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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: 7 hits
- … a favourable opportunity’ ( letter from Joseph Leidy, 4 March [1861] ). However, the publication …
- … formulated the hypothesis of natural selection, Bates was a firm believer in the involvement of …
- … support to date for the working of selection in nature. As Bates boldly stated: ‘I think I have got …
- … enabling them to withstand adverse circumstances. Bates had investigated cases in several …
- … mimicry). Applying the notion of selective advantage, Bates explained such cases as illustrations of …
- … (Bowler 1983, p. 29). Darwin suggested that Bates write a popular account of his travels, …
- … valuable contribution to Nat. History.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 4 April [1861] ). He also …
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: 8 hits
- … (1) Alberts, Karl (4) Alberts, Maurice …
- … (2) Allman, G. J. (4) Althaus, Julius …
- … (1) Atkinson, Edward (4) Aubertin, J. J. …
- … (1) Bary, Anton de (4) Bashford, Frederick …
- … (1) Behrens, Wilhelm (4) Beke, C. T. …
- … (1) Bianconi, G. G. (4) Bibliogr. Inst. …
- … (8) Blackwall, John (4) Blackwell, A. L. B. …
- … (7) Blair, R. H. (4) Blake, C. C. (3 …
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: 5 hits
- … his criticisms in a letter in the Athenæum , on 4 April, concluding with an invitation to Lyell …
- … river Amazons , a book that he had encouraged Henry Walter Bates to write. When the book appeared …
- … that he had started the previous year ( letter to Asa Gray, 4 August [1863] ). The results were …
- … as anything in orchids’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 4 August [1863] ). He acquired tropical …
- … slaves stops all my enthusiasm’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 4 August [1863] ). He urged Gray not to hate …
Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution
Summary
The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…
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: 3 hits
The writing of "Origin"
Summary
From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…
Matches: 11 hits
- … When I was in spirits I sometimes fancied that my book w d be successful; but I never even built …
- … from the load of curious facts on record.—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). In …
- … what actually occurred in nature (see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and Natural …
- … myself that all was much alike, & if you condemned that you w d . condemn all—my life’s work— …
- … words has been questioned by John L. Brooks and by H. Lewis McKinney, both of whom believe that …
- … day that another letter from Wallace to his friend Frederick Bates, dated 2 March 1858, arrived in …
- … to Fox, ‘& I feel worse than when I came’ (letter to W. D. Fox, [16 November 1859] ). It was …
- … is whether the rag is worth anything?’ (letter to T. H. Huxley, 2 June [1859] ). But as critical …
- … this Essay & that you were the man.’ (letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1859] ). …
- … it is impossible that men like Lyell, Hooker, Huxley, H. C. Watson, Ramsay &c would change their …
- … required a fresh act of intervention to supply the lacunas w h . he himself had made’ (letter …
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 21 hits
- … easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). Darwin had …
- … daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
- … before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 ). More predictably, however, …
- … me any harm—any how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). Towards …
- … of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January [1866] ). …
- … think, & have come to more definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1866] ). …
- … Hooker’s research on alpine floras, Henry Walter Bates’s article on mimetic butterflies, Lubbock’s …
- … in which he strenuously opposes the theory’ ( Origin 4th ed., p. xviii). Glacial theory …
- … come on those terms so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [ c . 10 May 1866] ). …
- … there are over 200 medallions of Papa made by a man from W ms photo in circulation amongst the …
- … weak in his Greek, is something dreadful’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1866] ). …
- … teleological development ( see for example, letter to C. W. Nägeli, 12 June [1866] ). Also in …
- … ( C. multiflorus ) in his botanical notebook (DAR 186: 43). His drawings of C. scoparius , sent …
- … species was ‘merely ordinaryly diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, [7 May – 11 June 1866] ). On …
- … is a case of dimorphic becoming diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 20 June [1866] ). …
- … I am well accustomed to such explosions’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 22 June [1866] ). He urged …
- … is known on the subject’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 and 4 August [1866] ). And on the next day: …
- … Darwin’s Orchids and papers on botanical dimorphism, Bates’s and Wallace’s work on mimetic …
- … natural selection, and with special creation ( letter from W. R. Grove, 31 August 1866 ). Hooker …
- … he had sounded the charge’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [4 September 1866] ). 'Natural …
- … as a ‘thinking pump’: ‘I read aloud your simile of H. Spencer to a thinking pump, & it was …
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: 12 hits
- … at the end of 1859, ‘I sometimes fancied that my book w d be successful; but I never even built …
- … from the load of curious facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). In …
- … what actually occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and Natural …
- … myself that all was much alike, & if you condemned that you w d . condemn all—my life’s work— …
- … words has been questioned by John L. Brooks and by H. Lewis McKinney, both of whom believe that …
- … day that another letter from Wallace to his friend Frederick Bates, dated 2 March 1858, arrived in …
- … to Fox, ‘& I feel worse than when I came’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, [16 November 1859] ). It was …
- … is whether the rag is worth anything?’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 2 June [1859] ). But as critical …
- … this Essay & that you were the man.’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1859] ). …
- … it is impossible that men like Lyell, Hooker, Huxley, H. C. Watson, Ramsay &c would change their …
- … required a fresh act of intervention to supply the lacunas w h . he himself had made’ ( letter …
- … got much more larky since we run two horses’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 6 October [1858] ). …
Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 6 hits
- … Menyanthes ( letter from Emma and Charles Darwin to W. E. Darwin, [20 May 1864] ), or his …
- … of a strangling fig that had been described in Henry Walter Bates’s Naturalist on the river …
- … la Darwin!’ ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 November 186[4] ). The French botanist, Charles Victor …
- … its death blow’ with the publication of Origin (T. H. Huxley 1864a, p. 567). In 1864, …
- … bearded this lion in his den’ ( letter to B. D. Walsh, 4 December [1864] ). Walsh also supported …
- … had there been any failure of justice’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 4 November 1864 ). …
Science, Work and Manliness
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters In 1859, popular didactic writer William Landels published the first edition of what proved to be one of his best-selling works, How Men Are Made. "It is by work, work, work" he told his middle class audience, …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Matches: 4 hits
- … Letter 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von to Darwin, [4 December 1867] Explorer and geologist …
- … Letter 3681 - Wedgwood, M. S. to Darwin, [before 4 August 1862] Darwin’s niece, …
- … through the Sikkim Himalaya and Tibet. Letter 4139 - Darwin, W. E. to Darwin, [4 …
- … George that it will be tedious work. He has consulted Mr. Bates who has suggested a wage of around …
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: 4 hits
- … the “Origin of Species”’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 4 October 1868 ). Heaven protect …
- … The British envoy in China, Robert Swinhoe, remarked on 4 August that Darwin’s queries had …
- … who had also criticised Darwin’s theory in print, wrote on 4 March, ‘you force public attention to …
- … ). Barber’s paper was read before the Linnean Society on 4 February 1869, but remained unpublished …
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.
Matches: 19 hits
- … changes to the existing German edition (see letter from H. G. Bronn, [before 11 March 1862] ). …
- … small corrections & a few of importance’ (see letter to H. G. Bronn, 11 March [1862] ). …
- … 3, line 9, insert after ‘continued reproduction.’’: 4 A well-known …
- … from a single parent-form. Page xix, par. 4, line 2, insert after ‘1860’: 6 …
- … of which will be given in a future work. Page 46, par. 2, lines 22–4, substitute for ‘but …
- … are still in progress. Page 80, par. 1, line 4, insert after ‘other cases.’: 13 …
- … English Page 179, par. 1, line 4, insert after ‘barb-pigeon’: 19 …
- … authority of Joh. Müller Page 222, par. 1, line 4, insert after ‘organ, the’: 23 …
- … and in more depth than any other author. Page 400, par. 1, line 28, insert after ‘epoch.’: …
- … Asa Gray, Dr. Hooker, and Prof. Oliver. Page 403, par. 2, lines 15–16, substitute for ‘If …
- … recorded in the distribution of plants. Page 407, par. 2, lines 14–15, insert after ‘now …
- … disturbed in all their relations of life. Page 407, par. 2, line 26, insert after ‘extent. …
- … have become in some degree acclimatised. Page 408, par. 1, line 22, substitute for ‘But I …
- … would be rash. So I am forced to believe Page 408, par. 1, line 23, insert after ‘tropics’ …
- … have migrated from the same great mountain-chain. But Mr. Bates, who has studied with such care the …
- … I will not pretend to say. \looseness1 Page 410, par. 1, lines 19–25, substitute for …
- … sowing themselves and becoming naturalised. Page 411, par. 2, line 5, insert after …
- … character and the direction of its mountain-ranges, the Rev. W. B. Clarke has lately maintained that …
- … and fish, between flying possums and flying squirrels, etc. Bates has recently reported how some …
