To Robert Hutton [1847 – 12 November 1848]
Summary
Tells RH that he has secured an introduction to Lady Emily Finc[-Hatton] through a friend of his father’s. Thanks RH for his efforts.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Robert Hutton |
Date: | [1847 – 12 Nov 1848] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.67) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1040 |
To Richard Owen [1847?]
Summary
Asks to meet RO to get his opinion on zoological points.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Richard Owen |
Date: | [1847?] |
Classmark: | Yale University Medical Historical Library, Harvey Cushing / John Hay Whitney Medical Library (MMS) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1044 |
DCP-LETT-1046
Summary
Cancelled: same as 1109. Will send carrier to collect the books [volumes of Trans Agric. & Hortic. Soc. India].
Author: | John Forbes Royle |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [early 1847] |
Classmark: | DAR 147: 399 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1046 |
To Leonard Horner [January 1847]
Summary
Responds to LH’s comments on South America.
Discusses inclination of lava stream.
Sketches in second edition of Journal of researches more accurate than in first.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Leonard Horner |
Date: | [Jan 1847] |
Classmark: | DAR 145: 139 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1048 |
DCP-LETT-1049
Summary
Cancelled: same as 1083. Discusses manuscript by DS on slaty cleavage. Thinks of cleavage analogous to his own explanation of laminated lava.
Author: | Daniel Sharpe |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [23 Jan 1847] |
Classmark: | DAR 147: 473 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1049 |
To William Benjamin Carpenter [January? 1847]
Summary
Arranges to meet with WBC to get his advice about buying a microscope.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Benjamin Carpenter |
Date: | [Jan? 1847] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.55) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1050 |
To J. L. Stokes 2 January [1847]
Summary
Thanks for sending his "magnificent book" [Discoveries in Australia (1846)].
Asks JLS to visit Down on "Saturday the 16th" and Sunday. He has also invited Forbes, Falconer, Hooker and Waterhouse. [See 1036.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Lort Stokes |
Date: | 2 Jan [1847] |
Classmark: | University of Akron (Herman Muehlstein Rare Book Collection: tipped into a copy of Origin 1st ed. (QH365 .O2 1859)) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1050A |
To Charles Lyell [23 January 1847]
Summary
Asks CL to address a letter to Charles Maclaren.
Discusses recent publication by David Milne on erratic boulders [Edinburgh New Philos. J. 42 (1847): 154–172].
Views of Bernhard Studer on foliation of gneiss in the Alps. Asks CL to tell Leonard Horner of Studer’s views.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | [23 Jan 1847] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.65) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1051 |
To Daniel Sharpe [19 January 1847]
Summary
Comments on letter by Bernhard Studer ["Remarks on the geological relations of the gneiss of the Alps", Edinburgh New Philos. J. 42 (1846–7): 186] and on article by DS ["On slaty cleavage", J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 3 (1847): 74–105]. Discusses geological cleavage and foliation.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Daniel Sharpe |
Date: | [19 Jan 1847] |
Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 42240: 21–2) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1052 |
To Charles Lyell [on or before 20 January 1847]
Summary
Quotes from South America [p. 167] on the foliation of metamorphic rocks.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | [on or before 20 Jan 1847] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.57) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1053 |
To Bernhard Studer 20 January [1847]
Summary
Much interested in BS’s letter on gneiss ["Remarks on the geological relations of the gneiss of the Alps", Edinburgh New Philos. J. 42 (1847): 186–7].
Sends copy of South America.
Has shown that lamination of metamorphic schists closely allied with cleavage.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Bernhard Studer |
Date: | 20 Jan [1847] |
Classmark: | Burgerbibliothek Bern, Bern, Switzerland |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1054 |
To Leonard Jenyns 21 [January 1847]
Summary
Acknowledges receipt of [The naturalist’s pocket] almanack edited by LJ. Suggests some improvements.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Leonard Jenyns; Leonard Blomefield |
Date: | 21 [Jan 1847] |
Classmark: | Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1055 |
To Charles Lyell [24 January 1847]
Summary
Comments on investigation of coral reefs by A. A. Gould, particularly the reefs around Tahiti. Mentions description of reefs of Tahiti by W. Forbes.
Hooker’s view of work by C. J. F. Bunbury.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | [24 Jan 1847] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.58) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1056 |
To Daniel Sharpe [23 January 1847]
Summary
Comments on manuscript [? "On slaty cleavage", J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 5 (1849): 111–29]. Discusses phenomenon of cleavage. Will write to J. D. Forbes about DS’s paper.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Daniel Sharpe |
Date: | [23 Jan 1847] |
Classmark: | UCL Library Services, Special Collections (PEARSON/10/1) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1083 |
To Charles Lyell [1847 or 1848]
Summary
Replies to note from CL asking about views of glaciers.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | [1847 or 1848] |
Classmark: | DAR 146: 329 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13825F |
letter | (15) |
Darwin, C. R. | (13) |
Royle, J. F. | (1) |
Sharpe, Daniel | (1) |
Lyell, Charles | (4) |
Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
Sharpe, Daniel | (2) |
Blomefield, Leonard | (1) |
Carpenter, W. B. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (15) |
Lyell, Charles | (4) |
Sharpe, Daniel | (3) |
Blomefield, Leonard | (1) |
Carpenter, W. B. | (1) |
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,…
Darwin The Collector
Summary
Look at nature more closely and create and record your own natural collections.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Activities provide an introduction to Charles Darwin, how and why he collected so many specimens …
Detecting Darwin
Summary
Who was Charles Darwin? What is he famous for? Why is he still important?
Matches: 1 hits
- … Pupils act as Darwin detectives, exploring clues about Darwin’s life and work. No prior knowledge …

Language: Interview with Gregory Radick
Summary
Darwin made a famous comment about parallels between changes in language and species change. Gregory Radick, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Leeds University, talks about the importance of the development of language to Darwin, what…
1 Belgrave Street, London
Summary
Marriages and gossip
Matches: 1 hits
- … A family friend relates news of her marriage and other gossip. …

German poems presented to Darwin
Summary
Experiments in deepest reverence The following poems were enclosed with a photograph album sent as a birthday gift to Charles Darwin by his German and Austrian admirers (see letter from From Emil Rade, [before 16] February 1877). The poems were…
Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species
Summary
Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…

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…
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Darwin And Evolution
Summary
What is evolution? What did Darwin discover and how did he come to his conclusions?
Matches: 1 hits
- … Activities give an introduction to Charles Darwin and his theories of evolution. Specimens brought …
Home learning: 7-11 years
Summary
Do try this at home! Support your children’s learning by downloading our free and fun activities for those aged between 7-11 and 11-14 years, using Darwin’s letters.
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Darwin's Fantastical Voyage
Summary
Learn about Darwin's adventures on his epic journey.
Matches: 1 hits
- … These activities explore Darwin’s life changing voyage aboard HMS Beagle. Using letters home, …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
'An Appeal' against animal cruelty
Summary
The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against the cruelty of steel vermin…
Matches: 3 hits

Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.

Interview with Tim Lewens
Summary
Dr Tim Lewens is a Lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Organisms and artifacts (2004), which examines the language and arguments for design in biology and philosophy, and of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Transcription 1. Introduction Dr White: This is part …

Interview with Emily Ballou
Summary
Emily Ballou is a writer of novels and screenplays, and a prize-winning poet. Her book The Darwin Poems, which explores aspects of Darwin’s life and thoughts through the medium of poetry, was recently published by the University of Western Australia Press.…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Date of interview: 28 May 2009 Transcription 1. Introduction Dr …
Interview with Pietro Corsi
Summary
Pietro Corsi is Professor of the History of Science at the University of Oxford. His book Evolution Before Darwin is due to be published in 2010 by Oxford University Press. Date of interview: 17 July 2009 Transcription 1: Introduction …
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Interview with John Hedley Brooke
Summary
John Hedley Brooke is President of the Science and Religion Forum as well as the author of the influential Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 1991). He has had a long career in the history of science and…
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Interview with Randal Keynes
Summary
Randal Keynes is a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, and the author of Annie’s Box (Fourth Estate, 2001), which discusses Darwin’s home life, his relationship with his wife and children, and the ways in which these influenced his feelings about…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of interview: 7 August 2008 Transcription 1. Introduction Dr White: …

Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions
Summary
Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...
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- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …