From A. R. Wallace 4 December [1869]
Summary
Inquires about arrangements for the German translation and publication of their original Linnean Society papers [Collected papers 2: 3–19].
ARW thinks he has hit upon a solution to problem of geological time.
| Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Dec [1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: B88–9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7019 |
Matches: 3 hits
- … Linnean Society (C. Darwin and Wallace 1858; see letter from A. B. Meyer, 16 November …
- … translation of C. Darwin and Wallace 1858 in a letter that has not been found; see letter …
- … letter from A. B. Meyer, 16 November 1869 (see n. 2, below). Meyer translated Wallace’s Malay Archipelago ( Wallace 1869a ; the translation is Wallace 1869c ). Meyer had also asked CD for permission to translate CD’s and Wallace’s papers in the 1858 …
To A. B. Meyer 27 November [1869]
Summary
Not willing to sit for photographer again.
ABM’s translation of Wallace’s Malay Archipelago has not yet arrived.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Adolf Bernhard Meyer |
| Date: | 27 Nov [1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 146: 362 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7014 |
From A. B. Meyer 24 November 1869
Summary
Wants to arrange a joint photograph of CD and Wallace for a publication on their lives and works.
| Author: | Adolf Bernhard Meyer |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 Nov 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 167 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7008 |
To A. R. Wallace 5 December [1869]
Summary
Further comments on arrangements for German translation of their joint paper.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Date: | 5 Dec [1869] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 46434: 194–5) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7020 |
To A. R. Wallace 22 March [1869]
Summary
Comments on Wallace’s Malay Archipelago.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Date: | 22 Mar [1869] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 46434) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6677 |
From Adolf Bernhard Meyer 16 November 1869
Summary
Sends his translation of Wallace’s Malay Archipelago.
Wishes to translate 1858 essays by CD and Wallace from Linnean Society Proceedings [Collected papers 2: 3–19].
Plans journey to tropics.
Hopes to meet CD.
| Author: | Adolf Bernhard Meyer |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Nov 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 166 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6990 |
From Andrew Crombie Ramsay 2 February 1869
Summary
Lyell says CD is revising what he says about the Weald in the Origin. Asks CD to look at his subaerial denudation views in his book [Physical geology and geography of Great Britain, 2d ed. (1864)].
| Author: | Andrew Crombie Ramsay |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 Feb 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 14 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6594 |
To Walter Elliot 3 August [1869]
Summary
Asks whether the wild boar in India is polygamous.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Walter Elliot |
| Date: | 3 Aug [1869] |
| Classmark: | John Hay Library, Brown University |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6849 |
To A. R. Wallace 14 April 1869
Summary
ARW’s review of 10th ed. of Lyell’s Principles [see 6684] is admirable.
But he differs "grievously" with ARW on man. CD sees no necessity for an additional and proximate cause.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Date: | 14 Apr 1869 |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 46434: 181–3) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6706 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … Wallace 1858; see Correspondence vol. 7). CD refers to William Thierry Preyer. See letter …
- … letter to G. H. Darwin, [9 December 1868] . In [Wallace] 1869b, pp. 381–2, Wallace criticised Jean Baptiste Lamarck’s supposition of a ‘tendency to progressive development’. Charles Lyell and Joseph Dalton Hooker had communicated CD and Wallace’s papers on the theory of natural selection to the Linnean Society in 1858 …
To Richard Kippist 31 January [1869?]
Summary
"You are most perfectly welcome to Fragmenta [F. J. H. von Mueller Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae (1858–64)], & I shall be delighted if they are of the slightest use to you."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Richard Kippist |
| Date: | 31 Jan [1869?] |
| Classmark: | Linnean Society of London (pasted in Mueller 1858–82, vol. 1) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3426A |
From W. T. Preyer 21 March 1869
Summary
Has given a lecture series on Darwinism which was attended by 200–500 students.
Would like to compile a list of CD’s works.
| Author: | William Thierry (William) Preyer |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 21 Mar 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 174: 67 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6676 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … letter venture to trouble you once more: Could you send me a copy of your’s and M r . Wallace’s paper, printed in the proceedings of the Linnean Society 1858? …
- … letter to W. T. Preyer, [before 21 March 1869] and n. 1); the article was not accepted for publication ( Preyer 1896 , pp. 148–9). Preyer refers to Darwin and Wallace 1858. …
To Charles Lyell 20 May 1869
Summary
Cites article by David Forbes dealing with the geology of the S. American Cordillera ["Geology of Bolivia and South Peru", Q. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 17 (1861): 7–62].
Discusses the flexures of the Cordillera, the age of the mountains, and basaltic dikes in granite areas.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 20 May 1869 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.370) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6751 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter of 5 May 1869 . CD refers to ‘On the geology of Bolivia and southern Peru’ by David Forbes ( Forbes 1860 ). For Forbes’s references to CD, see Forbes 1860 , pp. 10, 11, and 29. George Wareing Ormerod’s revised Classified index to the Transactions, Proceedings, and Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London was published in February 1870. The first edition appeared in 1858 ( …
| letter | (12) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (7) |
| Meyer, A. B. | (2) |
| Preyer, William | (1) |
| Ramsay, A. C. | (1) |
| Wallace, A. R. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (5) |
| Wallace, A. R. | (3) |
| Elliot, Walter | (1) |
| Kippist, Richard | (1) |
| Lyell, Charles | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (12) |
| Wallace, A. R. | (4) |
| Meyer, A. B. | (3) |
| Elliot, Walter | (1) |
| Kippist, Richard | (1) |
Abstract of Darwin’s theory
Summary
There are two extant versions of the abstract of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. One was sent to Asa Gray on 5 September 1857, enclosed with a letter of the same date (see Correspondence vol. 6, letter to Asa Gray, 5 September [1857] and enclosure).…
Matches: 1 hits
- … There are two extant versions of the abstract of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. One was …
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: 1 hits
- … When I was in spirits I sometimes fancied that my book w d be successful; but I never even …
The evolution of honeycomb
Summary
Honeycombs are natural engineering marvels, using the least possible amount of wax to provide the greatest amount of storage space, with the greatest possible structural stability. Darwin recognised that explaining the evolution of the honey-bee’s comb…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Honey-bees construct wax combs inside their nests. The combs are made of hexagonal prisms – cells …
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: 1 hits
- … The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet …
Diagrams and drawings in letters
Summary
Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s …
Instinct and the Evolution of Mind
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Slave-making ants For Darwin, slave-making ants were a powerful example of the force of instinct. He used the case of the ant Formica sanguinea in the On the Origin of Species to show how instinct operates—how…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Slave-making ants For …
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: 1 hits
- … Re: Design – performance version – 25 March 2007 – 1 Re: Design – Adaptation of the …
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: 1 hits
- … Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants …
Alfred Russel Wallace’s essay on varieties
Summary
The original manuscript about varieties that Wallace composed on the island of Gilolo and sent to Darwin from the neighbouring island of Ternate (Brooks 1984) has not been found. It was sent to Darwin as an enclosure in a letter (itself missing), and was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The original manuscript about varieties that Wallace composed on the island of Gilolo and sent to …
Controversy
Summary
The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Disagreement & Respect | Conduct of Debate | Darwin & Wallace The best-known …
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...
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …
Darwin's health
Summary
On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend …
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
- … Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten …
Darwin as mentor
Summary
Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both …
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 …
John Murray
Summary
Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was …
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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
Origin
Summary
Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to establish priority for the species theory he had spent over twenty years researching. Darwin never intended to write Origin, and had resisted suggestions in 1856…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
