood had written to her sister Emma: ‘My …
- … not return from Italy until August or September 1839. Josiah Wedgwood himself wrote to his daughter …
- … was being assembled, so that both the Darwin and the Wedgwood families would have one. It is …
- … University Press, 1933), frontispiece. Barbara and Hensleigh Wedgwood, The Wedgwood Circle 1730 …
What did Darwin believe?
Summary
What did Darwin really believe about God? the Christian revelation? the implications of his theory of evolution for religious faith? These questions were asked again and again in the years following the publication of Origin of species (1859). They are…
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…
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…
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- … Williams séance was held at the home of Darwin’s cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood. Those present included …
Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics
Summary
On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…
Darwin and vivisection
Summary
Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…
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- … that included Darwin’s brother, Erasmus, and his cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood. After Darwin refused to …
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…
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- … and part of a circle of philanthropists that included Hensleigh and Frances Wedgwood. She had …
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,…
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- … well as sister Catherine’s and his own. He also notes that Hensleigh [Wedgwood] thinks he has …
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…
