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To the Lords of the Admiralty [2–4 July 1866]
Summary
Petition earnestly requesting that a ship surveying the Strait of Magellan collect fossil bones in the south of Patagonia.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Admiralty |
| Date: | [2–4 July 1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 96: 25–6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5142 |
To the Admiralty 9 [May 1846]
Summary
Encloses letter and paper to be forwarded to B. J. Sulivan.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Admiralty |
| Date: | 9 [May 1846] |
| Classmark: | Houghton Library, Harvard University (Autograph File, D) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-694 |
Author
| Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
Addressee
| Admiralty | (2) |
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10 Items
Conrad Martens
Summary
Conrad Martens was born in London, the son of an Austrian diplomat. He studied landscape painting under the watercolourist Copley Fielding (1789–1855), who also briefly taught Ruskin. In 1833 he was on board the Hyacinth, headed for India, but en route in…
Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles
Summary
Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…
Matches: 17 hits
- … hurrah for my species-work’ ( Correspondence vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
- … through his participation in the publication of an Admiralty Manual of scientific enquiry (1849) …
- … William Herschel, to write the chapter on geology ( letter to J. F. W. Herschel, 4 February [1848] …
- … by Darwin on the use of microscopes on board ship ( see letter to Richard Owen, [26 March 1848] ). …
- … leading questions and wide views spelt out by Darwin in the Admiralty Manual are also those on …
- … to Milne directly, he sent a long rejoinder in the form of a letter for publication in the Scotsman. …
- … asked for it to be destroyed. Only the draft of Darwin’s letter remains ( letter to the Scotsman …
- … that his original fieldwork was ‘time thrown away’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8 [September 1847] ) …
- … that it would be a ‘thorn in the side of É de B.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 3 January 1850 ). …
- … marine invertebrates himself (see Correspondence vol. 2, letter to Leonard Jenyns, 10 April [1837]) …
- … opinion that such a monograph was a ‘desideratum’ ( letter to J. L. R. Agassiz, 22 October 1848 ), …
- … abortive stamens or pistils ( Correspondence vol. 2, letter from J. S. Henslow, 21 November …
- … care what you say, my species theory is all gospel.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 May 1848 ). …
- … sacrifice the rule of priority for the sake of expedience ( letter to H. E. Strickland, [4 February …
- … it as ‘the greatest curse to natural History’ ( letter to H. E. Strickland, 29 January [1849] ). …
- … Museum of Zoology, has been transcribed with Darwin’s letter to H. E. Strickland, 29 January [1849 …
- … the battle, he gave up only from fatigue and ill health ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 April 1849 ). …
Robert FitzRoy
Summary
Robert FitzRoy was captain of HMS Beagle when Darwin was aboard. From 1831 to 1836 the two men lived in the closest proximity, their relationship revealed by the letters they exchanged while Darwin left the ship to explore the countries visited during the…
Matches: 3 hits
- … In September 1831 he was informed by Francis Beaufort of the Admiralty that a ‘Savant’ had been …
- … system of recording wind force and weather conditions on an Admiralty ship, and quick to adopt other …
- … In 1859, Darwin guessed that FitzRoy was the author of a letter to The Times, full of ‘ conceit …
The Voyage of the Beagle
Summary
It was a letter from his friend and former teacher, John Stevens Henslow, that brought the 22-year-old Charles Darwin news of the offer of a place on board the Admiralty surveying vessel HMS Beagle on a voyage to chart the coast of South America. During…
Matches: 3 hits
Darwin & coral reefs
Summary
The central idea of Darwin's theory of coral reef formation, as it was later formulated, was that the islands were formed by the upward growth of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. It overturned previous ideas and would in itself…
Matches: 6 hits
- … of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. A letter from Robert Edward Alison, who had …
- … was well stocked with works about earlier voyages and the Admiralty orders had specifically …
- … first sighting of a coral island is confirmed by a letter to his sister Caroline, written on 29 …
- … the time of the visit of the Beagle to Tahiti. The letter of 29 April was written shortly after …
- … he had a sound theory and one that was worth publishing. The letter continues: ‘I hope to be able to …
- … heart’ to have finished writing his book on coral reefs: letter to Leonard Jenyns [9 May 1842] . …
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: 8 hits
- … ‘all kinds of facts’ across a wide range of fields ( letter to W. D. Fox [25 January 1841] ). He …
- … controlled by European nations. The British Association, the Admiralty, and other institutions …
- … men, with a curb on make far the best observers’ ( letter to C. H. L. Woodd , 4 March 1850 ). He …
- … speculation there is no good & original observation’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 December …
- … of an engineer on his early experiments with Drosera ( letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December …
- … ‘I have become very fond of little experiments’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [21 March 1857] ; …
- … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But …
- … at Science … & am never happy except when at work’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 25 December [1880 …
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: 29 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 …
- … itself, or gone some other way round?’ At least the last letter of 1879 contained a warmer note and …
- … office to complete Horace’s marriage settlement ( letter from W. M. Hacon, 31 December 1879 ). …
- … 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 …
- … FitzRoy on the Beagle voyage, Francis Beaufort of the Admiralty described the unknown young man …
- … known philosopher and poet’ ( Correspondence vol. 1, letter from Francis Beaufort to Robert …
- … these things with the when & the where, & the who—’ ( letter from V. H. Darwin, 28 May …
- … paternal grandparents thought ‘perfect in every way’ ( letter from E. A. Wheler, 25 March 1879 ). …
- … heard of him ‘constantly, & always with pride’ ( letter from Reginald Darwin, 29 March 1879 ). …
- … essay might end up ‘interfering with each other’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 27 March 1879 ). Darwin …
- … made such an introduction ‘almost indispensable’ ( letter from Ernst Krause, 7 June 1879 ). Darwin …
- … everything into ridicule. He hates scientific men’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 14 May 1879 ). …
- … must be ‘in some degree interesting to the public’ ( letter to Reginald Darwin, 10 April [1879] ). …
- … ‘very tastefully and well, and with little fatigue’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 , and …
- … ‘more perplexed than ever about life of D r . D’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 12 July [1879] ). …
- … telling, and he regretted going beyond his ‘tether’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 5 June 1879 …
- … never again to be tempted out of his ‘proper work’ ( letter to James Paget, 14 July 1879 ). At …
- … of the tips of radicles, the embryonic roots of seedlings ( letter to Francis Darwin, 16 June [1879 …
- … experienced obstacles from the start, as he reported in a letter of 29 May . Sachs had changed …
Introduction to the Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle
Summary
'a humble toadyish follower…': Not all pictures of Darwin during the Beagle voyage are flattering. Published here for the first time is a complete transcript of a satirical account of the Beagle’s brief visit in 1836 to the Cocos Keeling islands…
Matches: 3 hits
- … are not so marked. A final set refers to a comparison of a letter and a newspaper editorial. In all …
- … FitzRoy’s instructions from “Headquarters” (i.e. the Admiralty) drawn up by Francis Beaufort in 1830 …
- … of Cocos-Keeling as a British possession, whereas the Admiralty formally considered the visit as a …
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 28 hits
- … Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But …
- … able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
- … once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
- … see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 …
- … work doing me any harm—any how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
- … production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January …
- … of “Domestic Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
- … good deal I think, & have come to more definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December …
- … ‘I quite follow you in thinking Agassiz glacier-mad’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8[–9] September …
- … ten times more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] …
- … past few years. Emma described the Royal Society event in a letter to George: ‘Your father … entered …
- … you—& told me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). …
- … 3 calls! & then went for ¾ to Zoolog. Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 April 1866 …
- … delighted to come on those terms so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [ c . 10 May …
- … very much to see him, though I dread all exertion’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [12 May 1866] ). …
- … to Madeira. His visit to Down House is described in a letter from Henrietta to George: ‘when first …
- … most magnificent eulogium which it has ever received’ ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 18 August [1866] …
- … like myself weak in his Greek, is something dreadful’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1866] …
- … progressive, teleological development ( see for example, letter to C. W. Nägeli, 12 June [1866] ). …
- … His drawings of C. scoparius , sent to Darwin with his letter of 8 May [1866] , allowed …
- … initial state of dimorphism’ (Correspondence vol. 9, letter from Asa Gray, 11 October 1861 ). …
- … that the species was ‘merely ordinaryly diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, [7 May – 11 June 1866 …
- … the Rhamnus is a case of dimorphic becoming diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 20 June [1866] ) …
- … blows up— I am well accustomed to such explosions’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 22 June [1866] ). He …
- … be honest, & admit how little is known on the subject’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 and 4 August …
- … to see how differently we look at every thing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 August [1866] ). Yet …
- … a world of good, & we have been at it many a long year’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February …
- … of his sons, newly promoted in the navy, and of the Admiralty’s plans to return to the site in …
Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, by John Clunies Ross. Transcription by Katharine Anderson
Summary
[f.146r Title page] Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle Supplement / to the 2nd 3rd and Appendix Volumes of the First / Edition Written / for and in the name of the Author of those / Volumes By J.C. Ross. / Sometime Master of a…
Matches: 12 hits
- … Captain (now Admiral) Beaufort Hydrographer to the Admiralty has indeed pronounced “that name …
- … a moment longer to come home as he deserved to do.” That letter they shewed to Mr Ross and requested …
- … to somewhere else” – so now read “your brother's letter and then we may have something sure to …
- … wrote to him immediately before leaving for Sumatra – a letter calculated to elicit something …
- … – not all exaggerated – and Mr R sent him back with a letter [ f.183r p.73 ] as he proposed. …
- … was not of any profitable description but of what Mr H in letter to Mr R denominated “fiddle faddle” …
- … to a note from Mr H concerning the last mentioned fugitive a letter which – Mr H sent to Mr R – …
- … ] The three or four runaways mentioned in the forgoing letter had run to apply to Mr Ross – and on …
- … from frequenting your islands &c” and in this his second letter he writes “I told you how it …
- … at present only as by the bye” – In reply to Mr Ross’ letter which he sent with the paper –Mr H …
- … the Eastern one may be seen by the following extract from a letter dated 19 th May and sent by Mr …
- … Copy Extract Of a letter sent to Captain Ross by Captain Harding of H.M …
