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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…

Matches: 16 hits

  • … of departure reviews of Origin . The second is a single letter from naturalist A. R. Wallace to …
  • … everything is the result of “brute force”. Letter 2855 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 3 …
  • … nature, as he is in a “muddle” on this issue. Letter 3256 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
  • … shares a witty thought experiment about an angel. Letter 3342 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • … He asks Gray some questions about design. Letter 6167 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 8 …
  • … of my precipice”. Darwin and Wallace Letter 5140 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, …
  • … of variations. Darwin and Graham Letter 13230 — Darwin, C. R. to Graham, …
  • … of people, including members of his own family. Letter 441 — Wedgwood, Emma to Darwin, …
  • … — Shaw, James to Darwin, C. R., 20 Nov 1865 Scottish school teacher and writer James Shaw …
  • … played an active role in the affairs of St Mary's Church at Down village. The following three …
  • … the church, to the relationship between the church and school at Down, to the scandalous departure …
  • … plans with respect to the Church. Church and School Letter 1536 — Darwin, C. …
  • … after consultation with John Innes (perpetual curate of Down), on some difficulties that have arisen …
  • … fell to the minister, and the direction of the school was placed in the hands of a committee …
  • … of local residents who subscribed to the support of the school. Failure to comply with this …
  • … rumours about himself coupled with his unhappiness in Down, he will resign curacy of Down. …

John Lort Stokes

Summary

John Lort Stokes, naval officer, was Charles Darwin’s cabinmate on the Beagle voyage – not always an enviable position.  After Darwin’s death, Stokes penned a description of their evenings spent working at the large table at the centre, Stokes at his…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … to resume his labours for a while, when he had again to lie down. ( LL 1: 224) Despite …
  • … on the Beagle since 1825.  Before going back on board after their voyage, he attended the …
  • … published as Discoveries in Australia (1846). In the letter Darwin sent when he returned the …
  • … latter’s exploratory expedition as ‘ that of a set of School Boys ’. Stokes accidentally left the …

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: 23 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 ). …
  • … 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 ); …
  • … numbers and sex ratios among the Pitcairn islanders ( letter from William Dealtry, 16 January 1874 …
  • … will say that I have pounded the enemy into a jelly’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 14 April 1874 ). …
  • … by none but anatomists; and never mind where it goes’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 16 April 1874 ). …
  • … the return on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 …
  • … had given up the idea of a medical career, and moved back to Down with Amy to become Darwin’s …
  • … local disputes that the Darwins had with the vicar of Down, George Sketchley Ffinden, including one …
  • … Gardens and gardeners Darwin’s garden at Down continued to be a source of inspiration.  In …
  • … capacities of young animals that he invited him to lunch at Down. He reported to his son George that …
  • … Darwin took care of his close friend Hooker, who stayed at Down after his wife Frances Harriet died …
  • … naturaliste autour du monde  (Naturalist’s journey on board the Beagle) in December ( letter from …

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…

Matches: 20 hits

  • … theory for religion. His local activities in the village of Down paint a fascinating picture of a …
  • … & I can see it even through a grove of Palms.—’ (letter to Caroline Darwin, 25–6 April [1832] …
  • … wrote to the contrary: ‘I am sorry to see in your last letter that you still look forward to the …
  • … near the British Museum or some other learned place’ (letter from E. A. Darwin, 18 August [1832] …
  • … it is a sort of scene I never ought to think about—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, [9–12 August] 1835 ). …
  • … but assuredly not that of a clergyman. The parish of Down In 1842, within six years of …
  • … his role in local charities, his supervision of church and school finances, and his general concern …
  • … involved. Although he was not the principal landowner in Down, Darwin was a gentleman of means, and …
  • … Innes (1817–94). Innes was named perpetual curate of Down in 1846 (Crockford’s). Innes was a High …
  • … However, what remains is cordial; in the first extant letter of the correspondence, Darwin wrote to …
  • … he would make an excellent Guardian [of the Poor Fund]’ (letter to J. W. Lubbock, 28 March [1854] …
  • … club the use of his own lawn for its meetings (Moore 1985; letter to J. S. Henslow, 17 January …
  • … entrusted the family’s dog, Quiz, when he moved away from Down (letter to J. B. Innes, 15 December …
  • … Darwin was developed not only by years of daily contact in Down, but also by also by several decades …
  • … to Horsman. He also hastily asked around and examined the school account books, advancing the …
  • … to testify in a suit brought by Horsman relating to the Down school and organ funds (letter to J. B. …
  • … the Coal and Clothing Club, as well as the Anglican National School (Moore 1985). Nevertheless, …
  • … vast majority of village schools in this period, the Down school was Anglican. Emma wished it to be …
  • … in London for support, and presented their answer to the School Committee (letter to Down School
  • … as an encroachment, and the use of Church property like the school building by persons who were not …

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: 24 hits

  • … of the same notebook, with the text of each written upside down with respect to the other. The …
  • … Catalogue of the library of Charles Darwin now in the Botany School, Cambridge  (1908)), remained …
  • … points very good. Smart 17  Beginning of a New School of metaphysic. [Smart 1839] about …
  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
  • … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
  • … Livingston on Sheep [Livingston 1809]. Communicat to Board of Agriculture. vol 6 quoted by …
  • … 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] …
  • … 1721]—— nothing—— May. Communications to the Board of Agriculture [ Communications to the …
  • … der Kartoffeln [Putsche 1819]. —— Mem: of Board of Agriculture of New York [ Memoirs of   …
  • … & vars. [Sweet 1820–30] Hort. Soc.? New York Board of Agriculture [ Memoirs of the Board
  • … [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 …
  • … 53  These two entries were written upside down at the bottom of the page. 54  The …
  • … ( 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 …
  • … relative to Merino sheep.  Communications to the Board of Agriculture, on subjects   relative to …
  • … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832.  A letter in vindication of   the principles of …
  • … Travels in Siberia: including   excursions northwards, down the Obi, to the Polar Circle,   and …
  • … by Bekhur to   Garoo and the Lake Manasarowara: with a letter from … J.   G. Gerard, Esq. …
  • … Marshall, William. 1818.  A review of the reports to the Board of   Agriculture; from the …
  • … 1848.  Narrative of events in Borneo and   Celebes, down to the occupation of Labuan: from the …
  • … Smart, Benjamin Humphrey. 1839.  Beginnings of a new school of   metaphysics: three essays in one …
  • … 1841–8.  119: 22a Communications to the Board of Agriculture on subjects   relative to …

Darwin and religion in America

Summary

Thomas Dixon, 'America’s Difficulty with Darwin', History Today (2009), reproduced by permission.  Darwin has not been forgotten. But he has, in some respects, been misremembered. That has certainly been true when it comes to the relationship…

Matches: 9 hits

  • … and nature. At the foot of the page are the words: ‘Down, Bromley, Kent, October 1 st , 1859.’ …
  • … prepared to be more open about his religious doubts. In a letter written late in his life (one …
  • … religious instruction would take place at home and at Sunday school. It was this …
  • … in the 1920s objected to their children returning from school talking like ‘little atheists’ about …
  • … to a national panic over American scientific standards from school level upwards. The post-Scopes …
  • … ‘hard rock’, and even terrorism. The axe trying to cut down the tree was called ‘Scientific …
  • … in 2005, Judge John E. Jones ruled that the Dover Area School Board’s policy of requiring biology …
  • … breach of the First Amendment. The original decision of the board to adopt this policy, Jones …
  • … If people wished their children to be taught the Bible in school, Bryan argued, then that is what …

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: 28 hits

  • … most was no further advanced in life than the serving of my school, (or college) fag apprenticeship) …
  • … Latin, Spanish, English, and French – prose and poetry – down to the Chilian newspapers of the other …
  • … – here however, I shall (as Sir P.S. would say) “put down” that last one, at once, by stating the …
  • … hearty assent and personal countenance to its performance on board the Beagle. Some Masters …
  • … made in the position of the Kentledge, for taking on board the Specie? If there was such alteration …
  • … miles distant from the land – of which fifty she had run down 24 at 8 o'clock – and going from …
  • … copying Mr Ross’ Survey of those Isles – and in writing down that “Their lagoon is nearly filled up …
  • … tho' not the best berth. An Englishman (Mr Leisk) came on board and guided by him, we moored …
  • … An Englishman (a British subject I mean) Mr Leisk, came on board and guided by him – we moved into …
  • … equivalent to nine tenths of any legal right or claim) I sat down to the work of writing an Essay on …
  • … the former there is a grandeur in the regular beach crowned down to high water mark with green …
  • … 3 rd Do these Isles ever appear – laid down on any somewhat ancient chart of the Indian Ocean – …
  • … – That name will never become a current one but be melted down into that of Eastern Australia. [ …
  • … under him, a vessel in distress may be assisted, or hove down, and receive any repairs which are not …
  • … being refused – he embarked in the month of December, on board a Schooner, with these people and …
  • … take him and these people from the Schooner lying there on board the Borneo as passengers to Cape …
  • … signed – J.C. Ross) These documents were taken on board the ship and delivered to the people …
  • … a moment longer to come home as he deserved to do.” That letter they shewed to Mr Ross and requested …
  • … “I know Mr Hare better than you – once he has sat down anywhere – he will never get up until …
  • … 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 …
  • … (with the three slaves whom he bought there and smuggled on board the Borneo – as elsewhere …
  • … Nature intended him to be a Painter of the Salvator Rosa School – and if some foolish guardian or …

Darwin and Fatherhood

Summary

Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … his children. Although Darwin was rarely absent from Down House, he and Emma, like all …
  • … and entry examinations. This made their choice of private school increasingly paramount. The costs …
  • … The boys were then sent to a tutor at a preparatory school for a couple of terms, before attending a …
  • … was chosen for the younger boys, who all boarded at Clapham School. Darwin’s daughters received …
  • … in 1862 that his fifteen-year-old daughter Elizabeth was to board at school in Kensington ‘at her …
  • … were favourite family games, and in 1859 he ended a letter to his oldest son with the exclamation ‘I …
  • … (Darwin to his son William,  [30 October 1858] ). In one letter in 1856, he explained his paternal …
  • … meant that in old age Darwin and Emma continued to share Down House with several children, as well …

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: 3 hits

  • … Jerome Harrison, chief science master for the Birmingham School Board, who wrote on geology and …
  • … 1881 and 1885.  physical location cast at Down House, in a copper alloy or bronze; …
  • … gold or bronze  
 references and bibliography letter to E. W. Badger, [19 July 1880], DCP …

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: 19 hits

  • … might not be defended on the principles advocated by the school to which this writer belongs. This …
  • … it for publication in the next issue of the Quarterly ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 29 July 1874 …
  • … kind of thing Murray would be likely to wish to circulate ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] …
  • … them explicitly, he might be thought to endorse them ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 5 August 1874 ). …
  • … of encouraging licentiousness. A postscript to Darwin’s letter, which may belong to another letter, …
  • … identity: St George Jackson Mivart. George took on board Darwin’s comments and sent a fair copy of …
  • … might not be defended on the principles advocated by the school to which this writer belongs. This …
  • … be the last to deny) in harmony with the teaching of that school which, regarding temporal welfare …
  • … might not be defended on the principles advocated by the school to which this writer belongs,’ by no …
  • … interpretation which he puts upon our words. We spoke of the school, and not of an individual. But …
  • … of words having been used in a Pickwickian sense’ ( letter to John Murray, 18 October 1874 ). In …
  • … Huxley’s protégé, and Huxley’s reaction was savage ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [6 December 1874] ). …
  • … have Mivart admit his authorship of the attack on George ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December 1874 …
  • … unjustifiably attacked a friend of mine.’ ( Enclosure to letter from J. D. Hooker, 21 December 1874 …
  • … , felt to be due to Mr Darwin. For when I read his letter in August, I certainly felt that he …
  • … Archives)   Huxley did not share this letter with Darwin but wrote to him, ‘he not …
  • … he is not devoid of all the instincts of a gentleman’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 23 December 1874 …
  • … I know a most highly cultured & intellectual man, of the school I intended to oppose, who …
  • … was to come & shake hands with him he should hurck him down & go into a tremendous passion …

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: 29 hits

  • … What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 8 November [1872] …
  • … anything more on 'so difficult a subject, as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace,  27 July …
  • … best efforts, set the final price at 7 s.  6 d.  ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 February 1872 ) …
  • … condition as I can make it’, he wrote to the translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September …
  • … translation remained unpublished at the end of the year ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 23 November …
  • … to the comparative anatomist St George Jackson Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart,  11 January …
  • … comparison of Whale  & duck  most beautiful’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 3 March 1872 ) …
  • … of letters saw relations between them irretrievably break down. Mivart’s book had been followed by a …
  • … a person as I am made to appear’, complained Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). …
  • … Darwin would renounce `fundamental intellectual errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January …
  • … was silly enough to think he felt friendly towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872 …
  • … hoping for reconciliation, if only `in another world’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart,  10 January …
  • … have been ungracious in him not to thank Mivart for his letter.  He promised to send a copy of the …
  • … partly in mind, `chiefly perhaps because I do it badly’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 3 August [1872] …
  • … and Darwin, directing operations from the safe retreat of Down House, received these bulletins from …
  • … Darwinism is to be the theme. Surely the world moves!’ ( letter from Mary Treat, 13 December 1872 …
  • … to find that Weismann accepted it at least in part ( letter to August Weismann, 5 April 1872 ). ‘I …
  • … few naturalists in England seem inclined to believe it’ ( letter to Herman Müller, [before 5 May …
  • … reached the buzzing place where I myself was standing’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, [before 5 May …
  • … ‘as for myself it is dreadful doing nothing’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was …
  • … and researching photographic processes.  Returning to Down at the end of March, he now devoted …
  • … to stand closer (a serried mass) and to be more erect’ ( letter to Briton Riviere, 19 May [1872] ) …
  • … and grandson of Darwin’s former headmaster at Shrewsbury school.  Butler, whose later championship …
  • … and amused rather than offended by `that clever book’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 21 November 1872 …
  • … wrote offering Arthur May’s drawings shortly afterwards ( letter from Samuel Butler to Francis …
  • … 'exactly where, from his ignorance, he feels no doubts’ ( letter to F. C. Donders, 17 June …
  • … music provided by her husband, Richard Buckley Litchfield ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 13 May 1872 …
  • … Wright to publish on Mivart’s views, Darwin was a sounding board for Wright’s papers on the …
  • … , was anxious to encourage foreign editions by keeping down the costs.  `Is not each country to pay …

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: 31 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] …
  • … II). In May, he invited a new doctor, John Chapman, to Down and began a course of Chapman’s ice …
  • … 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 …
  • … however, ‘I am never idle when I can do anything’ ( letter to John Murray, 2 June [1865] ). It was …
  • … might be more willing to bear the expense of the woodcuts ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865 …
  • … & I loathe the whole subject like tartar emetic’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 January [1865] ) …
  • … you will be an unnatural parent, for it is your child’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 19 April 1865 ; …
  • … needed for references, probably from the Linnean Society ( letter to [Richard Kippist], 4 June …
  • … in or before November 1864 ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to Ernst Haeckel, 21 November [1864 …
  • … 1865 that he had just finished hearing it read aloud ( letter to Fritz Müller, 10 August [1865] ). …
  • … Linnean Society for publication in Müller’s name ( see letter from Fritz Müller, [12 and 31 August, …
  • … so weak that I am not able to do any scientific work’ ( letter to Fritz Müller, 20 September [1865] …
  • … who was head of the Meteorological Department at the Board of Trade, had suffered much criticism …
  • … who had been sickly for some years and was unable to attend school: ‘Our boy Horace has made a …
  • … 10 September 1865 ). Francis and Leonard were still at school in Clapham, south-west London, and …
  • … for the summer, and Elizabeth was evidently attending school, and spent some time travelling in …
  • … Appendix I). Wedgwood and Darwin relatives visited Down House frequently, and Hooker also came for a …
  • … period after the  Beagle  voyage and before the move to Down, Kent, when Darwin was living in …

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: 25 hits

  • … I omitted to observe, which I ought to have observed” ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] …
  • … work your wicked will on it—root leaf & branch!” ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 January 1873 ) …
  • … nerve tissue of animals. Burdon Sanderson visited Darwin at Down in July and was drawn into the …
  • … digestive acid in conjunction with a “ferment” to break down organic matter. The ferment would later …
  • … parts of the flower would become modified & correlated” ( letter to T. H. Farrer, 14 August …
  • … it again, “for Heaven knows when it will be ready” ( letter to John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). …
  • … we take notes and take tracings of their burrows” ( letter from Francis Darwin, 14 August [1873] ) …
  • … in importance; and if so more places will be created” ( letter to E. A. Darwin, 20 September 1873 …
  • … our unfortunate family being fit for continuous work” ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 25 September …
  • … on any point; for I knew my own ignorance before hand” ( letter to George Cupples, 28 April [1873] …
  • … “he would fly at the Empr’s throat like a bulldog” ( letter from L. M. Forster to H. E. Litchfield, …
  • … force & truth of the great principle of inheritance!” ( letter to F. S. B. F. de Chaumont, 3 …
  • … the heavy breathing that accompanied sexual intercourse? (letter from ?, [1873?]). The Scottish …
  • … with up lines; & sadness & decay with the reverse—” ( letter from William Main, 2 April …
  • … with the advance of civilisation and good breeding ( letter from Henry Reeks, 3 March 1873 ). …
  • … have never felt an inclination to have a second dose” ( letter from Robert Swinhoe, 26 March 1873 …
  • … of an orbital one produces snapping of the jaws” ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 16 April 1873 …
  • … that illustrated the physiognomy of the disease ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 30 December 1873 …
  • … by an individual could be transmitted to its offspring ( letter from J. T. Moggridge, 1 February …
  • … a related discussion in  Nature  magazine, forwarding a letter from William Huggins on a case of …
  • … Kepler who was fearful of butchers and butcher’s shops ( letter to  Nature , [before 13 February …
  • … D. Conway, 10 September [1873] ). In the village of Down, Darwin and his family continued to …
  • … evenings during the winter months. Darwin wrote twice to the Down School Board, noting the value of …
  • … be provided, and only tea and coffee served (letters to Down School Board, [after 29 November 1873 …
  • … “You are quite at liberty to honour me by putting my name down as one of the Patrons … but let me …

Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution

Summary

The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’.  Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…

Matches: 30 hits

  • … shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding machine’  ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December …
  • … anything which has happened to me for some weeks’  ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ) …
  • … corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be’  ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ) …
  • … who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
  • … abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February …
  • … thro’ apes & savages at the moral sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] …
  • … how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870 …
  • … in thanks for the drawing ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868] …
  • … patients, but it did not confirm Duchenne’s findings ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March …
  • … muscle’, he complained, ‘is the bane of existence!’ ( letter to William Ogle, 9 November 1870 ). …
  • … to their belief that all demons and spirits were white ( letter from W. W. Reade, 9 November 1870 …
  • … . . Could you make it scream without hurting it much?’ ( letter to A. D. Bartlett, 5 January [1870] …
  • … or crying badly; but I fear he will not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] …
  • … Lucy Wedgwood, who sent a sketch of a baby’s brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). …
  • … is the inclination to finish my note on this subject’  ( letter from F. C. Donders, 17 May 1870 ). …
  • … the previous year (see  Correspondence  vol. 17, letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). His …
  • … (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …
  • … towards each other, though in one sense rivals’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870] ). …
  • … version of the theory of descent by natural selection in a letter to Darwin, prompting much anxiety …
  • … But who is to criticise them? No one but yourself’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 20 May 1870 ). …
  • … me to be able to say that I  never  write reviews’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, [22 May 1870] ). …
  • … design. Darwin commented on Mivart’s essay in a letter to William Henry Flower: ‘I am glad …
  • … time wd be wasted if I once began to answer objectors’ ( letter to W. H. Flower, 25 March [1870] ) …
  • … laborious & valuable labours on the Primates’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 23 April [1870] ). …
  • … Ape than such an Ape differs from a lump of granite’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 22 April 1870 …
  • … his “end” whatever may have been his “origin” ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 25 April 1870 ). In …
  • … seems to have been a tremendous shindy in the Hebdomadal board about certain persons who were …
  • … visits from a number of scientific friends and colleagues at Down, including Alexander Agassiz and …
  • … to receiving many visitors, Darwin was also away from Down more than usual, staying on three …
  • … so tame that she was ridden by a blind man and used at a school for timid riders. ‘She has a canter …

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: 30 hits

  • … in satisfying female preference in the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864, …
  • … of changing the races of man’ (Correspondence vol. 12, letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May 1864] ). …
  • … book would take the form of a ‘short essay’ on man ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 3 July 1868 ). But …
  • … as well say, he would drink a little and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868] ) …
  • … would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s angry letter to Murray crossed one from Dallas to …
  • … of labour to remuneration I shall look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). …
  • … if I try to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). …
  • … reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from the Isle of Wight on the formation …
  • … would strike me in the face, but not behind my back’ ( letter to John Murray, 25 February [1868] ) …
  • … ignorant article… . It is a disgrace to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] …
  • … ‘he is a scamp & I begin to think a veritable ass’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868] …
  • … wrote of the colour of duck claws on 17 April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d  C. …
  • … proved very fruitful. On 1 May , Darwin received a letter from George Cupples, who was encouraged …
  • … with the enthusiastic breeder, who apologised in a letter of 11–13 May 1868 for his ‘voluminuous …
  • … of science On 27 February , Darwin sent a letter of thanks to the naturalist and …
  • … he later added, ‘for it is clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). …
  • … to various classes, a dim ray of light may be gained’ ( letter to H. T. Stainton, 21 February [1868 …
  • … as well as of ‘victorious males getting wives’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 25 February [1868] ). …
  • … of females was remarked upon by other entomologists ( letter from Roland Trimen, 20 February 1868 …
  • … and Coleoptera on 9 September . Darwin annotated a letter sent on 3 April by Henry Doubleday …
  • … for as sure as life he wd find the odour sexual!’ ( letter to A . R. Wallace, 16 September [1868] …
  • … George Robert Crotch, writing to his mother Emma in a letter dated [after 16 October 1868] : ‘I …
  • … box of preparations to papa … I will write a less beetley letter soon.’ Other relations …
  • … also tried to determine the age at which tears began to flow down the cheeks in humans, and received …
  • … orchids with Thomas Henry Farrer, permanent secretary to the Board of Trade, and a distant relation. …
  • … laws whereby the whole System is sustained.’ The former Down clergyman, John Brodie Innes, passed …
  • … religious affairs. Beginning the previous year, the Down villagers had experienced troubles securing …
  • … grateful for Darwin’s efforts on behalf of the church, the school, and local charities: ‘I do not …
  • … much better than any other which has been taken of me’ (Down House collection, English Heritage …
  • … As he wrote to Hooker on Christmas Day, ‘you look down so sharp on me that I shall never be bold …