To J. D. Hooker [29 December 1880]
Summary
Asks JDH to read the enclosed Memorial, sign it, and send it to T. H. Huxley.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [29 Dec 1880] |
Classmark: | Jeffrey Winograd (private collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11300F |
From W. E. Darwin 10 February [1880]
Summary
"Dia" [as a prefix] means "through, across".
WED’s wife would like to meet the Huxleys.
Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 10 Feb [1880] |
Classmark: | DAR 209.7: 159 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11352 |
From B. J. Sulivan 2 January [1880]
Summary
Repeats extracts of a letter received from Bishop Stirling’s daughter containing anecdotes and observations of the Fuegian natives.
Author: | Bartholomew James Sulivan |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Jan [1880] |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 308 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11818 |
From Francis Darwin [before 15 December 1880]
Summary
Will stay until London until after the Linnean Society meeting unless CD wants anything. Asks to send abstracts of papers. Has made short abstracts of papers for Nature.
Author: | Francis Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [before 15 Dec 1880] |
Classmark: | DAR 274.1: 62 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12379F |
From William Clowes & Sons [before 8 November 1880]
Summary
Explains delay in printing proofs [of Movement in plants?].
Author: | William Clowes & Sons |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [before 8 Nov 1880] |
Classmark: | DAR 161: 180 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12380 |
From James Torbitt [18 March 1880]
Author: | James Torbitt |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [18 Mar 1880] |
Classmark: | DAR 52: E15 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12381 |
To W. E. Darwin [before 16 September 1880]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Date: | [before 16 Sept 1880] |
Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 168 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12383 |
From O. A. Ainslie 2[5] November 188[0]
Author: | Oliver Alexander Ainslie |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2[5] Nov 188[0] |
Classmark: | DAR 159: 11b |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12388 |
To Williams & Norgate [before 4 September 1880]
Summary
Requests a list of books.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Williams & Norgate |
Date: | [before 4 Sept 1880] |
Classmark: | Sotheby’s (dealers) (11 July 2017) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12390F |
To Horace Darwin 1 January 1880
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Horace Darwin |
Date: | 1 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | DAR 185: 6 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12392 |
From C. H. Tindal 1 January 1880
Summary
Encloses extracts from the correspondence of [the Ven. Robert] Clive concerning Erasmus Darwin.
Author: | Charles Harrison Tindal |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 1 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | DAR 227.7: 11–13, 16, 18, 25, 128 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12392F |
From Samuel Butler 2 January 1880
Summary
Asks CD for reference to the edition of Kosmos that contains the original of Ernst Krause’s article on Dr Erasmus Darwin. There are serious differences between the translation by W. S. Dallas and the Feb [1879] article by Krause on which CD, in the preface to Erasmus Darwin, says it was based. SB notes in particular that the concluding sentence of the translation, which is clearly aimed at [SB’s] Evolution, old and new, is not in the original. Since readers will assume the text of Erasmus Darwin was written before his book appeared, SB asks for an explanation.
Author: | Samuel Butler |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | DAR 92: B65–6 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12393 |
From Joseph Prestwich 2 January 1880
Summary
Having reviewed the history of the Glen Roy debate ["On the origin of the parallel roads of Lochaber, and their bearing on other phenomena of the glacial period", Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 170 (1880): 663–776], JP wishes to know whether it is accurate to say CD has abandoned the marine theory.
Author: | Joseph Prestwich |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | DAR 174: 66 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12394 |
To Samuel Butler 3 January 1880
Summary
Krause altered the MS [of his essay on Erasmus Darwin] considerably before sending it to be translated. This is a common practice, but CD now regrets he did not state in his preface that the article had been modified. The translation had been arranged before SB’s book [Evolution, old and new] was announced.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Samuel Butler |
Date: | 3 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 34486 D ff. 84–5) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12396 |
To Joseph Prestwich 3 January 1880
Summary
JP is right; CD gave up [Glen Roy theory] when he read T. F. Jamieson ["On the parallel roads of Glen Roy", Q. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 19 (1863): 235–58].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Prestwich |
Date: | 3 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | DAR 147: 253 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12397 |
From J.-H. Fabre 3 January 1880
Author: | Jean-Henri Casimir (Jean-Henri) Fabre |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 3 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | DAR 164: 1 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12398 |
To B. J. Sulivan 3 January 1880
Summary
Returns BJS’s Christmas good wishes.
The progress of Tierra del Fuego is almost as wonderful as that of Japan.
Is sorry to hear about Mellersh.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Bartholomew James Sulivan |
Date: | 3 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | DAR 147: 515 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12399 |
To Ercole Ricotti 4 January 1880
Summary
Thanks for awarding him the Bressa prize. Has sent an order to receive the 12,000 lira.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Ercole Ricotti |
Date: | 4 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | www.ornithomedia.com/magazine/art_mag441_alberto_masi.pdf (accessed 1 December 2011) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12399F |
From Wallis Nash 4 January 1880
Summary
Reports on the comfortable life of an immigrant in Oregon.
Author: | Wallis Nash |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 4 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | DAR 172: 4 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12400 |
To A. R. Wallace 5 January 1880
Summary
Admiration of ARW’s ["The origin of species and genera", Nineteenth Century (Jan 1880)]. Good use of Allen’s "admirable researches".
Disappointment about the Epping Forest appointment.
Farrer’s article in Fortnightly Review.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
Date: | 5 Jan 1880 |
Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 46434 ff. 286–8) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12401 |
letter | (648) |
Darwin, C. R. | (327) |
Darwin, W. E. | (15) |
Krause, Ernst | (14) |
Torbitt, James | (14) |
Cooke, R. F. | (12) |
Darwin, C. R. | (303) |
Torbitt, James | (17) |
Darwin, G. H. | (16) |
Darwin, W. E. | (14) |
Huxley, T. H. | (14) |

Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms
Summary
‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…
Matches: 30 hits
- … to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880 . Darwin became fully devoted to …
- … of much value to me’ ( letter to C. H. Tindal, 5 January 1880 ). Darwin had employed a genealogist …
- … & even the world’ ( letter from J. L. Chester, 3 March 1880 ). Darwin’s sons George and …
- … of [William Alvey Darwin],’ George wrote on 28 May 1880 , ‘I … said you were anxious not to …
- … letter from W. E. Darwin to Charles and Emma Darwin, 22 July 1880 ). Sales of Erasmus …
- … new was published). Butler wrote to Darwin on 2 January 1880 for an explanation: ‘Among the …
- … I did not do so’ ( letter to Samuel Butler, 3 January 1880 ). At the top of Butler’s letter, Emma …
- … an article upon’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, [28 January 1880] ). Butler had once been an …
- … the public’ ( letter from Samuel Butler, 21 January 1880 ). He stated his case in the Athen …
- … Henrietta ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 1 February [1880] ). ‘The world will only know … that you …
- … she warned ( letter from H. E. Litchfield, [1 February 1880] ). ‘He is a virulent Salamander of a …
- … husband Richard ( letter from R. B. Litchfield, 1 February 1880 ). Even the great controversialist …
- … a horrid disease’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 February 1880 ). All went quiet until …
- … to an elephant’ ( letter from Ernst Krause, 9 December 1880 ). Again, Darwin felt compelled to …
- … behave so differently.’ ( Letter to Asa Gray, 17 February 1880 .) But Gray had based his …
- … agreed with Darwin’s ( letter from Asa Gray, 4 April 1880 ). Having finished the manuscript …
- … or publisher?’ ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). ‘I must take the risk & loss on my …
- … lose some for science’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 21 July 1880 ). The worries were ill founded, …
- … scale’, Darwin wrote to Alphonse de Candolle on 28 May 1880 . Readers trained in zoology realised …
- … ( letter from F. M. Balfour, [22 November 1880] ). George Romanes, who had worked on the nerves of …
- … would have been amply gratified”‘ ( 21 November [1880] ). ‘I had quite forgotten my old ambition …
- … to see anybody’ ( letter to S. H. Haliburton, 13 December 1880 ). Instinct and worms …
- … has amused me’ ( letter to W. C. McIntosh, 18 June 1880 ). Members of the family were enlisted to …
- … ( letter from Horace Darwin to Emma Darwin, [18 September 1880] ). Darwin’s Wedgwood nieces, Sophy …
- … frightens them’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 8 October [1880] ). The role of instinctive …
- … its return’ ( letter from J.-H. Fabre, 18 February 1880 ). Darwin shared the letter with Romanes, …
- … than the baby!’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 17 December 1880 , and letter to G. J. Romanes, 20 …
- … greatly obliged’ ( letter from W. Z. Seddon, 2 February 1880) . Darwin sympathised with the pupil; …
- … has accepted’ ( letter to W. Z. Seddon, 4 February 1880 ). On 16 February , ‘an ardent student’ …
- … to public-school pupils ( letter to Francis Galton, 7 April 1880 , and letter from Francis …

Volume 28 (1880) now published
Summary
1880 opened and closed with an irksome controversy with Samuel Butler, prompted by the publication of Erasmus Darwin the previous year. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of Movement in…
Matches: 5 hits
- … 1880 opened and closed with an irksome controversy with Samuel Butler, prompted …
- … available. Read more about Darwin's life in 1880 in our Life in letters …
- … Scientific Society after meeting Darwin at Down in July 1880. Forty-three members of the society …
- … of his most prized curiosities. They, and others, recognised 1880 as an important year, the year …
- … & nothing else in this world In the autumn of 1880, after finishing work on the …

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: 20 hits
- … The power of movement in plants , published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work …
- … and illustrated Horace’s machine in a paper (F. Darwin 1880, pp. 449–55). Diagram …
- … suggested by Darwin’s son William in February 1880, probably to replace Frank’s ‘Transversal …
- … to translate the paper into German, and it appeared in 1880 (F. Darwin 1880b). In the same letter, …
- … ’. Luckily, De Vries published two papers in 1879 and 1880 that Darwin was later able to refer to in …
- … weight of the seed ( letter from Asa Gray, 3 February 1880 ). The matter was finally settled by an …
- … would be killed by frost ( letter from Asa Gray, 4 April 1880 ). Darwin agreed, ‘ It seems almost …
- … of Plants’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 23 April [1880] ). Cooke replied, ‘ We are as much puzzled as …
- … ’. The manuscript was sent off towards the end of May 1880 and Darwin then spent a fortnight at his …
- … Alphonse de Candolle’s Phytographie (A. de Candolle 1880). In his letter of thanks for the book, …
- … all plants from their earliest youth ’. By July 1880, Darwin was correcting the first sets …
- … copies they should print ( letter to John Murray, 10 July 1880 ). Moreover, since he worried about …
- … on the usual terms ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 15 July 1880 ). This was also preferable to Darwin, …
- … or raising the price ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). Darwin demurred, however, stating, …
- … page numbers ( letter to Francis Darwin, 5 August [1880] ). Darwin was also very taken by Balfour …
- … genesis of the nervous system ’. By mid-September 1880, Darwin was actively engaged with the …
- … to publish it ( letter from J. V. Carus, 18 September 1880 ). The American publisher, D. Appleton …
- … Murray ( letter from D. Appleton & Co., 17 September 1880 ). Darwin was fortunate in having as …
- … and stamens ( letter from Édouard Heckel, 23 September 1880 ). Darwin wanted electrotypes …
- … the cost of these ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 16 October 1880 ). Cooke replied that although the …

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,…

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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 1866] ; 8 June [1867-72?] ) and Sophy ( 8 October [1880] ). The …

Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…

Casting about: Darwin on worms
Summary
Earthworms were the subject of a citizen science project to map the distribution of earthworms across Britain (BBC Today programme, 26 May 2014). The general understanding of the role earthworms play in improving soils and providing nutrients for plants to…
1.15 Albert Goodwin, watercolour
Summary
< Back to Introduction In 1880 the watercolourist Albert Goodwin was apparently invited to Down to produce that rare thing – a portrait of Darwin with members of his family. As Henrietta Litchfield, Darwin’s daughter, explained when she reproduced it…
2.7 Joseph Moore, Midland Union medal
Summary
< Back to Introduction The Midland Union was an association of natural history societies and field clubs across the Midland counties, intended to facilitate – especially through its journal The Midland Naturalist – ‘the interchange of ideas’ and…
Matches: 6 hits
- … It was decided at the Union’s annual meeting in July 1880 to award an annual ‘Darwin Prize’ for the …
- … death in 1882, suggested that the initiation of the medal in 1880 had also been intended as a …
- … founded by the Midland Union of Natural History Societies 1880’. In the centre the name of the …
- … date of creation designed and first produced in 1880 computer-readable date 1880-01-01 …
- … and bibliography letter to E. W. Badger, [19 July 1880], DCP-LETT-12660. ‘Encouragement of …
- … and Field Clubs of the Midland Counties , 3:32 (August 1880), preface and pp. 181–2. Journal of …
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: 5 hits
- … Letter 12389 - Johnson, M. to Darwin, [January 1880] Mary Johnson tells Darwin about her …
- … 12745 - Darwin to Wedg wood, K. E. S., [8 October 1880] Darwin asks his niece, …
- … 12760 - Wedgw ood, K. E. S. to Darwin, [15 October 1880] Darwin’s niece, Katherine …
- … publication of The Movement of Plants in 1880 and his “assistance” is proudly …
- … publication of The Movement of Plants in 1880 and his “assistance” is proudly …

Darwin & Glen Roy
Summary
Although Darwin was best known for his geological work in South America and other remote Beagle destinations, he made one noteworthy attempt to explain a puzzling feature of British geology. In 1838, two years after returning from the voyage, he travelled…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 14 October [1862] To Joseph Prestwich, 3 January 1880 …

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…

What is an experiment?
Summary
Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…
Matches: 1 hits
- … when at work’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 25 December [1880] ). Horace Darwin’s …

Power of movement in plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Family experiments Darwin was an active and engaged father during his children's youth, involving them in his experiments and even occasionally using them as observational subjects. When his children…
Matches: 4 hits
- … on experiments for The Power of Movement in Plants (1880). The correspondence between Darwin …
- … to his theory of evolution by natural selection. This 1880 book sought to illustrate that evolution …
- … Darwin, C.R. The power of movement in plants. 1880. London: John Murray. Chapter nine: …
- … publication of The Power of Movement in Plants in 1880. After reading Chapter Nine of …

Moral Nature
Summary
In Descent of Man, Darwin argued that human morality had evolved from the social instincts of animals, especially the bonds of sympathy and love. Darwin gathered observations over many decades on animal behavior: the heroic sacrifices of social insects,…
Religion
Summary
Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…

Darwin and the Church
Summary
The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It shows another side of the man who is more often remembered for his personal struggles with faith, or for his role in large-scale controversies over the…
4.40 'Phrenological Magazine'
Summary
< Back to Introduction Among the stranger uses of Rejlander’s photograph of Darwin (the very popular profile view) was as an illustration in Lorenzo Niles Fowler’s Phrenological Magazine of 1880; it accompanied an article titled ‘Charles Darwin – A…
Matches: 3 hits

Florence Caroline Dixie
Summary
On October 29th 1880, Lady Florence Dixie wrote a letter to Charles Darwin from her home in the Scottish Borders; “Whilst reading the other day your very interesting account of A Naturalist’s Voyage round the world,” she said, “I came across a passage…of…