To ? 8 December [1861–8]
Summary
Thanks for information on inheritance of mental peculiarities in cats.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Unidentified |
Date: | 8 Dec [1861-8] |
Classmark: | Dr Jeremy J. C. Mallinson (private collection): sold at Sotheby’s (dealers), 11 December 2017, lot 50 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13770J |
To John Crawfurd 25 March [1861]
Summary
Asks for information about JC’s essay, "On the relation of the domesticated animals to civilisation" [read at BAAS meeting 1859].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Crawfurd |
Date: | 25 Mar [1861] |
Classmark: | DAR 143: 299 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13786 |
To T. C. Eyton 12 [May 1861 – April 1863]
Summary
Thanks TCE for telling him of his crossed pigs. When they are grown, he would like to know whether they resemble each other.
Doubts the half-bred Gallus sonnerati will be productive, though he was assured many years ago that such a fertile half-breed once occurred.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas Campbell Eyton |
Date: | 12 [May 1861 - Apr 1863] |
Classmark: | Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections, University of Birmingham (EYT/1/45) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13804 |
To Charles Lovegrove 9 July [1861?]
Summary
Regrets he does not have pedigree of CL’s "pretty pony", but assures him information was very useful, "more especially as it confirms what I heard from Norway & did not know whether fully to believe".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lovegrove |
Date: | 9 July [1861?] |
Classmark: | Barton L. Smith MD (private collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13823 |
From H. C. Watson [after 24 July 1861]
Summary
Gives CD an instance of facts that can be read either way as to whether a plant (Veronica humifusa) is a species or a variety.
Author: | Hewett Cottrell Watson |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [after 24 July 1861] |
Classmark: | DAR 47: 162 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13853 |
To W. E. Darwin [1861–82]
Summary
Last page of a letter with a five-line P.S. concerning pen-holders.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Date: | [1861–82] |
Classmark: | Famous Notables (dealers) (no date) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13864F |
To ? 20 June [1861–8]
Summary
Sends a copy of the paper [with A. R. Wallace, "On the tendency of species to form varieties" (1858), Collected papers 2: 3–19] about which his correspondent asked; CD’s parts were written years ago and not intended for publication; he gave permission for publication of the extracts. Wallace’s paper seems to him excellent.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Unidentified |
Date: | 20 June [1861-8] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13879 |
To ? 24 August [1861–8]
Summary
Thanks correspondent for a remarkable instance of inheritance [not specified].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Unidentified |
Date: | 24 Aug [1861-8] |
Classmark: | Wellcome Collection (MS.7781/1–32 item 28) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13880 |
To ? 25 November [1861–8]
Summary
Has read correspondent’s notice on bent cleavage. Refers him to observations on the same fact in South America, p. 160. CD has also suggested a conjectural explanation.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Unidentified |
Date: | 25 Nov [1861-8] |
Classmark: | Royal Institution of Great Britain (RI MS F/1/M) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13881 |
To ? 31 December [1861–8]
Summary
"As I have never especially attended to Conchology I am sorry to say I cannot tell you the name of the enclosed shell which I now return–"
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Unidentified |
Date: | 31 Dec [1861-8] |
Classmark: | J. David Archibald (private collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13881A |
To H. C. Watson [17 July 1861]
Summary
Difficulty of distinguishing varieties and species. Did HCW suggest a printed list that might help?
Polymorphic genera.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Hewett Cottrell Watson |
Date: | [17 July 1861] |
Classmark: | DAR 185: 49 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1616 |
To William Erasmus Darwin 17 February [1861]
Summary
Sends cheque.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Date: | 17 Feb [1861] |
Classmark: | Duke University, Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Sir Anthony Musgrave Papers (RL.11684): Lady Jeanie Lucinda Musgrave (Field) Scrapbook) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2415 |
To Frederick Temple [c. 28 February 1861]
Summary
Regret that the Archbishop of Canterbury and other English Bishops have severely censured Essays and Reviews [1860]. Believe "such enquiries conducted in a spirit so earnest and reverential … must tend to elicit truth, and to foster a spirit of sound religion". [Signed by CD, numerous men of science, and others.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Frederick Temple |
Date: | [c. 28 Feb 1861] |
Classmark: | H. G. Hutchinson 1914, 1: 57–8 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2628 |
To Daniel Oliver 22 January [1861]
Summary
Thanks for mentioning J. G. Kurr on nectaries [Untersuchungen über die Bedeutung der Nektarien in den Blumen (1833)]. Requests observations on flowers with curved pistils. Finds they curve toward nectary, thus lying in path of insect.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Daniel Oliver |
Date: | 22 Jan [1861] |
Classmark: | DAR 261.10: 5 (EH 88205989) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2661 |
To Oswald Heer? 20 April [1861?]
Summary
Thanks for correspondent’s Untersuchungen [? Über das Klima und die Vegetationsverhältnisse des Tertiärlandes (1860)]. CD has always considered subject interesting and important.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Oswald Heer |
Date: | 20 Apr [1861?] |
Classmark: | Catherine Barnes (dealer) (2002) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2765 |
From Henry Fawcett 16 July [1861]
Summary
Elaborates on his article ["A popular exposition of Mr Darwin on the origin of species", Macmillan’s Mag. 3 (1860): 81–92]. Was anxious to point out that CD’s method of investigation is philosophically correct. Asks permission to call.
Author: | Henry Fawcett |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 16 July [1861] |
Classmark: | DAR 98 (ser. 2): 29–30 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2868 |
To John Lubbock [before 5 February 1861]
Summary
Comments on JL’s paper ["Notes on the generative organs, and on the formation of the egg in the Annulosa", Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 11 (1860–2): 117–24].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
Date: | [before 5 Feb 1861] |
Classmark: | DAR 263: 40c (EH 88206451) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3038 |
From Daniel Oliver [before 3 November 1861]
Author: | Daniel Oliver |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [before Nov 1861] |
Classmark: | DAR 104: 225–6 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3039 |
To Williams & Norgate [1861]
Summary
Requests Natural History Review for 1861 until further notice.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Williams & Norgate |
Date: | [1861] |
Classmark: | Uppsala University Library: Manuscripts and Music (Waller Ms alb-67:134) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3040F |
To Thomas Henry Huxley 3 January [1861]
Summary
Congratulates THH on first number of Natural History Review.
THH’s article on brain ["On the zoological relations of man with the lower animals", Nat. Hist. Rev. (1861): 67–84] completely smashes Owen.
Owen’s Leeds address [Rep. BAAS (1858): xlix–cx].
In his historical sketch of opinion on species CD has picked out some sentences [by Owen] with which he will take some revenge. CD is not bold enough to come to an open quarrel.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
Date: | 3 Jan [1861] |
Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 155, 372–6) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3041 |
letter | (378) |
Darwin, C. R. | (62) |
Hooker, J. D. | (57) |
Darwin, W. E. | (17) |
Lubbock, John | (14) |
Lyell, Charles | (14) |
Darwin, C. R. | (373) |
Hooker, J. D. | (60) |
Darwin, W. E. | (18) |
Oliver, Daniel | (17) |
Lyell, Charles | (16) |
Darwin in letters, 1861: Gaining allies
Summary
The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. He had weathered the storm that followed the publication of Origin, and felt cautiously optimistic about the ultimate acceptance of his ideas. The letters from this year provide an…
Matches: 29 hits
- … The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. By then, …
- … , developed into an intensive study of the phenomenon in 1861. Orchids, in particular the …
- … good service’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 26–7 Februrary [1861] ). Darwin drew up a carefully thought …
- … Charles Lyell ( see letter to Charles Lyell, 20 July [1861] ). One reason for Darwin’s interest in …
- … proved’ ( see second letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 [April 1861] ). Darwin continued to stress to his …
- … followed in Origin was singled out for praise in 1861. He had been disappointed to learn of John …
- … a committed crusader, Darwin wrote to Herschel, on 23 May [1861]: 'You will think me very …
- … to such a subject’ ( letter from Henry Fawcett, 16 July [1861] ). Mill in fact included a brief …
- … of any service!’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] ). Darwin added some new …
- … the geological record ( see letter to George Maw, 19 July [1861] ). The American palaeontologist …
- … opportunity’ ( letter from Joseph Leidy, 4 March [1861] ). However, the publication of Leidy’s …
- … her new species’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 28 March [1861] ). Mimicry Bates' …
- … was evident. He told Darwin in his letter of [1 December] 1861: I think the whole tenour …
- … set is free’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 30 September 1861 ). As Peter Bowler has commented, …
- … to Nat. History.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 4 April [1861] ). He also advised that the public …
- … poor cousins.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 3 December [1861] ). Darwin volunteered to read some of …
- … for the work ( letter to H. W. Bates, 25 September [1861] ). Nevertheless, many naturalists were …
- … and awful smasher’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 January [1861] ). Ever since Owen’s highly critical …
- … be friends again’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 January [1861] ). Friends and family …
- … formed a lasting bond between the two women. In May 1861 Darwin offered consolation to his …
- … walked this earth’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 [May 1861] ). Henslow had been a uniquely …
- … a major preoccupation of Darwin’s during the course of 1861. Projects begun the previous summer as …
- … on Hybridisation’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 September [1861] ). But it was his study of …
- … the contrivances.–-’ ( letter of [28 July–10 August 1861] ). Later in the year, he went even …
- … Darwin pursued this study doggedly throughout the summer of 1861, writing to anyone he thought might …
- … of species’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] ), Darwin conceived of the orchid work, …
- … in publishing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1861] ). Nevertheless, Darwin immediately …
- … to Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefage de Bréau, 25 April [1861] ). By the end of May, however, he had …
- … geology features prominently in the correspondence of 1861. Here, it was Charles Lyell who continued …
Darwin & Glen Roy
Summary
Although Darwin was best known for his geological work in South America and other remote Beagle destinations, he made one noteworthy attempt to explain a puzzling feature of British geology. In 1838, two years after returning from the voyage, he travelled…
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),…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 3054: Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 2 Feb [1861] If the descent of languages was …
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: 17 hits
- … evidence to establish the age of the human race. In 1861, Lubbock joined Thomas Henry Huxley …
- … geologico-archaeological researches in Denmark’ (Lubbock 1861) for the October 1861 issue. The …
- … source of many of the ‘details’ for his article (Lubbock 1861, p. 494). Meanwhile, Lubbock continued …
- … type for Elements of geology in 1860 and then re-set in 1861 for Antiquity of man (see below …
- … in the October Number of the Natural History Review , 1861, p. 489, in which he has described the …
- … note on p. 11 of C. Lyell 1863c, which implied that Lubbock 1861 had been written after the chapter …
- … similarity of certain passages in C. Lyell 1863c and Lubbock 1861 (and consequently in Lubbock 1865) …
- … explaining his position and citing passages in Lubbock 1861 and C. Lyell 1863c that were almost …
- … was not original work (Lubbock had based much of his 1861 article on earlier Danish studies) it …
- … which were published in the interval between the autumn of 1861 and February 1863. In this long …
- … a translation for the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1861. 35 The distinguished …
- … the October number of the ‘Natural History Review’ for 1861, to improve the wording, and …
- … in the October Number of the Natural History Review, 1861, p. 489, in which he has described the …
- … in the October Number of the Natural History Review, 1861, p. 489, an able paper on the Danish …
- … 129–88; 15 (1863–66): 245–321. Lubbock, John. 1861. The kjökkenmöddings: recent geologico …
- … Naturelles 6: 263–328. Morlot, Charles Adolphe. 1861. General views on archæology. Annual …
- … and condition of the institution for the year 1860 15 (1861): 284–343. Translated by Philip Harry, …
Essay: Natural selection & natural theology
Summary
—by Asa Gray NATURAL SELECTION NOT INCONSISTENT WITH NATURAL THEOLOGY. Atlantic Monthly for July, August, and October, 1860, reprinted in 1861. I Novelties are enticing to most people; to us they are simply annoying. We cling to a long-accepted…
Matches: 1 hits
- … July , August , and October , 1860, reprinted in 1861. I Novelties are …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 8 hits
- … hopelessly in the mud. BEGINNING OF WAR IN AMERICA: 1861-1862 In which the start of …
- … fire. Military drums. GRAY: 113 April 1861. We are now opening a war, upon the …
- … 1856 29 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 11 APRIL 1861 30 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, EARLY …
- … 16 FEB 1863 99 C DARWIN TO LYELL, 21 AUGUST 1861 100 A GRAY, ATLANTIC …
- … 3 JULY 1860 109 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 21 JULY 1861 110 QUOTED IN C …
- … 1862 131 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, 31 DECEMBER 1861 132 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, …
- … FEBRUARY 1862 134 JD HOOKER TO A GRAY, 5 JULY 1861 135 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, …
- … 1864 162 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, 31 DECEMBER 1861 163 C Darwin TO A Gray, …
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
- … his ill health (e.g., Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 14 May [1861] ) and family duties (Darwin to W. B. …
Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … miserably uncomfortable. Emma to Charles Darwin, 1861. I am …
Have you read the one about....
Summary
... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
Darwin and Down
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin, with their first two children, settled at Down House in the village of Down (later ‘Downe’) in Kent, as a young family in 1842. The house came with eighteen acres of land, and a fifteen acre meadow. The village combined the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … and kidney beans To J. D. Hooker, 28 September [1861] : on Verbascum ‘I do not think any …
Religion
Summary
Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…
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: 3 hits
Descent
Summary
There are more than five hundred letters associated with the research and writing of Darwin’s book, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex (Descent). They trace not only the tortuous route to eventual publication, but the development of Darwin’s…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of the courtship of fowls sent by Bernard Peirce Brent in 1861 , described by Darwin as ‘almost …
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 3316 - Darwin to Nevill, D. F., [12 November 1861] Darwin asks actress and …
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…
Darwin and the Church
Summary
The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It shows another side of the man who is more often remembered for his personal struggles with faith, or for his role in large-scale controversies over the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … moved away from Down (letter to J. B. Innes, 15 December [1861] ). Darwin and Innes continued to …
Orchids
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A project to follow On the Origin of Species Darwin began to observe English orchids and collect specimens from abroad in the years immediately following the publication of On the Origin of Species. Examining…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 3286 - Charles Darwin to Joseph Dalton Hooker 15 October 1861 Darwin writes to JD Hooker, …
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…
4.16 Joseph Simms, physiognomy
Summary
< Back to Introduction In September 1874, the American doctor Joseph Simms, then on a three-year lecture tour of Britain, sent Darwin a copy of his book, Nature’s Revelations of Character; Or, Physiognomy Illustrated. He was seeking a public…