To ? 23 August [1870–80]
Summary
Discusses evolution of species.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 23 Aug [1870-80] |
| Classmark: | Charles Hamilton (dealer) (3 November 1966) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13884 |
To John Murray 5 [August 1870]
Summary
MS of Descent, except last chapter, is ready to send to printer. Hopes the printer will be able to keep him steadily at work correcting proof. "It drives me mad to change from job to job."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Murray |
| Date: | 5 [Aug 1870] |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 ff. 209–10) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7265 |
From Henry Bence Jones 2 August 1870
Summary
CD has complained of pins and needles keeping him from working on his book [Descent]. If he could spend ten days with HBJ, he would be well and fit.
| Author: | Henry Bence Jones |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 Aug 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 168: 79 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7293 |
To H. B. Jones 3 August [1870]
Summary
Despite HBJ’s good aid, CD’s stomach will not permit a visit.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Bence Jones |
| Date: | 3 Aug [1870] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Surrogate RP 3120) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7293A |
From Paul Broca 4 August 1870
Summary
Thanks CD for compliments on the first part of his "discours",
but the later part was critical of natural selection. Nevertheless, CD should see him not as a systematic adversary, but in the camp of Quatrefages de Bréau and Milne-Edwards.
| Author: | Pierre Paul (Paul) Broca |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Aug 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 313 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7294 |
From John Murray 6 August [1870]
Summary
JM informs CD that he will have Clowes give him written assurance that the printing [of Descent] will proceed without interruption.
The [Franco-Prussian] War is a sad damper on international science and his publishing plans.
| Author: | John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Aug [1870] |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 377 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7295 |
From William Farr 6 August 1870
Summary
Is glad John Lubbock made the fight he did [to amend Census Bill to enable insertion of questions on consanguineous marriages].
| Author: | William Farr |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Aug 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 164: 33 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7296 |
From V. O. Kovalevsky 7 August [1870]
Summary
Plans to visit Down in a week.
| Author: | Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky (Владимир Онуфриевич Ковалевский) |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Aug [1870] |
| Classmark: | DAR 169: 64 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7297 |
To Mr Dorrell 9 August 1870
Summary
Sends instructions to Messrs Clowes concerning typesetting and printing of proof-sheets of Descent.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Mr. Dorrell; William Clowes & Sons |
| Date: | 9 Aug 1870 |
| Classmark: | The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7298 |
From Lewis Henry Morgan 9 August 1870
Summary
Sends last chapter of his book in press [Systems of consanguinity and affinity of the human family vol. 17 in Smithsonian contributions to knowledge (1871)], which supports CD on man.
Ethnology must study the ages of barbarism as the formative portions of man’s physical and mental history.
| Author: | Lewis Henry Morgan |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 Aug 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 238 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7299 |
To Mr Dorrell 11 August [1870]
Summary
He will not be ready to begin correcting proofs until 28 or 29 August.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Mr. Dorrell |
| Date: | 11 Aug [1870] |
| Classmark: | Jonathan Haile (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7299F |
To L. H. Morgan 11 August [1870]
Summary
Thanks LHM for concluding chapter [to Systems of consanguinity and affinity of the human family (1871)]. Agrees that it is important to study the habits and institutions of savages.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Lewis Henry Morgan |
| Date: | 11 Aug [1870] |
| Classmark: | Dept of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation, University of Rochester |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7300 |
From V. O. Kovalevsky 15 August [1870]
Summary
Wishes to visit Down.
| Author: | Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky (Владимир Онуфриевич Ковалевский) |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Aug [1870] |
| Classmark: | DAR 169: 65 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7302 |
From Charles Lawford Acland 17 August 1870
Summary
Is studying Variation, especially Pangenesis. Reports earlier notion of Dr Robert Lee, that resemblance between husband and wife may be partly owing to her having man’s blood circulating in her during pregnancies; thus spouses most resemble each other in large families.
| Author: | Charles Lawford Acland |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 Aug 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: A7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7303 |
To Jean Jacques Moulinié 18 August 1870
Summary
Under present circumstances [Franco-Prussian War] gives up French translation of Descent.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Jean Jacques Moulinié |
| Date: | 18 Aug 1870 |
| Classmark: | Bibliothèque de Genève (Ms. suppl. 66, ff. 16–17) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7304 |
To J. V. Carus 18 August 1870
Summary
Has just sent MS of Descent to printers. Recognises that [because of Franco-Prussian War] the publisher will have given up idea of a German translation.
Though the war is a misfortune for science, CD rejoices at the wonderful success of Germany; has met no one who does not share this feeling.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Date: | 18 Aug 1870 |
| Classmark: | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 60–61) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7305 |
To F. P. Cobbe 20 August [1870]
Summary
CD writes for Emma, who is ill.
Delighted with FPC’s "most just" article [in Echo?]. Sends £1 subscription.
Thanks for telling CD about the Fraser’s Magazine article [F. W. Farrar, "Hereditary genius (by F. Galton)", n.s. 2 (1870): 251–65].
CD wrote as Justice of Peace for Kent to the Home Secretary about Holder’s case.
Tropaeolum transmits every shade of colour if self-fertilised for six or seven generations.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Frances Power Cobbe |
| Date: | 20 Aug [1870] |
| Classmark: | The Huntington Library (CB 385) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7306 |
From William J. Raybould to Abraham Dee Bartlett 22 August 1870
Summary
Offers a polydactylous cat to the Zoological Gardens. [Offer declined and letter forwarded to CD.]
| Author: | William Johnson Raybould |
| Addressee: | Abraham Dee Bartlett |
| Date: | 22 Aug 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 25 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7307 |
To Armand de Quatrefages 23 August [1870]
Summary
Thanks QdeB for his continued support of CD’s election to French Academy.
Discusses views of Milne-Edwards on species.
Comments on views of Élie de Beaumont.
"I fear my next book [Descent] … will greatly displease you."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Jean Louis Armand (Armand de Quatrefages) Quatrefages de Bréau |
| Date: | 23 Aug [1870] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.382) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7308 |
To George F. Kittredge 24 August [1870]
Summary
Thanks GFK for offer of information.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George F. Kittredge |
| Date: | 24 Aug [1870] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7309 |
| letter | (22) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (13) |
| Kovalevsky, V. O. | (2) |
| Acland, C. L. | (1) |
| Bence Jones, Henry | (1) |
| Broca, Paul | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (8) |
| Dorrell, Mr. | (2) |
| Bartlett, A. D. | (1) |
| Bence Jones, Henry | (1) |
| Carus, J. V. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (21) |
| Bence Jones, Henry | (2) |
| Dorrell, Mr. | (2) |
| Kovalevsky, V. O. | (2) |
| Morgan, L. H. | (2) |
Capturing Darwin’s voice: audio of selected letters
Summary
On a sunny Wednesday in June 2011 in a makeshift recording studio somewhere in Cambridge, we were very pleased to welcome Terry Molloy back to the Darwin Correspondence Project for a special recording session. Terry, known for his portrayal of Davros in Dr…
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…
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: 4 hits
- … more grateful I shall be’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). She had previously read …
- … that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). Henrietta disagreed: …
- … as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February 1870] ). Darwin was also …
- … he will not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] ). Darwin’s queries …
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: 3 hits
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: 7 hits
- … Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L to Darwin, [8 & 9 May 1869] Jane Loring Gray, …
- … Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] Darwin asks his niece, …
- … Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to Darwin, [8 August 1867] Sutton, the keeper of the …
- … Letter 4235 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [8 July 1863] Lydia Becker sends Darwin a …
- … Letter 12745 - Darwin to Wedg wood, K. E. S., [8 October 1880] Darwin asks his …
- … . Letter 9485 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [8 June 1874] Mary Treat details her …
- … . Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] Darwin seeks …
Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'
Summary
In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…
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: 16 hits
- … 39. tom. 4. p. 273. Latreille Geographie des Insectes 8 vo p 181 [Latreille 1819]. see p. …
- … de Serres Cavernes d’Ossements 7 th Ed. 10 8 vo . [Serres 1838] good to trace Europ. forms …
- … by Loudon [Loudon 1831]. Book I. ch. 7 & Book II. Ch. 8. Book. VII. ch 8, 11. read 1 st …
- … Lacordaire Introduction Entomologique [Lacordaire 1834–8]: Reptiles [Duméril and Bibron 1834–54]: …
- … Mem. of Helvetic Soc. of Neuchatel on Jura. 1846, or 7, or 8 [?Marcou 1845]. 46 Morris good …
- … 1838] Walter Scott’s life [Lockhart 1837–8] 1 st 2 nd & 7 th vols. …
- … on Geology of France [Dufrénoy and Élie de Beaumont 1830–8] & C Prevost on l’Ile Julie [Prévost …
- … 1839 Jan 10 All life of W. Scott [Lockhart 1837–8] except 5 th vol. 19 Mungo …
- … hermaphroditism—good letters of M r Knight July 8 th M.S. Voyage of Kolff to the …
- … Works & several reviews [Carlyle 1838–9] Nov 8 th Murchison Silurian System [Murchison …
- … of the Bath and West of England Society ]. 1 st to 8 th vol. inclusive 1 st . series …
- … Pallas Travels [Pallas 1802–3] (wretched) ——8 th Brand’s dissert. [Linnaeus 1781c] …
- … E. Ferrier] 1824 and 1818].— 18 th . 7 th & 8 th . Vol of Hume’s England [Hume …
- … Botanica [Linnaeus 1751] (references at end) June 8 th . Evelyn’s Sylva [Evelyn 1664]. …
- … 1825] & Liebers remains of Niebuhr [Lieber 1835]. 8 Paley’s Evidence. of Christ. [Paley …
- … Register of Rural & Domestic Improvement ] Vol 7 th . & 8 th . vol. April 8 th …
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
- … I shall look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). Darwin sympathised, …
- … enemies of Nat. Selection’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). Researching …
- … cry (letters to W. E. Darwin, [15 March 1868] and 8 April [1868] ). Such facts proved …
- … omnipotent and omniscient Creator’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 8 May [1868] ). Others were concerned …
Darwin’s earthquakes
Summary
Darwin experienced his first earthquake in 1834, but it was a few months later that he was really confronted with their power. Travelling north along the coast of Chile, Darwin and Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle, were confronted with a series of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … having happened Darwin to his sister Catherine, 8 November 1834 Darwin …
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: 3 hits
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
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
- … lines were built to the area (Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 8 April [1856] ). This meant that most of …
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…
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…
Matches: 8 hits
- … greenhouse for experiments (see Correspondence vols. 8–10). Though his greenhouse was probably …
- … ( Correspondence vol. 3, letter to Charles Lyell, 8 October [1845] ). Having indulged …
- … plants drawn up by Darwin; these lists are in DAR 255: 8 and DAR 255: 2–5. The first is a list that …
- … Get Edwardsia tetraptera mentioned by Treviranus Honey. 8 Acropera …
- … —— pictus . 13 8 s …
- … chæmæcistus 20 Provenance: DAR 255: 8 Notes 1. Hugh Low & …
- … 7. Melastoma trinerve or M. trinervium. 8. This sentence added in pencil. The reference is …
- … 5 s .’ deleted in ink. 13. ‘—— pictus 8 s .’ deleted in ink. 14. ‘Drosera’ …
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: 3 hits
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 3 hits
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: 4 hits
- … extinct species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860 …
- … what he thought about ‘the derivation of Species’. 8 Darwin continued to feel aggrieved about …
- … theory of transmutation, see Bartholomew 1973. 8. See Correspondence vol. 11, …
- … Letters from Charles Lyell to T. H. Huxley, 7 June 1865, and 8 June 1865 (Imperial College, Huxley …
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…
'An Appeal' against animal cruelty
Summary
The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against the cruelty of steel vermin…
Matches: 5 hits
- … W. D. Fox, [6–27 September 1863], 29 September [1863], and 8 December [1863]). Emma sent a copy to …
- … pamphlet', and letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, 8 December [1863]). There is no …
- … 7 September 1863, letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, 8 December [1863], and Animal World , 1 …
- … or to Mrs C. Darwin | Downbar Bromley | Kent. 8 Christ’s College Library, …
- … however, see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, 8 December [1863]. Only two resident gamekeepers …
