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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: 15 hits

  • … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
  • … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
  • … observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
  • … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
  • … South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L to Darwin, [8 & 9 May 1869] …
  • … a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] …
  • … Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 …
  • … on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to …
  • … New Zealand. Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S. E., [9 November 1868] …
  • … the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9 …
  • Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris …
  • … lakes in Pennsylvania. Letter 3681  - Wedgwood, M. S. to Darwin, [before 4 August …
  • … on holiday in Llandudno. Letter 4823  - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, H. E., [May 1865] …
  • … any way he can. Letter 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] …
  • … knitting needles. Letter 4235 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [8 July 1863] …

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: 24 hits

  • be done by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August
  • pleasures of shooting and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ).  Such
  • Andone looks backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). …
  • was an illusory hope.— I feel very old & helpless’  ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] …
  • inferred that he was well from his silence on the matter ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 26 October
  • in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
  • séance was held at the home of Darwins cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood. Those present included George
  • that Mr Williams wasa cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). …
  • his, ‘& that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874
  • Darwin had alloweda spirit séanceat his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
  • edition, published in 1842 ( Correspondence  vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17
  • Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 8 January
  • to take so sweetly all the horrid bother of correction’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 21 [March
  • sent an apology for misinterpreting Darwin on this point ( letter from J. D. Dana, 21 July 1874 ); …
  • numbers and sex ratios among the Pitcairn islanders ( letter from William Dealtry, 16 January 1874
  • will say that I have pounded the enemy into a jelly’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 14 April 1874 ). …
  • vol. 22, Appendix V and Dawson 2007, pp. 7781). Darwin first considered taking legal action over
  • much in Switzerland ( letter from Francis and Amy Darwin, 8 August [1874] ). Francis had
  • in a few hours dissolve the hardest cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. …
  • with extracts from a dogs stomach ( letter from T. L. Brunton, 28 February 1874 ), and Edward
  • whether at theclose of the putrefaction of flesh, skin &c, any substance is produced before
  • details of an Australian variety of sundew ( letter from T. C. Copland, 23 June 1874 ). …
  • the face, with a physiological explanation ( letter from T. L. Brunton, [29] October [1874] ). …
  • head that M r  Spencers terms of equilibration &c always bother me & make everything less

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…

Matches: 20 hits

  • … shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding machine’  ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December …
  • … anything which has happened to me for some weeks’  ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ) …
  • … corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be’  ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ) …
  • … who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
  • … abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February …
  • … thro’ apes & savages at the moral sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] …
  • … how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870 …
  • … in thanks for the drawing ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868] …
  • … patients, but it did not confirm Duchenne’s findings ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March …
  • … muscle’, he complained, ‘is the bane of existence!’ ( letter to William Ogle, 9 November 1870 ). …
  • … to their belief that all demons and spirits were white ( letter from W. W. Reade, 9 November 1870 …
  • … . . Could you make it scream without hurting it much?’ ( letter to A. D. Bartlett, 5 January [1870] …
  • … or crying badly; but I fear he will not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] …
  • … is the inclination to finish my note on this subject’  ( letter from F. C. Donders, 17 May 1870 ). …
  • … the previous year (see  Correspondence  vol. 17, letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). His …
  • … (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …
  • … towards each other, though in one sense rivals’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870] ). …
  • … version of the theory of descent by natural selection in a letter to Darwin, prompting much anxiety …
  • … But who is to criticise them? No one but yourself’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 20 May 1870 ). …
  • … me to be able to say that I  never  write reviews’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, [22 May 1870] ). …

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: 16 hits

  • … earthworms . Selected letters Letter 1113 - Darwin to Whitby, M. …
  • … work are referenced throughout Variation . Letter 2395 - Darwin to Holland, …
  • … her identity is both anonymised and masculinised. Letter 3316 - Darwin to Nevill, D …
  • … Darwin’s Fertilisation of Orchids . Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., …
  • … being acknowledged publicly as a science critic. Letter 4370 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
  • … are identified only as “friends in Surrey”. Letter 4794 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [25 …
  • … final publication. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [9 June 1867 - 72] …
  • … of a crying baby in Mary Barton. Letter 8321 - Darwin to Litchfield, H. E. …
  • … the public humming” at him. Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] …
  • … whose accuracy I can implicitly rely”. Letter 8427 - Darwin to Litchfield H. E., [25 …
  • … considerable editorial input. Letter 8719 - Darwin to Treat, M., [1 January 1873] …
  • … relating to Earthworms Letter 7428 - Wedgwood, F. to Darwin, [4 January …
  • … activity in the fields of North Wales. Letter 8193 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H …
  • … discussion of earthworm activity . Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 …
  • … turf-based worm castings . Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] …
  • Letter 12745 - Darwin to Wedgwood, K. E. S., [8 October 1880] Darwin asks his niece, …

Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?

Summary

'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . .  What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…

Matches: 25 hits

  • What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 8 November [1872] …
  • anything more on 'so difficult a subject, as evolution’ ( letter to ARWallace,  27 July
  • are accustomed to novels for 1s’, he wrote to Murray on 8 January , but Murray complained that
  • best efforts, set the final price at 7 s.  6 d.  ( letter from RFCooke, 12 February 1872 ) …
  • condition as I can make it’, he wrote to the translator ( letter to JJMoulinié, 23 September
  • translation remained unpublished at the end of the year ( letter from C.-FReinwald, 23 November
  • to the comparative anatomist St George Jackson Mivart ( letter to St GJMivart,  11 January
  • comparison of Whale  & duck  most beautiful’ ( letter from ARWallace, 3 March 1872 ) …
  • a person as I am made to appear’, complained Darwin ( letter to St GJMivart, 5 January 1872 ). …
  • Darwin would renounce `fundamental intellectual errors’ ( letter from St GJMivart, 6 January
  • was silly enough to think he felt friendly towards me’ ( letter to St GJMivart, 8 January [1872
  • hoping for reconciliation, if only `in another world’ ( letter from St GJMivart,  10 January
  • have been ungracious in him not to thank Mivart for his letterHe promised to send a copy of the
  • partly in mind, `chiefly perhaps because I do it badly’ ( letter to ARWallace, 3 August [1872] …
  • Darwinism is to be the theme. Surely the world moves!’ ( letter from Mary Treat, 13 December 1872
  • to find that Weismann accepted it at least in part ( letter to August Weismann, 5 April 1872 ). ‘I
  • few naturalists in England seem inclined to believe it’ ( letter to Herman Müller, [before 5 May
  • reached the buzzing place where I myself was standing’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, [before 5 May
  • … ‘as for myself it is dreadful doing nothing’ ( letter to THHuxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was
  • from his ignorance, he feels no doubts’ ( letter to FCDonders, 17 June 1872 ). Right up to the
  • Charlton Bastians recent book on the origin of life (HCBastian 1872; Wallace 1872d) left him
  • Lord Sackville Cecil, to attend a séance ( letter from MCStanley, 4 June 1872 ). There was
  • gift, although he doubted he would ever use it ( letter to CLDodgson, 10 December 1872 ). …
  • to contain wormcasts from India. Darwins niece Lucy Wedgwood, who had started her observations the
  • to which any scientific man can look’ ( letter to FCDonders, 29 April [1872] ). …

Women as a scientific audience

Summary

Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … Were women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
  • … Tollet for proofreading and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. …
  • … her to read to check that she can understand it. Letter 7312 - Darwin to Darwin, F. …
  • … from all but educated, typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E …
  • … he seeks her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … in order to minimise impeding general perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, …
  • … he uses to avoid ownership of indelicate content. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to …
  • … so as not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
  • … which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to …
  • … Darwin’s female readership Letter 5391 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [6 February …
  • … of the Manchester Ladies Literary Society . Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to …
  • … the chapter on pangenesis, which is a revelation. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. …
  • … Darwin assumes that 'A. B. Blackwell' is a man. Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to …
  • … to an asylum with her father. Letter 7651 - Wedgwood, F. J. to Darwin, H. E., …
  • … beauty in the process of sexual selection. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, [7 …
  • … of a woman’s natural thinking”. Letter 8778 - Forster, L. M . to Darwin, H. …
  • … in Expression . Letter 10072 - Pape, C. to Darwin, [16 July 1875] …
  • … in her garden. Letter 13650 Kennard, C. A. to Darwin, [28 January 1882] …
  • Letter 5712 - Dallas, W. S. to Darwin, [8 December 1867] Translator and author …
  • … Variation . Letter 6126 - Binstead, C. H. to Darwin, [17 April 1868] …
  • … of variation”. Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to Darwin, [13 January 1869] …

Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small

Summary

In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…

Matches: 19 hits

  • … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
  • … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
  • … François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20 …
  • … quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January …
  • … probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
  • … we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He …
  • … of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
  • … find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
  • … sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
  • … leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
  • … on the summit, whence it rolls down the sides’ ( letter from J. F. Simpson, 7 January 1882 ). The …
  • … our homes, would in this case greatly suffer’ ( letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). Kennard …
  • … judged, intellectually his inferior, please ( letter from C. A. Kennard, 28 January 1882 ). …
  • … William Jenner, 20 March [1882] ; see also letter from T. L Brunton, 12 February 1882 , and …
  • … grant us this our modest request!’ ( letter from J. L. Ambrose, 3 April 1882 ). Darwin immediately …
  • … to some Estancia,’ wrote Hughes, ‘as the scenery &c. will amply repay your trouble’ ( letter
  • … great minds’ ( letter from Aleksander Jelski, [1860–82] ). In 1863, the final blow was …
  • … before I am able to work’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [ c . 10 April 1864] ). To the physician …
  • … both our names to appear’ ( letter to Louisa Stevenson, 8 April 1871 ). It was Darwin’s name that …

Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest

Summary

The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…

Matches: 26 hits

  • do to talk about it, which no doubt promotes the sale’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 26 March 1871 ) …
  • to her liking, ‘to keep in memory of the book’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, 20 March 1871 ). …
  • and had forsaken his lunch and dinner in order to read it ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 19
  • they believe to be the truth, whether pleasant or not’ (letter from W. W. Reade, 21 February 1871). …
  • and OldhamThey club together to buy them’ ( letter from W. B. Dawkins, 23 February 1871 ). …
  • ones n th . ancestor lived between tide-marks!’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 February 1871 ). …
  • habits, furnished with a tail and pointed ears”  (letter from Asa Gray, 14 April 1871) …
  • … ‘will-powerand the heavy use of their arms and legs ( letter from C. L. Bernays, 25 February 1871
  • in order to make it darker than the hair on his head ( letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, [before 25
  • together with an image of an orang-utan foetus ( letter from Hinrich Nitsche, 18 April 1871 ). …
  • of himself, adding that it made avery poor return’ ( letter to Hinrich Nitsche, 25 April [1871] …
  • each night, returning to its allotted space each morning ( letter from Arthur Nicols, 7 March 1871
  • is a thing which I sh d  feel very proud of, if anyone c d . say of me.’ After the publication
  • which are independent of all times and all circumstances’ (8 April 1871, p. 5). Darwin condemned the
  • was achieved throughthe medium of opinion, positive law &c’, and transmitted by culture, not
  • his own family circle, especially his cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood, whom Darwin had cited on the origin
  • passing temptation of hunting it’ ( Descent  2: 392). Wedgwood, however, denied that a simple
  • or remorse. The true essence of conscience, according to Wedgwood, was shame, and he went so far as
  • by the presence of its master. ( Letter from Hensleigh Wedgwood, [39 March 1871] .) Some
  • Morley. George and Henrietta remarked upon his dispute with Wedgwood. Darwins theory of the moral
  • and morally bound. In one particularly long letter to Wedgwood, Darwin alluded to the pain of
  • agreement is a satisfaction to me’ ( letter to Hensleigh Wedgwood, 9 March 1871 ). A
  • in the world except. laughing. crying grinning pouting &c. &c’, he wrote to Hooker on 21
  • home, Leith Hill Place in Surrey, and CDs niece Lucy Wedgwood collected and weighed the dried
  • raise annually on an acre of land at 16 tons (letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [20 November 1871] ). …
  • age of Newton’ ( letter from Napoleon de la Fleurière, 8 April [1871] ); while Huxley looked

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: 22 hits

  • … of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] , Darwin …
  • … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
  • … As Darwin explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of 30 November [1864] , ‘the …
  • … observations indoors ( Correspondence  vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin …
  • … gradation by which  leaves  produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). …
  • … fearfully for it is a leaf climber & therefore sacred’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 June [1864] …
  • … matters which routinists regard in the light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 …
  • …  paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] that nothing …
  • … of the two species with the common oxlip. In a letter of 22 October [1864] , Darwin triumphantly …
  • … garden, taking notes by dictation. His niece Lucy Caroline Wedgwood sent observations of  …
  • … the ‘splendid case of Dimorphism’ in  Menyanthes  ( letter from Emma and Charles Darwin to W. E. …
  • … this interest. At the start of the year, he received a letter, insect specimens, and an article on …
  • … that it was ‘the best medicine for my stomach’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 17 February [1864] ). …
  • … at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in 1862 with a letter regarding the fertilisation of the …
  • … two years, with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] …
  • … is difficult enough to play your part  over  them’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 April 1864] ). …
  • … troublesome … they do require very careful treatment’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 8 April 1864 ). …
  • … the conclusion that in giving I am hastening the fall’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 April 1864 ) …
  • … his indomitable perseverance, and his knowledge’ ( letter to John Scott, 10 June 1864 ). Hooker …
  • … basis he recommended a first-class cabin for the journey ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 August …
  • … and curators at a great distance. Gray forwarded a letter from Charles Wright, a plant collector in …
  • … latest ‘outburst of bigotry’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 8 November [1864] ). Although …

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: 22 hits

  • he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C ( Notebooks , pp. 31928). In 1839, …
  • … (DAR 119) opens with five pages of text copied from Notebook C and carries on through 1851; the
  • to be Read [DAR *119: Inside Front Cover] C. Darwin June 1 st . 1838
  • de la Folie des Animaux de ses Rapports avec celle de lHomme,” by Dr. Pierquin, published in Paris
  • …  [Pierquin de Gembloux 1839]. Said to be good by D r  L. Lindsay 5 [DAR *119: 1v.] …
  • Cuvier 1822] read Flourens Edit [Flourens 1845] read L. Jenyns paper on Annals of Nat. Hist. …
  • … [DAR *119: 2v.] Whites regular gradation in man [C. White 1799] Lindleys
  • 39. tom. 4. p. 273. Latreille Geographie des Insectes 8 vo  p 181 [Latreille 1819]. see p. …
  • de Serres Cavernes dOssements 7 th  Ed. 10  8 vo . [Serres 1838] good to trace Europ. forms
  • in brutes Blackwood June 1838 [J. F. Ferrie 1838]. H. C. Watson on Geog. distrib: of Brit: …
  • Wiegman has pub. German pamphlet on crossing oats &c [Wiegmann 1828] Horticultural
  • in Library of Hort. Soc. [DAR *119:5v.] M c .Neil 16  has written good article
  • Horticultural Society of London ].— [DAR *119: 8v.] A history of British Birds by
  • of the Agricultural Association meeting at Oxford. paper by L d  Spencer on gestation of animals
  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824
  • on the Dog with illustrations of about 100 varieties [?C. H. Smith 183940] 24 Flourens
  • Histoire Générale et particulière des anomalies de lorganisation chez lhomme et les animaux, …
  • de Tératologie, par I. Geoffroy-Saint Hilaire, 3 vols. 8vo. et atlas de 20 planches. ibid, 183236. …
  • 183440]: In Portfolio ofabstracts34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm
  • M rs  Frys Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleays letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … (Liebig 1851). 50  Probably Elizabeth Wedgwood. 51  This note is a

Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms

Summary

‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … my grandfather’s character is of much value to me’ ( letter to C. H. Tindal, 5 January 1880 ). …
  • … have influenced the whole Kingdom, & even the world’ ( letter from J. L. Chester, 3 March 1880 …
  • … delighted to find an ordinary mortal who could laugh’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin to Charles and …
  • … much powder & shot’ ( Correspondence vol. 27, letter from Ernst Krause, 7 June 1879 , and …
  • … modified; but now I much regret that I did not do so’ ( letter to Samuel Butler, 3 January 1880 ). …
  • … and ‘decided on laying the matter before the public’ ( letter from Samuel Butler, 21 January 1880 …
  • … and uncertain about what to do. He drafted two versions of a letter to the Athen æum , sending …
  • … in which he will have the last word’, she warned ( letter from H. E. Litchfield, [1 February 1880] …
  • … who will fight to the end’, added her husband Richard ( letter from R. B. Litchfield, 1 February …
  • … him & given him Darwinophobia? It is a horrid disease’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 February …
  • … squashing the ‘mosquito inflated to an elephant’ ( letter from Ernst Krause, 9 December 1880 ). …
  • … inches of soil as a protection against enemies.’ ‘Your letter … made me open my eyes’, Gray replied …
  • … his original description. Darwin was puzzled: ‘If my letter opened your eyes, yours has opened mine …
  • … to the same species, should behave so differently.’ ( Letter to Asa Gray, 17 February 1880 .) But …
  • … of the plant in its native habitat. He forwarded a letter from a botanist and schoolteacher in …
  • … ‘but the subject has amused me’ ( letter to W. C. McIntosh, 18 June 1880 ). Members of the family …
  • … Darwin to Emma Darwin, [18 September 1880] ). Darwin’s Wedgwood nieces, Sophy and Lucy, were asked …
  • … We find that the light frightens them’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 8 October [1880] ). The …
  • … Galton, 7 April 1880 , and letter from Francis Galton, 8 April 1880 ). Darwin was queried about …
  • … great doctrines …“Come of Age”‘ ( letter from W. C. Williamson to Emma Darwin, 2 September 1880 ). …
  • … of several close family members. Emma’s brother Josiah Wedgwood III died on 11 March. Like Emma, he …

Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics

Summary

On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…

Matches: 28 hits

  • … learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January …
  • … the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
  • … he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] …
  • … his theory would have been ‘ utterly  smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A …
  • … mentioned in the volume is given in Correspondence vol. 8, Appendix VII.) The …
  • … from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
  • … a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
  • … phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
  • … Several correspondents, such as his cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood and Heinrich Georg Bronn, expressed …
  • … natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19 …
  • … considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
  • … naturalists because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). …
  • … two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like …
  • … tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 3 April [1860] ). By the …
  • … favour of change of form’, namely those of embryology ( letter to Asa Gray, 10 September [1860] ). …
  • … his study of the geographical distribution of species ( see letter from T. H. Huxley, 6 August 1860 …
  • … ‘man is in same predicament with other animals’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] )— he …
  • … book had become ‘topics of the day’ at the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. …
  • … Darwin ‘master of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other …
  • … that ‘this row is best thing for subject.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). Further …
  • … the  Athenæum , are given in Correspondence vol. 8 Appendix VI. Wilberforce’s review …
  • … if the whole were already proved) to his own views.—’ ( letter from J. S. Henslow to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … ‘how differently different opposers view the subject’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February [1860] …
  • … studying the first published piece: 'I said in a former letter that you were a Lawyer; but I …
  • … that these visits have led to changed structure.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 27 April [1860] ). …
  • … several months later, ‘just as at a game of chess.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 [July 1860] ). …
  • … substance from non=nitrogenised substances.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 31 [August 1860] ). Relying …
  • … scarcely be believed without further supporting evidence ( letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December …

Science: A Man’s World?

Summary

Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…

Matches: 17 hits

  • … feminine world of family, home and sociability. Letter 489 - Darwin to Wedgwood, E., …
  • … an hour “with poor Mrs. Lyell sitting by”. Letter 3715 - Claparède, J. L. R. A. E. to …
  • … whose attractions are not those of her sex”. Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 …
  • … her own steam and is a “first rate critic”. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, …
  • … ornaments in the making of feminine works”. Letter 4441 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [30 …
  • … the young, especially ladies, to study nature. Letter 4940 - Cresy, E. to Darwin, E., …
  • … Anderson is “neither masculine nor pedantic”. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. B., …
  • … to him as a published science author, is a man. Letter 7314 - Kovalevsky, S. to Darwin, …
  • … Theoriae Functionum Ellipticarum , (1829). Letter 7329 - Murray, J. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … to prick up what little is left of them ears”. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, …
  • … almost out of a woman’s natural thinking”. Letter 8079 - Norton, S. R. to Darwin, [20 …
  • … but has not read the pamphlet herself. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, [16 May …
  • … narrative so not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
  • … which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 10746 – Darwin to Dicey, E. M., …
  • … inability to cope well with the sight of blood. Letter 12389 - Johnson, M. to Darwin, …
  • … to have entered the cave “since the flood”. Letter 13414 - Darwin to Harrison, L., [18 …
  • … and possess strong powers of patience. Letter 13607 – Darwin to Kennard, C. A., [9 …

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…

Matches: 17 hits

  • … just as he had earlier analysed his own childhood memories.[8] Yet, though the dissociation was …
  • … by five: George Howard, born 9 July 1845; Elizabeth, born 8 July 1847; Francis, born 16 August 1848; …
  • … movement which causes hiccough.— 2  At his 8 th  day he frowned much. & I believe …
  • … also just at the same period or a few days earlier— Nov. 8[16] When seven weeks old, his eyes …
  • … taking breath after each scream approaches it.— 8  Between 11 & 12 weeks old in …
  • … when doing something disagreeable. say 50–60 days old 7 or 8 weeks old Continues occasionally …
  • … Feb. 17 7 wks  & 3 days 8 – 5 6 wks 8 – 4 …
  • … Oct 28 — 1 st  – 6 – 8         …
  • …       lb  8–”½oz     …
  • … in his mouth. He did this some little time before.— 8 th . Made a melancholy face, by …
  • … that, I am certain, there was no mistake.— Decemb. 8 th .— Doddy has learnt to put out his …
  • … have happened even only twice or thrice together Jan. 8 th . After Anne had been away for …
  • … sure there was no error in this— 26v. [38] Jan 8 th — Doddy kissed Anne, on seeing her  …
  • … our door N o  12 and N o  11 is in the slit for the Letter box.— he decidedly ran past N o  11 …
  • … has learned them from my sometimes changing the first letter in any word he is using—thus I say …
  • … she added an s to the end of every word “Ettis & Bettis &c afterwards all the ws were turned …
  • … , pp. 131–2. [6]  Correspondence  vol. 2, letter from Emma Wedgwood, [23 January 1839] . …

Scientific Networks

Summary

Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…

Matches: 24 hits

  • … and colonial authorities. In the nineteenth-century, letter writing was one of the most important …
  • … in times of uncertainty, controversy, or personal loss. Letter writing was not only a means of …
  • … botanist Asa Gray. Darwin and Hooker Letter 714 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • … and he is curious about Hooker’s thoughts. Letter 729 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., …
  • … to Hooker “it is like confessing a murder”. Letter 736 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • … wide-ranging genera. Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • … and asks him to append the ranges of the species. Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. …
  • … flora in the USA. Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 20 July [1857] Darwin …
  • … information exchange. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] …
  • … name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 3 Feb 1849 In this gossipy …
  • … species descriptions. Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 12 Oct 1849 …
  • Letter 1319 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 6 & 7 Apr 1850 Hooker apologises for the …
  • … visit with Falconer. Letter 1339 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 13 June [1850] …
  • … voyage and afterwards. Letter 152 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S., 3 Dec [1831] …
  • … me”. Letter 196 — Henslow, J. S. to Darwin, C. R., 15 & 21 Jan [1833] Henslow …
  • Letter 249 — Henslow, J. S. to Darwin, C. R., 22 July 1834 Henslow notes that Darwin’s cargo …
  • … and mutual friends. Letter 251 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S., 24 July & 28 Oct …
  • … Darwin and Müller Letter 5457 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Mar 1867 …
  • … . Letter 5471 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, H. L. H., 29 Mar [1867] Darwin learns …
  • … brother. Letter 5481 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 1 Apr [1867] Müller …
  • … grow in Westphalia. Letter 5657 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Oct 1867 …
  • … dipteran species. Letter 5770 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., Jan [1868] …
  • … . Letter 4260a — Darwin, C. R. to Becker, L. E., 2 Aug [1863] Darwin thanks Lydia …
  • Letter 7124 — Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] Darwin writes to his …

Darwin on marriage

Summary

On 11 November 1838 Darwin wrote in his journal ‘The day of days!’. He had proposed to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and been accepted; they were married on 29 January 1839. Darwin appears to have written these two notes weighing up the pros and cons of…

Matches: 8 hits

  • day of days!’. He had proposed to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and been accepted; they were married on
  • no tours, no large Zoolog. Collect. no books. Cambridge[8Professorship, either Geolog. or Zoolog.— …
  • Prof. or poor man; outskirts of London, some small Square &c:— & work as well as I can
  • manuscript is in: Cambridge University LibraryDAR 210.8:1 Second note [July 1838] …
  • Anxiety & responsibilityless money for books &cif many children forced to gain ones
  • manuscript is in Cambridge University Library, DAR 210.8:2 Notes [1The note was
  • … ‘¶’. [9] ‘not’  interl . [10] ‘C’  over illeg . [11] ‘I’  over  ‘l’. …
  • definite prospect in mind at the time of writing, but in a letter to Charles Lyell, [12 November