To W. B. Tegetmeier 4 February [1859]
Summary
Wants white breeds of poultry.
Poor health necessitates a trip to Moor Park, Farnham.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
Date: | 4 Feb [1859] |
Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2407 |
To John Lubbock [6 February 1859]
Summary
JL’s brother’s accident.
Thinks JL should tackle systematics of anomalous insects from studies of internal organs.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
Date: | [6 Feb 1859] |
Classmark: | DAR 263: 26 (EH 88206475) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2408 |
From John Lubbock 8 February 1859
Summary
Is sorry to hear of bad health of CD and his daughter.
Discusses, with an example, the difficulty of explaining structural differences between closely allied species.
Author: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 8 Feb 1859 |
Classmark: | DAR 48: A67 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2409 |
To John Phillips 8 February [1859]
Summary
His doctor urges CD most strongly not to expose himself to the excitement and fatigue of receiving the [Wollaston] Medal. He will ask Lyell to receive it on his behalf.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Phillips |
Date: | 8 Feb [1859] |
Classmark: | Oxford University Museum of Natural History Archive Collections (John Phillips collection)) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2410 |
To John Lubbock 9 February [1859]
Summary
CD sees JL’s cases of same organs varying greatly in allied forms as a serious difficulty in regard to his own ideas.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
Date: | 9 Feb [1859] |
Classmark: | DAR 263: 27 (EH 88206476) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2411 |
To W. D. Fox [12 February 1859]
Summary
Undergoing hydropathic treatment for his old ailment.
The "Abstract" [Origin] is the cause. Only two chapters to do.
His satisfaction that he believes he has convinced Hooker and Huxley and staggered Lyell.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
Date: | [12 Feb 1859] |
Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 106) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2412 |
To W. E. Darwin [13 February 1859]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Date: | [13 Feb 1859] |
Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 35 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2414 |
To Mary Butler 20 February [1859]
Summary
Sends naturalists’ autographs.
Enjoyed fortnight at Moor Park.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Mary Butler |
Date: | 20 Feb [1859] |
Classmark: | John Hay Library, Brown University (Albert E. Lownes Manuscript Collection, MS 84.2 (Box 3, Folder 37)) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2416 |
To W. B. Tegetmeier 21 [February 1859]
Summary
Sends list of poultry breeds he would like.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
Date: | 21 [Feb 1859] |
Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2417 |
To Maria Hooker 21 February [1859?]
Summary
Has given proxy according to James Paget’s request. Almost sure it is in favour of [J. A.?] Kingdon [for election to Athenaeum?].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Maria Sarah (Maria) Turner; Maria Sarah (Maria) Hooker |
Date: | 21 Feb [1859?] |
Classmark: | Houghton Library, Harvard University (Autograph File, D) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2418 |
To George Howard Darwin 24 [February 1859]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | George Howard Darwin |
Date: | 24 [Feb 1859] |
Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 37 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2420 |
letter | (11) |
Darwin, C. R. | (10) |
Lubbock, John | (1) |
Lubbock, John | (2) |
Tegetmeier, W. B. | (2) |
Butler, Mary | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (1) |
Darwin, G. H. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (11) |
Lubbock, John | (3) |
Tegetmeier, W. B. | (2) |
Butler, Mary | (1) |
Darwin, G. H. | (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,…
Matches: 16 hits
- … Émile (8) Alice (2) Alison, R. E. …
- … (1) Allen, Thomas (2) Allman, G. J. …
- … (1) Appleton, C. E. C. B. (2) Appleton, T. G. …
- … (5) Austin, A. D. (2) Austin, C. F. …
- … (7) Axon, W. E. A. (2) Aylmer, I. E. …
- … (3) Baldwin, J. D. (2) Balfour, F. M. …
- … (1) Baranoff, W. (2) Barber, M. E. …
- … (1) Barnard, Anne (2) Barnes, K. S. …
- … (1) Barrois, J. H. (2) Bartlett, A. D. …
- … (1) Batalin, A. F. (2) Bate, C. S. …
- … (1) Bates, Frederick (2) Bates, H. W. …
- … (1) Baumhauer, E. H. von (2) Baxter, E. B. …
- … (3) Beale, L. S. (2) Beall, T. B. (1 …
- … B. (1) Beck, John (2) Becker, L. E. …
- … (3) Beger, Karl (2) Behrens, Frederick …
- … (1) Bell, Robert (b) (2) Bell, Thomas …
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 …
3.3 Maull and Polyblank photo 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction Despite the difficulties that arose in relation to Maull and Polyblank’s first photograph of Darwin, another one was produced, this time showing him in three-quarter view. It was evidently not taken at the same session as the…
4.22 Gegeef et al., 'Our National Church', 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction The second version of Our National Church. The Aegis of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity was commissioned by the freethinker, radical and secularist George Jacob Holyoake. It was published by John Heywood of Manchester and London…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Daniel Conway, Autobiography: Memories and Experiences , 2 vols (Boston and New York, 1904), vol. …

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: 5 hits
- … Stoke’s Library 1 Cambridge. Library 2 Royal Coll of Surgeons [DAR *119 …
- … de l’Homme,” by Dr. Pierquin, published in Paris (in 2 vols.), so long ago as 1839 4 …
- … 1829]; read Letter to M. Therry [Broughton 1832]— a 2 d Edit preparing in 1841.— Lesson …
- … of habits of birds. Temminck Manuel D’ornithologie. 2 d Edit: Introduction on migration of …
- … Ker Porter’s Travels in Caucasus [R. K. Porter 1821–2] praised by Silliman poor Cyclop. of …
3.5 William Darwin, photo 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction Darwin’s son William, who had become a banker in Southampton, took the opportunity of a short visit home to Down House in April 1864 to photograph his father afresh. This half-length portrait was the first to show Darwin with a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … there, which is in the Jane Gray autograph collection, vol. 2, Clark-Green, call no. gra00084. …
1.5 Samuel Laurence drawing 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction This chalk sketch of Darwin by Samuel Laurence is (as Francis Darwin surmised) likely to have been done in 1853, at the same sitting as the portrait in three-quarter view which is now at Down House. It is inscribed on the back…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction This chalk sketch of Darwin by Samuel Laurence is (as Francis …
4.41 'Punch', Sambourne cartoon 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction In October 1881, Darwin was included in Linley Sambourne’s series of ‘Punch’s Fancy Portraits’ of celebrities as No. 54. While the caption recurs to the old theme of Darwin’s views on human ancestry, the drawing contains a more…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction In October 1881, Darwin was included in Linley Sambourne’s …

That monstrous stain: To J. M. Herbert, 2 June 1833
Summary
Darwin did not consider himself to be a particularly good writer, but many of his letters contain not just a wealth of information, but also beautifully expressed descriptions and impressions that would be the envy of any essayist or novelist. Such is the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin did not consider himself to be a particularly good writer, but many of his letters contain …
I never trusted Drosera: From E. F. Lubbock, [after 2 July] 1875
Summary
Francis Neary has set his favourite letter to music (with additional vocals and bass by Deen Manning). The satirical verses were sent to Darwin by Ellen Frances Lubbock in 1875 after the publication of his book on insectivorous plants. They…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Francis Neary has set his favourite letter to music (with additional …
4.45 'Puck' cartoon 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction In Reason Against Unreason, a cartoon published shortly before Darwin’s death, the American humorous magazine Puck had celebrated him as the embodiment of ‘Reason’. Now, a month after his death, an imaginative drawing in the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … computer-readable date c.1882-04-21 to 1882-05-02 medium and material …

The Lyell–Lubbock dispute
Summary
In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…
Matches: 3 hits

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…

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: 4 hits
- … edition published, 1872 1 st to 2 nd editions I have …
- … the voids caused by the action of His laws.” ( Origin 2d ed, p. 481). 2 nd …
- … to a letter to Asa Gray he had yet to start it on 28 January, but on 2 February 1860 he told …
- … “Origin” for the first time, for I am correcting for a 2 nd . French Edition; & upon my life, …
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…

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…
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 …
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, …

Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots
Summary
Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…
Matches: 7 hits
- … his wife sent birthday greetings and a photograph of their 2-year-old son named Darwin, who, they …
- … materialism”’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 2 June 1879 ]). As one of Darwin’s most ardent …
- … other than Darwin’s sister Caroline (who was around 2 years old at the time of Erasmus’s death). …
- … that plants were ‘mere machines’, reminding Francis on 2 June that he had long thought that …
- … for certain movements’ ( second letter to Francis Darwin, 2 July [1879] ). Sachs guarded …
- … for” &c are incessant’, Darwin joked on 2 July (first letter) . Much of the time, however, …
- … their ‘tremendous journey’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [2 August 1879] ). The journey proved more …