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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: 23 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can …
- … as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 27 July [1872] ). By the end of the year Darwin …
- … to spread my views’, he wrote to his publisher, John Murray, on 30 January , shortly after …
- … The public are accustomed to novels for 1s’, he wrote to Murray on 8 January , but Murray …
- … s. 6 d. ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 February 1872 ). Always closely involved in …
- … translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September 1872 ). He recapped the history of the French …
- … of the year ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 23 November 1872 ). To persuade his US publisher, …
- … Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). A worsening breach The …
- … beautiful’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 3 March 1872 ). I consider that you have …
- … Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). Piqued, Mivart flung back by return of post …
- … errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January 1872 ). Darwin likened the affair to the …
- … towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872] ). Despite Darwin’s request that he …
- … world’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 10 January 1872 ). Darwin, determined to have the last …
- … acknowledge it ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). 'I hate controversy,’ Darwin …
- … I do it badly’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 3 August [1872] ). Darwin's theories under …
- … Hooker’s cause was taken up by his friends, in particular John Lubbock and John Tyndall, as one …
- … to Gladstone a week later ( enclosure to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, 20 June 1872 …
- … photographic plates with his overseas publishers, and with John Murray’s assistant, the excitable …
- … of the booksellers, encouraged an originally cautious John Murray to gamble on the book’s success: & …
- … attractive dishes in his `Literary Banquet’ (letters from John Murray, 6 November [1872] and 9 …
- … in those born blind, and filed away other letters, but Murray’s confidence proved misplaced; demand …
- … to supply comparative observations, and Darwin’s protégé John Scott, now employed as a curator in …
- … a copy of Expression to another old Cambridge friend, John Maurice Herbert, who when they were …
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: 14 hits
- … was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, …
- … series of guides and also published travel books. Successive John Murrays ran the publishing house; …
- … University Library a similar number of letters from John Murray and Robert Cooke, his cousin and …
- … had proved to be a scientific best-seller for the second John Murray, to open negotiations with his …
- … began the business relationship between Charles Darwin and John Murray. Darwin’s next …
- … Navy: and adapted for travellers in general edited by John Herschel, but there was an error at …
- … . Again he asked Lyell to act as his intermediary with John Murray ( Letter 2437 ), who, without …
- … would be a success: shortly before publication he wrote to Murray, ‘I heartily hope that my Book …
- … undertaken it’ (15 October [1859] Letter 2506 ). Murray decided on a retail price of 14 s ., …
- … had paid Darwin profits of nearly £3000. The third John Murray made a successful business …
- … ). Darwin’s next publishing project with John Murray in 1869 was a translation into English …
- … in the Quarterly Review , a magazine published by John Murray.The pamphlets were not primarily …
- … for the immense popularity of its author’ (9 November 1872). Seven thousand copies were required to …
- … to get 6 Policemen to defend this house’ (25 November 1872 Letter 8646 ). Fortunately, the …
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 8 hits
- … in man and animals ( Expression ), published in 1872. Although Darwin had been collecting …
- … of the size of the two-volume work from his publisher, John Murray, he wrote to Murray on 3 …
- … a chapter ‘on Man’. After a few days, he wrote back to Murray proposing that some of the more …
- … is as good as praise for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] ). A …
- … and the tedious work of correction began. Darwin wrote to Murray on 18 March to say that he …
- … to translate Variation . Indeed, he told his publisher, John Murray, in a letter of 4 April …
- … time it took William Sweetland Dallas to prepare the index. John Murray had engaged Dallas and …
- … was sure that the colours were protective and suggested that John Jenner Weir might conduct …
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: 8 hits
- … target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
- … chapters of Origin of Species to his publisher, John Murray. He hopes that his views are …
- … her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 September …
- … perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, J., [29 September 1870] …
- … Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, [16 May 1872] Reade tells Darwin of his …
- … Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, [20 May 1872] Reade shares with Darwin his …
- … 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to Darwin, E., [8 November 1872] Ann Cupples asks Emma to …
- … - Innes, J. B. to Darwin, [31 August 1868] John Innes reports that he has read …
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: 22 hits
- … for the book may have been increased by the publication in 1872 of Corals and coral islands , by …
- … had been in two volumes and had cost twenty-four shillings.) Murray’s partner, Robert Francis Cooke, …
- … Quarterly Review discussing works on primitive man by John Lubbock and Edward Burnett Tylor. It …
- … of anonymous reviews. Its proprietor was none other than John Murray, Darwin’s publisher. So …
- … wording of both the letter to the editor and the letter to Murray to accompany it. The depth of …
- … a new publisher’ and advised that Darwin should not push Murray to the point of cutting off …
- … [6 or 7 August 1874] ). When the letter was finally sent to Murray, Darwin referred only to their …
- … ‘asking a favour ‘. He explained why he had written to Murray and not the editor of the Quarterly …
- … to review me in a hostile spirit’ ( letter to John Murray, 11 August 1874 ). Darwin was …
- … vol. 20, letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). To Darwin’s relief, Murray replied …
- … number of the Review & in the same type’ ( letter from John Murray, 12 August 1874 ). George …
- … anonymous reviews. While staying with Hooker over Christmas, John Tyndall, professor at and …
- … as ‘the natural outflow of his character’ ( letter from John Tyndall, 28 December 1874 ). …
- … vol. 20, letter to Hubert Airy, 24 August 1872 ). The passage took twelve weeks aboard the …
- … to purchase the wooded land, which he had been renting from John Lubbock, led to a straining of …
- … the sale was agreed in April for £300 ( letter from John Lubbock, 2 April 1874 ), a high price …
- … for about a week ( letter from E. E. Klein, 14 May 1874 ). John Burdon Sanderson sent the results …
- … of other insect-eating plants. The surgeon and botanist John Ralfs sent Utricularia from …
- … in order to work on its difficult structures ( letter to John Ralfs, 13 July [1874] ). The …
- … a printed appeal for funds, raising £860 ( Circular to John Lubbock, P. L. Sclater, Charles Lyell, …
- … from E. A. Darwin, 17 [March 1874] ). He tried to persuade John Murray to publish a second edition …
- … authority on marriage customs in Descent ( see letter John Murray, 9 May [1874] ). He …
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: 4 hits
- … published, 1869 6 th English edition published, 1872 1 st to 2 …
- … incessantly receiving letters with references’ he told Murray , with friends suggesting expansion …
- … Hist. progresses so quickly’, he complained to Murray , ‘that I must make a good many corrections …
- … a larger target audience were also made. Darwin persuaded John Murray to include a glossary of …
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: 11 hits
- … on 24 February, and all 2500 copies were sold in a week. ‘Murray says he is “torn to pieces” by …
- … on 28 February . Demand continued throughout the year, and Murray produced three more printings, …
- … £1470 for the first two printings, Darwin wrote to Murray on 20 March 1871 , ‘It is quite a grand …
- … expressed by Darwin’s old friend, the former vicar of Down John Brodie Innes. Darwin and Innes had …
- … ‘a windbag full of metaphysics & classics’ ( letter to John Murray, 13 April [1871] ). …
- … Gazette , and wrote to its author, who turned out to be John Morley, a leading advocate of …
- … and transmitted by culture, not biology ( letter from John Morley, 30 March 1871 ). …
- … by his wife and children. William offered his assessment of John Stuart Mill’s theory of …
- … he suspected that very few would actually sell (letters to John Murray, 17 August [1871] and …
- … Wallace, 4 August [1871] ). On 23 September he informed Murray that owing to poor health he had …
- … years following the publication of Origin of species . Murray convinced him to appear in Vanity …
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
- … Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [13 December 1872] Mary Treat details her …
- … Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to Darwin, [17 December 1872] Dora Roberts reports an …
- … to Darwin, [1873] Ellen Lubbock, wife of naturalist John Lubbock, responds to Darwin’s …
- … 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John Scott responds to Darwin’s queries …
- … 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] Darwin asks his niece, Lucy, …
- … 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] Amy Ruck reports the results …
- … Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin asks his …
- … Letter 8169 - Wedgwood, L. to Darwin, [20 January, 1872] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, gives the …
- … - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments he is undertaking …
- … challenging ideas. Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
- … 8427 - Darwin to Litc hfield, H. E., [25 July 1872] Darwin thanks Henrietta for …
- … editorial criticism of a paper written by English naturalist John Lubbock. In addition to offering …
- … 8153 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [9 January 1872] Darwin thanks his son William …
- … - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments he is undertaking …
- … Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [13 December 1872] Mary Treat details her …
St George Jackson Mivart
Summary
In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…
Matches: 10 hits
- … July 1874, Mivart published an anonymous review of works by John Lubbock and Edward Burnett Tylor in …
- … also wondering whether he should break off relations with John Murray, his own publisher and also …
- … paper, which Darwin pointed out was not the kind of thing Murray would be likely to wish to …
- … and Darwin were also collaborating over Darwin’s letter to Murray, in which Darwin was to ask Murray …
- … between the two of them. Darwin sent George’s letter to Murray with his letter of 11 August 1874 …
- … courteous response, agreeing to all he asked ( letter from John Murray, 12 August 1874 ). …
- … dangerous and pernicious. Darwin thanked Murray for sending him the issue of the …
- … having been used in a Pickwickian sense’ ( letter to John Murray, 18 October 1874 ). In other …
- … refers to Darwin’s letter to Mivart of 11 January 1872 ( Correspondence vol. 20), in which he …
- … the president, George Allman: he had already spoken to John Tyndall ( letter from John Tyndall, 28 …
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: 15 hits
- … March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If any man wants to …
- … domestication . Having been advertised by the publisher John Murray as early as 1865, the two …
- … increased the amount of work substantially. Darwin asked Murray to intervene, complaining on 9 …
- … a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s angry letter to Murray crossed one from Dallas to himself, …
- … a cheque to Dallas for £55 s ., and recommended to Murray that Dallas receive additional payment. …
- … of the book were sold within a month of its release, and Murray made immediate arrangements for a …
- … profound contempt of me. I feel convinced it is by Owen’. John Edward Gray, a colleague of Richard …
- … me in the face, but not behind my back’ ( letter to John Murray, 25 February [1868] ). Wallace …
- … R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] ). The review was in fact by John Robertson, a Scottish journalist …
- … a letter of thanks to the naturalist and customs offcial John Jenner Weir for a paper on apterous …
- … depends on the actions of the female’, and of rats, John Bush observed on 30 March that two …
- … the whole System is sustained.’ The former Down clergyman, John Brodie Innes, passed easily over …
- … letter to J. B. Innes, 1 December 1868 ), his replacement, John Warburton Robinson, proved no …
- … and joy. Satisfaction in one’s children, Darwin wrote to John Price on 26 November , was ‘the …
- … poets, and men of science, including Adam Sedgwick, John Stevens Henslow, and William Jackson Hooker …
John Maurice Herbert
Summary
John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. He was affectionately called ‘Cherbury’ by Darwin, a reference to the seventeenth-century philosopher Edward Herbert, Baron Cherbury, who, like John Herbert, hailed from…
Matches: 4 hits
- … John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. …
- … philosopher Edward Herbert, Baron Cherbury, who, like John Herbert, hailed from Montgomeryshire in …
- … surprised and gratified me more ’, he told Herbert in 1872. Darwin evidently asked Herbert …
- … chapter. Edited by Francis Darwin. 3 vols. London: John Murray. 1887–8. …
Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…
Matches: 6 hits
- … of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms. London: John Murray. Chapters 1 and 3. …
- … 8137 - William Darwin to Charles Darwin, 1 January 1872 Darwin’s eldest son writes …
- … observed so much without aid.” [Letter 8140, 3 January 1872] Letters 8144 , 8169 …
- … its significance. Letter 13632 - Darwin to John Murray, 21 January 1882 In his …
- … 1. What do you think of Darwin's letter to John Murray? What does Darwin make of the influence …
- … [1] Charles Darwin, Vegetable Mould and Earth-Worms (London: John Murray, 1881), 26. …
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 13 hits
- … on the common sundew, Drosera rotundifolia , in August 1872, but was interrupted by revisions to …
- … Thomas Lauder Brunton, a specialist in pharmacology, and John Scott Burdon Sanderson, a professor at …
- … “for Heaven knows when it will be ready” ( letter to John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). Keeping …
- … Expression had been published at the end of November 1872 and sold quickly. He wrote to Hooker …
- … with leading physiologists such as David Ferrier and John Hughlings Jackson. Darwin declined to …
- … Instinct In February, Darwin received a letter from John Traherne Moggridge on the nature of …
- … fund was first suggested in early April by Katharine Murray Lyell in conversation with Emma Darwin, …
- … A group of Huxley’s close friends, including Hooker, John Lubbock, Herbert Spencer, John Tyndall, …
- … edition was called for. There were commercial advantages for Murray in bringing out a substantially …
- … your own power & usefulness”, citing the examples of John Stuart Mill and Charles Lyell, who …
- … from Ernst Meitzen, 17 January 1873 ). A poor-law officer, John Farr, wrote: “Faith like Species, …
- … more permanent than species are permanent” ( letter from John Farr, 7 July 1873 ). Further …
- … closer to home, when he was graced by an invitation from John Jenner Weir to act as a patron of the …
Darwin in public and private
Summary
Extracts from Darwin's published works, in particular Descent of man, and selected letters, explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual selection in humans, and both his publicly and privately expressed views on its practical implications…
Matches: 4 hits
- … of favoured races in the struggle for life , (London: John Murray, 1st ed., 1859), p. 88. 2) …
- … descent of man, and selection in relation to sex , (London: John Murray, 1st ed., 1871), vol. 1., …
- … of man and lower animals. Letter 7329 – Murray, J. to Darwin, [28 September 1870] …
- … Letter 8146 – Darwin to Treat, M., [5 January 1872] Darwin praises Mary Treat’s …
Survival of the fittest: the trouble with terminology Part II
Summary
The most forceful and persistent critic of the term ‘natural selection’ was the co-discoverer of the process itself, Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace seized on Herbert Spencer’s term ‘survival of the fittest’, explicitly introduced as an alternative way of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the fittest’ as ‘survival of the better’ (see Spencer 1872, and the letter to Herbert Spencer, 10 …
Forms of flowers
Summary
Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…
Matches: 5 hits
- … results of similar work carried out by correspondents like John Scott . Scott had been studying …
- … and The expression of the emotions in man and animals (1872). On completion of these works, …
- … to write Forms of flowers . He contacted his publisher John Murray in early April 1877, …
- … wish to complete the series ’. He seemed unsure that Murray would publish the book on his usual …
- … to Darwin), so asked for it to be published on commission if Murray did not want to take the risk. …
Movement in Plants
Summary
The power of movement in plants, published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work that Darwin wrote. It was the only work in which the assistance of one of his children, Francis Darwin, is mentioned on the title page. The research for this…
Matches: 7 hits
- … no stranger to physiology in contexts other than botany. His 1872 work, Expression of the emotions …
- … Movements of Plants’, he told Robert Cooke of John Murray publishers, before suggesting ‘The …
- … about the number of copies they should print ( letter to John Murray, 10 July 1880 ). Moreover, …
- … good deal more’ than any of Darwin’s previous works, Murray was willing to publish on the usual …
- … as soon as stereotypes of the text were available from Murray ( letter from D. Appleton & Co., …
- … publication will not cost me quite so much as I expected. Murray has sold 800 copies. The Times …
- … to his son George, ‘ Hurrah for the old bloody Times, Murray says 500 copies urgently required ’. …
4.14 'Fun' cartoon, 'That troubles'
Summary
< Back to Introduction Of all the cartoons showing Darwin as an ape, ‘That troubles our monkey again’ by John Gordon Thomson is the only one that hints, albeit playfully, at improper behaviour. Descent of Man had been criticised for its apparent…
Matches: 4 hits
- … Darwin as an ape, ‘That troubles our monkey again’ by John Gordon Thomson is the only one that hints …
- … Library originator of image drawn by John Gordon Thomson (signed in monogram bottom left …
- … Darwin’s feet) date of creation November 1872 computer-readable date …
- … ‘The Emotions’, a poem in Fun (16 November 1872), p. 200. George and Edward Dalziel, The …
Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts
Summary
At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…
Matches: 6 hits
- … and amphibians, while Roland Trimen in South Africa and John Jenner Weir in London sent more …
- … in man and animals ( Expression ), published in 1872, more than a year after Descent . …
- … and broadening the forums in which Darwinism was discussed. John Murray brought out the first issue …
- … a higher tone of Criticism than that now prevailing’. Here Murray was alluding particularly to the …
- … wish your Periodical all success’, Darwin wrote to Murray, ‘I wish it had been weekly, as then …
- … that to me would have been a pleasing sight’ ( letter to John Murray, [after 18 September 1869] ). …
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: 13 hits
- … of a paper by another of his orchid correspondents, John Traherne Moggridge, who in June sent him …
- … of insect pollinators in 1864 and following years. John Scott again Much of Darwin’s …
- … plight of another of Darwin’s fellow orchid-experimenters, John Scott. Their correspondence had been …
- … five years. Scott felt that his superiors, James McNab and John Hutton Balfour, no longer treated …
- … indomitable perseverance, and his knowledge’ ( letter to John Scott, 10 June 1864 ). Hooker met …
- … support ‘on the grounds of science’ ( letter to John Scott, 9 April 1864 ), but Scott declined …
- … 1864 ). A notably rambling and long letter arrived from John Beck, a Shrewsbury schoolfellow of …
- … by a merciful deity for the use of humankind ( letter from John Beck, 6 October 1864 ). …
- … his brother Erasmus told him of a subscription fund for John William Colenso, bishop of Natal, South …
- … that a Neanderthal race once extended across Europe. John Lubbock mentioned his forthcoming volume …
- … for The expression of the emotions in man and animals (1872). The Copley medal …
- … of the Royal Society, Edward Sabine, to the geologist John Phillips revealed Sabine’s fears that in …
- … ever so little degree the Council’s award’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 21 December [1864] ). In …
