To Edward William Brayley 7 February 1845
Summary
Discusses EWB’s application for a position and his qualifications.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Edward William Brayley |
| Date: | 7 Feb 1845 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.41) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-822 |
To Trenham Reeks [before 8 February 1845]
Summary
CD sends queries on chemical composition of various Beagle mineral specimens.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Trenham Reeks |
| Date: | [before 8 Feb 1845] |
| Classmark: | DAR 39: 51–2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-823 |
To Charles Lyell [8 February 1845]
Summary
Remarks on fossils described in A. D. d’Orbigny’s Voyage dans l’Amérique méridionale.
Asks CL whether he has talked with John Murray concerning 2d ed. [of Journal of researches].
Mentions conversation with Hugh Cuming about South American shells. Has had G. B. Sowerby (elder) look at some specimens.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | [8 Feb 1845] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.42) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-824 |
From Trenham Reeks 8 February 1845
Summary
Sends results of chemical tests on specimens [of salt, see South America, pp. 73–5].
Encloses abstract from Justus Liebig on composition of bones and their ability to withstand decay.
| Author: | Trenham Reeks |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Feb 1845 |
| Classmark: | DAR 39: 43–4, 49–50 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-825 |
To J. D. Hooker [10 February 1845]
Summary
Congratulates JDH and condoles with him on possible position at Edinburgh. Although CD will miss him bitterly, he encourages JDH to view it as a good opportunity.
Sorry to hear that Humboldt is failing.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [10 Feb 1845] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 27 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-826 |
To W. D. Fox [13 February 1845]
Summary
News of his family and his own health. He is able to work three hours a day on the geology of South America.
Harriet Martineau is greatly excited by mesmerism.
Tells of Sydney Smith’s dream.
Asks for some [S. American] potatoes to test "sporting".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | [13 Feb 1845] |
| Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 69a) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-827 |
To Leonard Jenyns 14 February [1845]
Summary
Discusses checks on growth of species population; use of term "mutation" in his species theory. His belief in species mutability.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Leonard Jenyns; Leonard Blomefield |
| Date: | 14 Feb [1845] |
| Classmark: | Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-828 |
From Alcide Charles Victor Dessalines d’Orbigny 14 February 1845
Summary
Agrees that CD’s fossil shells do not differ from those ADd’O saw in South America. Apparent differences due to errors by G. B. Sowerby. Collection magnificent; recommends special publication. Enabled ADd’O to correct error in dating of sandstone of Concepción. Lists geological periods represented in collection from Jurassic to Diluvian. Collection includes unusual group of crepidules.
| Author: | Alcide Charles Victor Dessalines (Alcide) d’Orbigny |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Feb 1845 |
| Classmark: | DAR 43.1: 62–5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-829 |
From A. C. V. D. d’Orbigny [14 February 1845?]
Summary
Identifications of CD’s fossil shells. New species marked; many described previously by ADd’O.
| Author: | Alcide Charles Victor Dessalines (Alcide) d’Orbigny |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [14 Feb 1845?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 43.1: 68–89 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-830 |
From Trenham Reeks 25 February 1845
Summary
Encloses analysis of salt from Patagonia. Cannot account for its inferiority.
| Author: | Trenham Reeks |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 25 Feb 1845 |
| Classmark: | DAR 39: 45–6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-831 |
From J. D. Hooker [late February 1845]
Summary
Previous letter [missing] on Edinburgh position was ill-tempered. Friends assure him that he ought to be thankful for opportunity to try for professorship.
Reports meeting with Humboldt in Paris.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [late Feb 1845] |
| Classmark: | DAR 100: 165–6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-832 |
From Edward Forbes [March? 1845]
Summary
Comments on G. B. Sowerby’s identifications of South American fossil shells [812]. [Notes from more than one original memorandum].
| Author: | Edward Forbes |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [Mar? 1845] |
| Classmark: | DAR 43.1: 53–5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-834 |
From William Hopkins 3 March 1845
Summary
Comments on a compass diagram designed to show the dip, strike, and anticlinal lines of a geological formation.
| Author: | William Hopkins |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Mar 1845 |
| Classmark: | DAR 39: 53 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-835 |
From W. H. Miller 8 March [1845]
Summary
Discusses cleavage planes of mineralogical specimens.
| Author: | William Hallowes Miller |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Mar [1845] |
| Classmark: | DAR 39: 42 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-836 |
From C. G. Ehrenberg 13 March 1845
Summary
Regrets J. D. Hooker did not visit Berlin.
Describes legal difficulties of Ernst Dieffenbach.
Lists species of Infusoria found in dust samples. Discusses origin of Atlantic dust. Discusses Infusoria in cosmetic paint from Tierra del Fuego and Patagonian earth. Thanks CD for samples. Would like samples from sea-bed.
| Author: | Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Mar 1845 |
| Classmark: | DAR 39: 59a–c |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-837 |
From Trenham Reeks 14 March 1845
Summary
Discusses chemical reaction involving common salt and carbonate of lime.
| Author: | Trenham Reeks |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Mar 1845 |
| Classmark: | DAR 39: 47–8 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-838 |
From John Higgins 15 March 1845
Summary
Reports that he has an offer of an estate of about 325 acres that CD may find suitable.
| Author: | John Higgins |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Mar 1845 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.10: 5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-839 |
To John Murray 17 March [1845]
Summary
CD has heard from Lyell that JM is inclined to publish a second edition of Journal of researches. His agreement with Henry Colburn leaves CD free to publish with anyone. Will have no further relations with Colburn. Discusses details of proposed revisions.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Murray |
| Date: | 17 Mar [1845] |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 ff.354–355) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-841 |
To J. D. Hooker 19 March [1845]
Summary
Would like to borrow the pamphlet on variation [Frédéric Gérard, "De l’espèce dans les corps organisés" (1844), extract from Dictionnaire universel d’histoire naturelle, ed. C. D. d’Orbigny].
Glad to hear Humboldt’s views on migration. CD believes we cannot "put any limit to the possible and even probable migration of plants".
Wants good book on plant morphology.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 19 Mar [1845] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 28 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-842 |
To John Murray 20 March [1845]
Summary
Thanks for note; encloses copy of FitzRoy’s agreement with Henry Colburn [see 379], to the effect that after sale of first edition of Narrative, CD is at liberty to publish his Journal of researches in any manner he chooses.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Murray |
| Date: | 20 Mar [1845] |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 ff.8–9) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-843 |
| letter | (135) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (92) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (12) |
| Waterhouse, G. R. | (5) |
| Forbes, Edward | (3) |
| Reeks, Trenham | (3) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (42) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (27) |
| Murray, John (b) | (20) |
| Sowerby, G. B. | (6) |
| Ehrenberg, C. G. | (5) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (134) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (39) |
| Murray, John (b) | (20) |
| Ehrenberg, C. G. | (7) |
| Lyell, Charles | (6) |
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…
Diagrams and drawings in letters
Summary
Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … and anticlinal lines of a geological formation, 3 March 1845 Edward Forbes's " …
Darwin in letters, 1844–1846: Building a scientific network
Summary
The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but he broadened his continuing investigations into the nature and origin of species. Far from being a recluse, Darwin was at the heart of British scientific society,…
Matches: 8 hits
- … his Journal of researches for a second edition in 1845, having already provided corrections in …
- … vice-presidents in 1844 and remaining on the council from 1845 onwards; he was a conscientious …
- … attacked the work vehemently in the Edinburgh Review (1845), while other colleagues like Edward …
- … his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of [24 April 1845] , he felt he ought to be both …
- … of his Journal of researches for a second edition in 1845. At Lyell’s recommendation, …
- … the original publisher, to John Murray, and throughout 1845 Darwin worked hard to provide manuscript …
- … on board the Beagle back to Tierra del Fuego. By 1845, Darwin was in full command of a …
- … Distribution’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 February 1845] ) and quick to make use of the young …
Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants
Summary
Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…
Matches: 1 hits
- … vol. 3, letter to Charles Lyell, 8 October [1845] ). Having indulged his senses, Darwin …
Darwin and Fatherhood
Summary
Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…
Matches: 1 hits
- … he was working (Darwin to his wife Emma, [7-8 February 1845] ). Although Darwin did not usually …
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: 19 hits
- … on Instinct [F. G. Cuvier 1822] read Flourens Edit [Flourens 1845] read L. Jenyns paper on …
- … 1834–9] Carlyles Oliver Cromwell [Carlyle 1845] (read) Keppells(?) voyage to Borneo …
- … Exploring Expedition towards the Rocky Mountains [Frémont 1845]. (amusing extracts). perhaps for …
- … America by A. Downing Wiley & Putnam. 14 s . [Downing 1845] (Brit. Museum) (read) good …
- … [DAR *119: 22] Eyeres Travels [E. J. Eyre 1845] very amusing Tschudi’s Travels in …
- … Campbells Lives of Chancellors [J. Campbell 1845–7] last vol. Ludlows Memoirs …
- … Murchisons Russia [Murchison, Verneuil, and Keyserling 1845] (read) Agassiz’s Works …
- … Wilkes Expedition. £ 3. 3 s [Wilkes 1845] order at L. Library. read Botanical Soc. of …
- … Soc. of Neuchatel on Jura. 1846, or 7, or 8 [?Marcou 1845]. 46 Morris good for me.— …
- … 1853] Vol. V of Campbells Chancellors [J. Campbell 1845–7] Lives of the Lindsays …
- … [I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1832–7] Wilkes [Wilkes 1845]. Voyage Vol I. to V Apr …
- … May. Blanco White. Auto-biography [Blanco y Crespo 1845].— 24 Improvisatore [Andersen 1845] …
- … Aug. 5 th Lyells Travels in N. America [Lyell 1845] Oct. Cosmos [A. von Humboldt 1845–8]. …
- … Dec. 10 Ray. Society. Vol I. Reports [Ray Society 1845].— 20 D r Badham insect Life …
- … Feb 6 Explanations by Author of Vestiges [Chambers 1845] —— Bronn’s Gesickte [Bronn 1842–3] 2 …
- … [Twamley 1844] —— Whewell on Education [Whewell 1845–52]. Dec: 26. Watson History of …
- … [Heber 1828] —— 31 Kitto on Deafness [Kitto 1845] —— the French in Algiers [Lamping …
- … 1841] April 10 Wagners Anatomy by Tulk [Wagner 1845] (half through) —— 24 Steenstrup …
- … th Elie de Beaumont Lecons Geologie [Élie de Beaumont 1845] skimmed. June 17 th . Downing …
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: 4 hits
- … hundred letters from Darwin, from his first negotiations in 1845 until his final years. Although …
- … came to discuss a second edition, probably at the end of 1845, Darwin was not happy with Colburn’s …
- … Colonial Library in three monthly parts (July to September 1845) before being reissued in a single …
- … you have transacted the business with me’ (27 August [1845] Letter 908 ). Thus began the business …
Richard Matthews
Summary
Richard Matthews was 21 years old when he stepped aboard the Beagle, destined for a lonely career as a missionary in Tierra del Fuego. The Church Missionary Society had arranged for him to accompany the three Fuegians (Fuegia Basket, Jemmy Button, and York…
Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
Orundellico (Jemmy Button)
Summary
Orundellico was one of the Yahgan, or canoe people of the southern part of Tierra del Fuego. He was the fourth hostage taken by Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle, in 1830 following the theft of the small surveying boat. This fourteen-year old boy was…
Matches: 3 hits
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…
People featured in the Dutch photograph album
Summary
Here is a list of people that appeared in the photograph album Darwin received for his birthday on 12 February 1877 from scientific admirers in the Netherlands. Many thanks to Hester Loeff for identifying and researching them. No. …
People featured in the Dutch photograph album
Summary
List of people appearing in the photograph album Darwin received from scientific admirers in the Netherlands for his birthday on 12 February 1877. We are grateful to Hester Loeff for providing this list and for permission to make her research available.…
4.51 Frederick Holder 'Life and Work'
Summary
< Back to Introduction A popular biography of Darwin for young readers by the American naturalist Charles Frederick Holder, published in 1891, sought to present him as ‘an example to the youth of all lands’ (p. v). Thus ‘our hero’ was shown to have…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Captain Fitz Roy, R.N. , 2 nd ed. (London: John Murray, 1845), pp. 22, 90, 182, and 384. Francis …
Second species sketch
Summary
Darwin finishes an expanded sketch of his species theory, first drafted in 1842
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin finishes an expanded sketch of his species theory, first drafted in 1842 …
George Darwin born
Summary
The Darwins' son George Howard Darwin born
Matches: 1 hits
- … The Darwins' son George Howard Darwin born …
Yokcushlu (Fuegia Basket)
Summary
Yokcushlu was one of the Alakaluf, or canoe people from the western part of Tierra del Fuego. She was one of the hostages seized by Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle, after the small boat used for surveying the narrow inlets of the coast of Tierra del…
Living and fossil cirripedia
Summary
Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In the course of discussions about species in the autumn of 1845, his close friend Joseph Dalton …
Introduction to the Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle
Summary
'a humble toadyish follower…': Not all pictures of Darwin during the Beagle voyage are flattering. Published here for the first time is a complete transcript of a satirical account of the Beagle’s brief visit in 1836 to the Cocos Keeling islands…
Matches: 4 hits
- … in roman numerals. Others relate to Darwin’s 1839 or 1845 volumes and Belcher’s Narrative of the …
- … The British press was decidedly unsympathetic. Recalled in 1845, he returned home in humiliation as …
- … world, and had copies of both the 1839 Narrative and the 1845 second edition titled Journal of …
- … Borneo, and the Philippines in HMS Samarang from 1842 to 1845, and ended his naval career with …
Darwin’s observations on his children
Summary
Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children, began the research that culminated in his book The Expression of the emotions in man and animals, published in 1872, and his article ‘A biographical sketch of an infant’, published in Mind…
