From Henry Colburn to Robert Fitzroy 22 September 1837
Summary
Cancelled. Third party letter. For text see letter to William Shoberl, [22 or 23 September 1837], n. 1 (Correspondence 2: 49.
| Author: | Henry Colburn |
| Addressee: | Robert FitzRoy |
| Date: | 22 Sept 1837 |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Darwin 9) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-379 |
To William Shoberl [22 or 23 September 1837]
Summary
Thanks WS for a document [see 379]. Promises to send MS and woodcuts before night. Discusses details of printing and correction. Thanks WS and Henry Colburn for assistance.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Shoberl |
| Date: | [22 or 23] Sept 1837 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.8) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-380 |
To John Richardson [24 July 1837]
Summary
Questions about woods in cold, northern climates; about JR’s reference to frozen sandstone; about how far out from the shore the sea may become frozen.
His petition for assistance from the government is in statu quo; he is working at his Journal [of researches].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Richardson |
| Date: | [24 July 1837] |
| Classmark: | Scott Polar Research Institute (MS 1503/16/1) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-366F |
To Caroline Darwin [19 May – 16 June 1837]
Summary
Sends a number of questions (to put to his father), mainly concerned with transmission of diseases, between Europeans and natives, "people packed together", etc.
Is investigating how to get Government support [for Zoology].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Caroline Sarah (Caroline) Darwin; Caroline Sarah (Caroline) Wedgwood |
| Date: | [19 May – 16 June 1837] |
| Classmark: | DAR 154: 52 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-360 |
To Charles Lyell [19 December 1837]
Summary
Responds to Lyell’s query [missing] about northern and southern limits of coral islands of the Pacific. Warns that coral islands are much more thinly distributed than people realise and cites examples. Comments on views of Matthew Flinders. Reading work of É[lie] de B[eaumont]. Notes difficulty of setting an east-west boundary to coral islands.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | [19 Dec 1837] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.9) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-394 |
To Charles Babbage [June – September 1837]
Summary
At Lyell’s request sends his copy of Whewell’s History of inductive sciences [1837] to CB.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Babbage |
| Date: | [June – Sept 1837] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 37190: 322) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-358 |
To J. S. Henslow [28 May 1837]
Summary
CD to read paper on formation of coral islands at Geological Society. Lyell seems prepared to give up [his view].
Publication of the Narrative is now definite. Feels he should have published journal after the geology and zoology of the voyage.
Robert Brown, as well as JSH, is interested in edible fungi from Tierra del Fuego.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | [28 May 1837] |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Henslow letters: 36 DAR/1/1/36) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-356 |
To John Richardson [11 August 1837]
Summary
Chancellor of the Exchequer has ordered £1000 for the publication of the Zoology. Would like to meet JR to ask his advice on one or two points.
Thanks for his long account of the climate of North America.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Richardson |
| Date: | [11 Aug 1837] |
| Classmark: | Scott Polar Research Institute (MS 1503/16/2) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-370F |
To J. S. Henslow [20 September 1837]
Summary
Doctors have urged him to knock off all work and go to the country. Arranges proof-reading with JSH, while he is at Shrewsbury.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | [20 Sept 1837] |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Henslow letters: 40 DAR/1/1/40) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-378 |
From Smith, Elder & Co. 12 September 1837
Summary
Suggestions are presented respecting CD’s proposed publication of his zoological work in accordance with the Government requirement.
| Author: | Smith, Elder & Co |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Sept 1837 |
| Classmark: | The National Archives (TNA) (T1/4524 paper 25824) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-377A |
From Emily Catherine Darwin 15 [January 1837]
Summary
Morning Herald had an account of CD’s 80 specimens of Mammalia and 450 birds at the Zoological Society.
John Gould has described new species in CD’s Galapagos birds.
Much interest in CD’s "Laurels".
Family news.
| Author: | Emily Catherine (Catherine) Darwin; Emily Catherine (Catherine) Langton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 [Jan 1837] |
| Classmark: | DAR 204: 142 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-341 |
To W. D. Fox [12 March 1837]
Summary
Finished going over his geological specimens at Cambridge, and is now in London.
Describes his plans for writing the journal, and later the geology and zoology of the Beagle voyage.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | [12 Mar 1837] |
| Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 51) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-348 |
| letter | (12) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (9) |
| Colburn, Henry | (1) |
| Darwin, Catherine | (1) |
| Langton, Catherine | (1) |
| Smith, Elder & Co | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
| Henslow, J. S. | (2) |
| Richardson, John | (2) |
| Babbage, Charles | (1) |
| Darwin, Caroline | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (11) |
| Henslow, J. S. | (2) |
| Richardson, John | (2) |
| Babbage, Charles | (1) |
| Colburn, Henry | (1) |
John Murray
Summary
Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was …
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,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click …
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: 1 hits
- … In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
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: 1 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, 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: 1 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
Rewriting Origin - the later editions
Summary
For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions. Many of his changes were made in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … If I lived 20 more years, & was able to work, how I sh d . have to modify the “Origin”, & …
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: 1 hits
- … Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, seeing the publication of his …
Origin
Summary
Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to establish priority for the species theory he had spent over twenty years researching. Darwin never intended to write Origin, and had resisted suggestions in 1856…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to …
Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin
Summary
The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet …
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: 1 hits
- … As the sheer volume of his correspondence indicates, 1862 was a particularly productive year for …
The full edition is now online!
Summary
For nearly fifty years successive teams of researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have been working to track down all surviving letters written by or to Charles Darwin, research their content, and publish the complete texts. The thirtieth and final…
Matches: 1 hits
- … For nearly fifty years successive teams of researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have been …
St George Jackson Mivart
Summary
In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1874, the Catholic zoologist St George Jackson Mivart caused Darwin and his son George serious …
Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex
Summary
The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If …
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: 1 hits
- … I am merely slaving over the sickening work of preparing new Editions …
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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
John Lort Stokes
Summary
John Lort Stokes, naval officer, was Charles Darwin’s cabinmate on the Beagle voyage – not always an enviable position. After Darwin’s death, Stokes penned a description of their evenings spent working at the large table at the centre, Stokes at his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … John Lort Stokes, naval officer, was Charles Darwin’s cabinmate on the Beagle voyage – not …
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: 1 hits
- … The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom , published on 10 November …
John Maurice Herbert
Summary
John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. He was affectionately called ‘Cherbury’ by Darwin, a reference to the seventeenth-century philosopher Edward Herbert, Baron Cherbury, who, like John Herbert, hailed from…
Matches: 1 hits
- … John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. He was affectionately …
