skip to content

Darwin Correspondence Project

Search: contains ""

Darwin Correspondence Project
Search:
1871::02 in date disabled_by_default
1871::02 in date disabled_by_default
letter in document-type disabled_by_default
letter in document-type disabled_by_default
69 Items
Sorted by:  
Page: 1 2 3 4  Next

From A child of God   [after 24 February 1871?]

thumbnail

Summary

Urges CD to repent and seek salvation through Christ.

Author:  Unidentified
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [after 24 Feb 1871?]
Classmark:  DAR 201: 1
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13770

From J. W. Abernethy   [after 18 February 1871]

Summary

A poem, "Burns to Darwin".

Author:  Julian Willis Abernethy
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [after 18 Feb 1871]
Classmark:  DAR 140.4: 26
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13771

To Miss Fenwick   8 February [1871–82]

Summary

Sends two waste sheets of MS of Descent; Miss F can cut out any portion she likes.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Miss Fenwick
Date:  8 Feb [1871-82]
Classmark:  John Hay Library, Brown University (Hay MSS Ms.44.31)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13806

From St George Jackson Mivart   24 February [1871]

thumbnail

Summary

Would be pleased if CD called.

Author:  St George Jackson Mivart
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  24 Feb [1871]
Classmark:  DAR 171: 182
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5926

From James Anderson   [after 24 February 1871?]

thumbnail

Summary

Sends two books detailing a new medical method that will produce "a state of health & vigour on every occasion & in every instance" and is applicable to "the entire circle of animated nature" [William Hibbert, Important discovery. Hibbert’s new theory and practice of medicine (1870) and The new theory and practice of medicine (1870)]. The volumes apply to animals and man. Subsequent books will detail the method for insects and plants.

[Letter erroneously addressed to E. A. Darwin, and forwarded by EAD to CD.]

Author:  James Anderson
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [after 24 Feb 1871?]
Classmark:  DAR 159: 72
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7407

From E. F. Lubbock   [after 24 February 1871]

thumbnail

Summary

Verses on the Origin and Descent.

Author:  Ellen Frances Hordern; Ellen Frances Lubbock
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [after 24 Feb 1871]
Classmark:  DAR 170: 7
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7419

To J. D. Hooker   1 February [1871]

Summary

Returns pamphlets.

B. T. Lowne’s observation [Mon. Microsc. J. 4 (1870): 326–30] that boiling does not kill certain moulds is curious, but then how account for absence of all living things in Pasteur’s experiment?

Always delighted to see a word in favour of Pangenesis.

Thiselton-Dyer’s paper ["On spontaneous generation and evolution", Q. J. Microsc. Sci. 10 (1870): 333–54] is Spencerian.

The chemical conditions for first production of life are said to exist at present, but in some warm little pond today such matter would be absorbed or devoured, which would not have been the case before living creatures were formed.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Joseph Dalton Hooker
Date:  1 Feb [1871]
Classmark:  DAR 94: 188–9
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7471

From C.-F. Reinwald   1 February 1871

thumbnail

Summary

Has left Paris because of the war.

J. J. Moulinié and Carl Vogt are at work on Descent, which CR plans to publish in Paris.

Author:  Charles-Ferdinand Reinwald
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  1 Feb 1871
Classmark:  DAR 176: 93
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7472

From W. W. Reade   1 February 1871

thumbnail

Summary

Sir Andrew Smith says Hottentots and Kaffirs laugh till they cry.

Author:  William Winwood Reade
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  1 Feb 1871
Classmark:  DAR 176: 45
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7473

From R. F. Cooke   3 February 1871

thumbnail

Summary

Encloses a letter [missing] from C. Reinwald, publisher of the French edition of Descent [1872].

Vincenzi [of Unione, Turin – publisher of Italian translation] has not yet paid the account.

Author:  Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  3 Feb 1871
Classmark:  DAR 171: 385
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7474

From Erasmus Wilson   3 February 1871

thumbnail

Summary

On irritation of cutaneous nerves exciting responses in unconnected skin muscles.

Author:  William James Erasmus (Erasmus) Wilson
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  3 Feb 1871
Classmark:  DAR 181: 130
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7475

To Asa Gray   5 February [1871]

Summary

Sends questions on expressions of Laura Bridgman.

Has finished Descent. Believes that parts, like that on moral sense, will aggravate AG.

Working on an essay on expression.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Asa Gray
Date:  5 Feb [1871]
Classmark:  Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (86)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7476

From W. E. Darwin   6 February 1871

thumbnail

Summary

Does shut eyes when scratching himself. Will ask Langstaff about muscles used when playing flute. Is back at work but hobbling around.

Author:  William Erasmus Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  6 Feb 1871
Classmark:  Cornford Family Papers (DAR 275: 43)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7476F

From W. B. Dawkins   8 February 1871

thumbnail

Summary

The box of bones sent by CD has led to a series of explorations. Reports on Yorkshire cave-hunting.

Author:  William Boyd Dawkins
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  8 Feb 1871
Classmark:  DAR 162: 125
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7477

To James Crichton-Browne   8 February 1871

thumbnail

Summary

Will send copy of Descent.

Comments on JC-B’s MS on expression among insane. Asks about weeping in insane men. Do idiots laugh when pleased?

Thanks for photographs of insane. Asks for additional photographs.

Comments on Henry Maudsley [Body and mind (1870)].

Pointed ears in the insane.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  James Crichton-Browne
Date:  8 Feb 1871
Classmark:  DAR 143: 333
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7478

From Felice Finzi   9 February 1871

thumbnail

Summary

Sends a publication to Darwin.

Asks for a portrait.

Author:  Felice Finzi
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  9 Feb 1871
Classmark:  DAR 164: 118
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7478A

From Thomas Meehan   10 February 1871

thumbnail

Summary

Sends CD some remarks he made before the Academy of Natural Sciences [Philadelphia].

TM is indebted to the Origin for first suggesting to him which observations might be useful to those working out the greater laws of nature.

Author:  Thomas Meehan
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  10 Feb 1871
Classmark:  DAR 171: 108
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7479

To R. F. Cooke   10 February [1871]

thumbnail

Summary

Asks that a presentation copy [of Descent?] be sent to Edward Blyth. Comments on publication.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray
Date:  10 Feb [1871]
Classmark:  DAR 143: 278
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7480

To R. F. Cooke   14 February [1871]

thumbnail

Summary

Discusses presentation copies [of Descent]. Dallas returned proofs of index on Friday. Asks for John Stuart Mill’s address.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray
Date:  14 Feb [1871]
Classmark:  DAR 143: 279
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7481

To J. V. Carus   15 February [1871]

Summary

Hopes German edition [of Descent] has not yet been printed because he has fallen into a most serious blunder [about sexual selection never acting on the young] on pp. 297–9 of vol. 1.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Julius Victor Carus
Date:  15 Feb [1871]
Classmark:  Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 23–24)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7482
Document type
Date
1871disabled_by_default
02disabled_by_default
01 (3)
03 (3)
05 (1)
06 (1)
08 (3)
09 (2)
10 (2)
11 (1)
14 (1)
15 (2)
16 (2)
17 (1)
18 (4)
19 (5)
20 (7)
21 (7)
22 (2)
23 (4)
24 (8)
25 (4)
26 (2)
27 (2)
28 (2)
Page: 1 2 3 4  Next
Search:
in keywords
176 Items
Page:  1 2 3 4 5  ...  Next

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: 23 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 …
  • … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
  • … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
  • … Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L …
  • … Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
  • … expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
  • … is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
  • … of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
  • … briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
  • … expression of emotion in dogs with Emma Darwin. Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, …
  • … birds, insects or plants on Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to …
  • … of an angry pig and her niece’s ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
  • … that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … father of plants and insects. Men: Letter 2221 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [22 …
  • Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 March 1864] Darwin thanks Hooker for …
  • Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John Scott responds to Darwin’s …
  • Letter 6139  - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868] Doubleday responds to Darwin’s …
  • Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] Amy Ruck reports the …
  • Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin asks his …
  • … ridges. Letter 8169 - Wedgwood, L. to Darwin, [20 January, 1872] Darwin’s …
  • Letter 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, [22 August 1874] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, …
  • Letter 4433  - Wright, Charles to Gray, A., [20, 25, 26 March & 1 April 1864] …

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: 10 hits

  • … sites in both France and Germany (K. M. Lyell ed. 1881, 2: 336). In April 1860, Lubbock travelled …
  • … species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. …
  • … Galton.   In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, evidently in response …
  • … of errata’ that he may have seen, and then mentioned: 2 have struck out Galton …
  • … about Lyell’s failure to support him. In April 1863, in a letter to the Athenæum , he discussed a …
  • … transmutation; he also wrote to Lyell telling him about the letter to the Athenæum . 9 …
  • … and went on to say that he intended to make a copy of his letter to show to friends. 18 In …
  • … he reiterated his admiration for Lubbock’s book ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [4 June 1865] ). A week …
  • … in the dispute. When Hooker pressed him for an opinion ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 July 1865 ), …
  • … with Huxley in June and July and had seen Huxley’s letter to Hooker about the affair, 24 he …

Darwin The Collector

Summary

Look at nature more closely and create and record your own natural collections.

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Activities provide an introduction to Charles Darwin, how and why he collected so many specimens …

Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots

Summary

Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…

Matches: 22 hits

  • … his publishers, he warned that it was ‘dry as dust’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 9 September 1879 ). …
  • … turned out, alas, very dull & has disappointed me much’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 15 [June …
  • … home again’, he fretted, just days before his departure ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [after 26 …
  • … many blessings, was finding old age ‘a dismal time’ ( letter to Henry Johnson, 24 September 1879 ) …
  • … wrinkles one all over like a baked pear’ ( enclosure in letter from R. W. Dixon, 20 December 1879 …
  • … office to complete Horace’s marriage settlement ( letter from W. M. Hacon, 31 December 1879 ). …
  • … his wife sent birthday greetings and a photograph of their 2-year-old son named Darwin, who, they …
  • … but they were ‘as nice and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ) …
  • … on your life’s work, which is crowned with glory’ ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 9 February 1879 ). …
  • … to wish Darwin a ‘long and serene evening of life’. This letter crossed with one from Darwin, …
  • … the statement ‘In the beginning was carbon’ ( letter from Hermann Müller, 14 February 1879 ). …
  • … as the ‘organ of “uncultivated materialism”’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 2 June 1879 ]). …
  • … up the glory & would please Francis’, he pointed out ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 13 March [1879 …
  • … wholly & shamefully ignorant of my grandfathers life’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 14 March 1879 …
  • … known philosopher and poet’ ( Correspondence vol. 1, letter from Francis Beaufort to Robert …
  • … other than Darwin’s sister Caroline (who was around 2 years old at the time of Erasmus’s death). …
  • … & the where, & the who—’ ( letter from V. H. Darwin, 28 May [1879] ). On the Galton side …
  • … ‘perfect in every way’ ( letter from E. A. Wheler, 25 March 1879 ). She suggested that Darwin …
  • … & always with pride’ ( letter from Reginald Darwin, 29 March 1879 ). It was from …
  • … ‘interfering with each other’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 27 March 1879 ). Darwin’s aim was ‘to give …
  • … obstacles from the start, as he reported in a letter of 29 May . Sachs had changed his views on …
  • … that plants were ‘mere machines’, reminding Francis on 2 June that he had long thought that …

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: 25 hits

  • … The death of Hugh Falconer Darwin’s first letter to Hooker of 1865 suggests that the family …
  • … having all the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • … had failed to include among the grounds of the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus …
  • … his letters to Darwin, and Darwin responded warmly: ‘Your letter is by far the grandest eulogium …
  • … may well rest content that I have not laboured in vain’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 6 January [1865] …
  • … always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 February [1865] …
  • … for our griefs & pains: these alone are unalloyed’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 February 1865 …
  • … gas.— Sic transit gloria mundi, with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). …
  • … added, ‘I know it is folly & nonsense to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • … ineffective, and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] …
  • … of anything, & that almost exclusively bread & meat’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 August [1865] …
  • … better, attributing the improvement to Jones’s diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] …
  • … he was ‘able to write about an hour on most days’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 December [1865] ). …
  • … others very forward, except the last & concluding one’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 March [1865] …
  • … my book will be ready for the press in the autumn’ ( letter to John Murray, 4 April [1865] ). In …
  • … idle when I can do anything’ ( letter to John Murray, 2 June [1865] ). It was not until 25 …
  • … abstract of the paper was read before the Linnean Society on 2 February, and in April Darwin wrote …
  • … 1864 ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to Ernst Haeckel, 21 November [1864] ). Since it was, …
  • … to do any scientific work’ ( letter to Fritz Müller, 20 September [1865] ), he clearly read Müller …
  • … ( Correspondence vol. 9, letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 September [1861] ). Scott had …
  • … (see Correspondence  vol. 11, letter from John Scott, 21 September [1863] ), and wrote up his …
  • … suffering from sea-sickness ( letter from John Scott, 21 July 1865 ). This may have been unwise: …
  • … the work again when he had time ( letter from John Scott, 21 July 1865 ); at the time of writing, …
  • … 1867), and Darwin summarised them in  Variation  2: 106–7, concluding, ‘it follows from Mr. Scott …
  • … a good many groups of facts.’ ( Letter to T. H. Huxley, 27 May [1865] .) The hypothesis of …

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: 13 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 …
  • … And … one 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] …
  • … that Mr Williams was ‘a 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 allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
  • … first 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 ); …

3.3 Maull and Polyblank photo 2

Summary

< Back to Introduction Despite the difficulties that arose in relation to Maull and Polyblank’s first photograph of Darwin, another one was produced, this time showing him in three-quarter view. It was evidently not taken at the same session as the…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … the publication of Origin in late November 1859. In his letter of spring 1862, Darwin’s brother …
  • … he expressed with it (if correctly identified) in his 1861 letter to Gray was shared by many readers …
  • … These shortcomings also explain why, as early as 1861-2, Darwin decided to go literally and …
  • … accession or collection number DAR 225.175 and DAR 257.2 (cropped) 
 copyright holder …
  • … print 
 references and bibliography Letter from Darwin to Hooker, 17 Dec. [1860], DCP-LETT …

3.5 William Darwin, photo 2

Summary

< Back to Introduction Darwin’s son William, who had become a banker in Southampton, took the opportunity of a short visit home to Down House in April 1864 to photograph his father afresh. This half-length portrait was the first to show Darwin with a…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … ‘Insane’ and ‘Idiotic’. Darwin himself, in a letter of 1848, had jested that an acquaintance with a …
  • … (but this was a cause of later confusion). According to a letter from Darwin’s daughter Henrietta to …
  • … there, which is in the Jane Gray autograph collection, vol. 2, Clark-Green, call no. gra00084. …
  • … and Gray’s reply, 11 July 1864 (DCP-LETT-4558). Darwin’s letter to Hooker, 10 June [1864], enclosing …

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: 15 hits

  • … Stoke’s Library 1 Cambridge. Library 2 Royal Coll of Surgeons [DAR *119 …
  • … de l’Homme,” by Dr. Pierquin, published in Paris (in 2 vols.), so long ago as 1839 4   …
  • … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
  • … M rs  Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
  • … ( Notebooks , pp. 319–28). 55  The letter was addressed to Nicholas Aylward Vigors …
  • … to William Jackson Hooker. See  Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
  • … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832.  A letter in vindication of   the principles of …
  • … by Bekhur to   Garoo and the Lake Manasarowara: with a letter from … J.   G. Gerard, Esq. …
  • … 1830. On the dying struggle of the dichotomous sytem. In a letter to N. A. Vigors.  Philosophical …
  • … *119: 8v., 22v.; *128: 165 ——. 1850a. Letter to the Rev. John Bachman, on the question of …
  • … art of improving the   breeds of domestic animals. In a letter addressed to the   Right Hon. Sir …
  • … 1820.  Remarks on the improvement of   cattle, &c. in a letter to Sir John Saunders Sebright, …

That monstrous stain: To J. M. Herbert, 2 June 1833

Summary

Darwin did not consider himself to be a particularly good writer, but many of his letters contain not just a wealth of information, but also beautifully expressed descriptions and impressions that would be the envy of any essayist or novelist. Such is the…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … of any essayist or novelist. Such is the case with a short letter written during the  Beagle  …
  • … ‘defying the blue devils’ to thank Herbert for a letter recently received. His mood becomes …
  • … for, within a couple of months of the date of this letter, the Slavery Abolition Act (3 & 4 Will …

I never trusted Drosera: From E. F. Lubbock, [after 2 July] 1875

Summary

  Francis Neary has set his favourite letter to music (with additional vocals and bass by Deen Manning). The satirical verses were sent to Darwin by Ellen Frances Lubbock in 1875 after the publication of his book on insectivorous plants. They…

Matches: 1 hits

  • …   Francis Neary has set his favourite letter to music (with additional vocals and bass by …

Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep

Summary

In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…

Matches: 20 hits

  • … Hooker, ‘or as far as I know any scientific man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1878] ). …
  • … or arched.… Almost all seedlings come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). …
  • … in plants , pp. 112–13). He explained to Francis on 2 July : ‘I go on maundering about the …
  • … when he finds out that he missed sensitiveness of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] …
  • … Darwin complained. ‘I am ashamed at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). …
  • … tomorrow to Wurzburg,’ Darwin wrote to Thiselton-Dyer on 2 June , ‘& work by myself will be …
  • … accursed German language: Sachs is very kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June …
  • … have nobody to talk to, about my work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] …
  • … but it is horrid not having you to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). …
  • … determine whether they had chlorophyll, Francis reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 …
  • … ‘There is one machine we must have’, Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July …
  • … ‘He seems to me to jump to conclusions rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] …
  • … the pot-plant every day & never the bedded out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July …
  • … ‘I have borrowed Cieselski & read him,’ he reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [22 June 1878 …
  • … books & red-wine which is here the cure for all evils’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [24 and 25 …
  • … is very sweet & pretty,’ he added a week later ( letter to Francis Darwin, 14 July [1878] ). …
  • … animal instinct and intelligence. ‘Frank’s son, nearly 2 years old (& we think much of his …
  • … but he will always do so’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 20 August [1878] ). Darwin remarked that a …
  • … more expertly. ‘I conclude that a child—just under 2 years is inferior in intellect to a monkey.’ …
  • … & a baby in your house!’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 2 September [1878] ). More …

German poems presented to Darwin

Summary

Experiments in deepest reverence The following poems were enclosed with a photograph album sent as a birthday gift to Charles Darwin by his German and Austrian admirers (see letter from From Emil Rade, [before 16] February 1877). The poems were…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … Charles Darwin by his German and Austrian admirers (see letter from From Emil Rade , [before 16 …
  • … unaufhörlich ringen; Manch’ ein Eppur si muove! 2 klang Den dichten Nebel zu …
  • … shall be in eternal strife; Many an Eppur si muove! 2 was uttered To pierce the heavy …
  • … poet Ludovico Ariosto, first published in 1516. 2. Eppur si muove!: And yet it moves! …
  • … lift this veil, till I myself do raise it.) Letter from Emil Rade 1    …
  • … 5   Notes   1. This letter is published in vol. 25 of The …
  • … The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to Emil Rade, 16 …

Rewriting Origin - the later editions

Summary

For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions.  Many of his changes were made in…

Matches: 9 hits

  • … edition published, 1872   1 st to 2 nd editions I have …
  • … buried Darwin under a blizzard of letters (see especially letter to Charles Lyell, 11 October …
  • … getting permission to quote prominently from Kingsley’s letter in the revised summary: A …
  • … the voids caused by the action of His laws.” ( Origin 2d ed, p. 481).   2 nd …
  • … sufficiently acknowledged earlier work.  According to a letter to Asa Gray he had yet to start …
  • … an animal’s colour and its immunity to poison (see letter from Jeffries Wyman, [ c . 15] …
  • … “Origin” for the first time, for I am correcting for a 2 nd . French Edition; & upon my life, …
  • … hitherto slurred it over. In his Christmas Day letter to his old friend Joseph Hooker, …
  • … of population increase in elephants in response to a letter published in the Athenaeum by a …

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: 3 hits

  • … that point Darwin was ‘interrupted’, as he put it, by a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace which …
  • … nor was it recorded in Darwin's ‘Journal’. Chapter 2 is not extant but was recorded in Darwin& …
  • … [1] (not extant) 2 13 October 1856 …

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: 21 hits

  • … that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
  • … summer, and persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled …
  • … diminished even further when he and his family departed on 2 September for more than a month at a …
  • … from ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
  • … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
  • … than  Origin had (see  Correspondence  vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
  • … from animals like the woolly mammoth and cave bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, 23 …
  • … leap from that of inferior animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • … out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
  • … book he wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
  • … I respect you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • … against stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). …
  • … book would scare them off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In May, Darwin responded to …
  • … answering Owen  unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). Hugh Falconer was …
  • … being written by others’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). Falconer published his …
  • … Falconer, 3 January [1863] , and letter to Hugh Falconer, 20 [January 1863] ). Aside from Owen’s …
  • … his and others’ attention ( see letter to J. D. Dana, 20 February [1863] , and letter to Charles …
  • … book on Foraminifera ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [29 March 1863] , and Appendix VII). The …
  • … think of origin of matter.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [29 March 1863] ). Owen’s endorsement of …
  • … of  Antiquity of man  ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] , and letter to  …
  • … amended verdict on the Origin’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 20 April [1863] ). Darwin quoted a sentence …

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: 11 hits

  • … whom he exchanged information and ideas. Letter 346: Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, C. S., 27 Feb …
  • … Caucasian languages separated from one stock.” Letter 2070: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, …
  • … is the grinding down of former continents.” Letter 3054: Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 2
  • … former,—which I tell him is perfectly logical.” Letter 5605: Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. …
  • … whilst young, do they scream & make loud noise?” Letter 7040: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to …
  • … speech from gradually growing to such a stage” Letter 8367: Darwin, C. R. to Wright, …
  • … & thus unconsciously altering the breed. Letter 8962: Darwin, C. R. to Max Müller, …
  • … judge of the arguments opposed to this belief[.]” Letter 10194: Max Müller, Friedrich to …
  • … want, at least in the Science of Language […]” Letter 9887: Dawkins, W. B. to Darwin, C. R. …
  • … hold that language is not a test of race […]” Letter 11074: Sayce, A. H. to Darwin, C. R., …
  • … of wanting to eat, for this movement makes a sound like the letter m.” “For some time past I have …

Language: Interview with Gregory Radick

Summary

Darwin made a famous comment about parallels between changes in language and species change. Gregory Radick, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Leeds University, talks about the importance of the development of language to Darwin, what…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … to Darwin, how did language begin? 2. Was this an important topic for Darwin? And …
  • … sense, a more developed moral sense, and so forth. 2. Was this an important topic for Darwin? …
  • … conversion, not quite at the deathbed, but in 1881, a letter in which Darwin wrote to a friend of …
  • … into this a little bit further, and actually looking at the letter myself, I came to see that this …

Darwin's Fantastical Voyage

Summary

Learn about Darwin's adventures on his epic journey.

Matches: 1 hits

  • … These activities explore Darwin’s life changing voyage aboard HMS Beagle. Using letters home, …

Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments

Summary

1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…

Matches: 22 hits

  • … but really I do think you have a good right to be so’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 and] 20 …
  • … species. Darwin attempted to dissuade him from this view ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 [January 1862 …
  • … partially sterile together. He failed. Huxley replied ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 January 1862 …
  • … and pronounced them ‘simply perfect’, but continued ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 18 December [1862] ) …
  • … resigned to their difference of opinion, but complained ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1862 …
  • … letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] …
  • … protégé, telling Hooker: ‘he is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). …
  • … Towards the end of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): …
  • … condition in  Primula ’, p. 92 ( Collected papers  2: 59)). Darwin later recalled: ‘no little …
  • … and added, ‘new cases are tumbling in almost daily’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). In …
  • … hopeful, became increasingly frustrated, telling Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 March [1862] ) …
  • … on the problem: ‘the labour is great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ), ‘I …
  • … resulted from his ‘ enormous  labour over them’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [October 1862] ; …
  • … Oliver: ‘I can see at least 3 classes of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), …
  • … result once out of four or five sets of experiments’ ( letter to M. T. Masters, 24 July [1862] ). …
  • … one species may be said to be generically distinct’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 14 July [1862] ). The …
  • … wonderfully complex case—’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 29 [July 1862] ). The three forms had …
  • … him ‘great pleasure to ride’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). But he worried about the …
  • … selection through the back door ( letter to Asa Gray, 23[–4] July [1862] ). Moreover, it …
  • … opposition to the  Origin  ’ ( letter from Asa Gray, 2–3 July 1862 ). Henry Walter Bates …
  • … of their letters; Darwin remarked ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 [March 1862] ): ‘It is really …
  • … papers I ever read in my life’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 20 November [1862] ). He discussed it with …
Page:  1 2 3 4 5  ...  Next