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Syms Covington

Summary

When Charles Darwin embarked on the Beagle voyage in 1831, Syms Covington was ‘fiddler & boy to Poop-cabin’. Covington kept an illustrated journal of his observations and experiences on the voyage, noting wildlife, landscapes, buildings and people and,…

Matches: 8 hits

  • Charles Darwin embarked on the  Beagle  voyage in 1831, Syms Covington wasfiddler & boy to
  • and people and, frequently, food. After teaching Covington to shoot and skin birds, Darwin
  • the  Beagles return to England in 1836, Darwin kept Covington in his employ, paying him extra
  • to his advancement in life. ’ It is not known when Covington arrived in Australia, or what
  • Stroud, New South Wales, 130 miles north of Sydney. By 1843 Covington was working for the Australian
  • …  for him from London, and again  in 1860Covington still assisted Darwin in his work:  …
  • had  asked about the gold rush  and in 1853 he thanked Covington for his  account of his visit to
  • office, and possibly a general store. Darwins  last letter  to Covington was enclosed with a

Barnacles

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Darwin and barnacles Darwin’s interest in Cirripedia, a class of marine arthropods, was first piqued by the discovery of an odd burrowing barnacle, which he later named “Mr. Arthrobalanus," while he was…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … York: Grove Press. (p.1 - 83) Letters Letter Packet: Darwin's Barnacles …
  • … to London to have Mr. Arthrobalanus illustrated. Letter 1022 —Darwin to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … the unusual anatomy of Mr. Arthrobalanus. Letter 1140 —Darwin to J. C. Ross, 31 Dec 1847 …
  • … in search of the lost explorer John Franklin. Letter 1253 —Darwin to Albany Hancock, [21 …
  • … to ask him to share preserved specimens with him. Letter 1370 —Darwin to Syms Covington, …

Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'

Summary

In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…

Matches: 15 hits

  • … an illustration of how selection might work in nature ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. …
  • … the real structure of varieties’, he remarked to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 September [1856 …
  • … ‘& I mean to make my Book as perfect as ever I can.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 8 February [1857] …
  • … plants, he asked Asa Gray, vary in the United States ( letter to Asa Gray, 2 May 1856 )? What …
  • … plants pretty effectually’ complained Darwin in 1857 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [2 May 1857] ). …
  • … John Lubbock that his method of calculation was wrong ( letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1857] ). …
  • … ‘Darwin, an absolute & eternal hermaphrodite’ ( letter to to T. H. Huxley, 1 July [1856] ), …
  • … which the bird had naturally eaten have grown well.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1856] …
  • … with every soul struggling for subsistence’, he wrote to Syms Covington in New South Wales ( letter
  • … his work on species and the preparation of his manuscript ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 1 May 1857 ) …
  • … a preliminary sketch was apparently first made in a letter written by Lyell from London on 1–2 May …
  • … and went up to London to see Lyell to discuss it further ( letter to Charles Lyell, 3 May [1856] ) …
  • … Hearing about the party afterwards, Lyell reported in a letter to his brother-in-law that, ‘When …
  • … so far, and not embrace the whole Lamarckian doctrine.’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, …
  • … in his views to explain them in explicit detail in a long letter to Asa Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, …

Scientific Practice

Summary

Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…

Matches: 24 hits

  • … | Microscopes | Collecting | Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of …
  • … with detailed correspondence about barnacles. Letter 1514 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. …
  • … of one idea. – cirripedes morning & night.” Letter 1480 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, …
  • … on embryological stages than Huxley thinks. Letter 1592 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H …
  • … and difficulties of botanical experimentation. Letter 4895 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J …
  • … on Anelasma which he thinks seems probable. Letter 5173 — Müller, J. F. T. to …
  • … and on some plants which seem to be dichogamous. Letter 5429 — Müller, J. F. T. to …
  • … and crossed with pollen of other species. Letter 5480 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. …
  • … Claus, Die freilebenden Copepoden [1863]. Letter 5551 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. …
  • … on the use and importance of the microscope. Letter 207 — Darwin, C. R. to Fox, W. D., …
  • … with a microscope ranks second only to geology. Letter 1018 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, …
  • … “take advantage of your wicked offer of assistance”. The letter is full of observations on barnacles …
  • … ed., Manual of scientific enquiry (1849)]. Letter 1167 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, …
  • … finds this microscope “wonderfully superior”. Letter 1174 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
  • … specimens and information for his barnacle book. Letter 1140 — Darwin, C. R. to Ross, J …
  • … to the Arctic in search of Sir John Franklin. Letter 1262 — Darwin, C. R. to Hancock, …
  • … discusses Lithotrya and its burrowing habits. Letter 1495 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … at his collection to check on his suspicions. Letter 1370 — Darwin, C. R. to Covington, …
  • … only one specimen is known to exist in the world. Letter 1251 — Darwin, C. R. to Gould, …
  • … between theory and practice in natural history. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, …
  • … first describer’s name to specific name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., …
  • … perpetuity of names in species descriptions. Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
  • … with the former and deferring the species paper. Letter 1319 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, …
  • … have progressed but Hooker is not converted. Letter 1339 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …

Arthur Mellersh

Summary

Arthur Mellersh was a midshipman (promoted to mate during the voyage) serving on the Beagle at the time when Darwin was travelling around the world. One account suggests an inauspicious start to their friendship; apparently Mellersh introduced himself…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … the Burma Campaign in 1852, and in 1853 Darwin learned in a letter from Syms Covington that Mellersh …

Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin

Summary

The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This …
  • … has  infinitely  exceeded my wildest hopes.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). …
  • … to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
  • … as evidence for what actually occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and  …
  • … throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have …
  • … his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
  • … selection. Darwin’s shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell …
  • … Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
  • … on Charles Lyell’s endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the …
  • … McKinney has suggested that Darwin received Wallace’s letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same …
  • … Brooks maintains that Darwin received Wallace’s letter even earlier, perhaps as early as 14 May. …
  • … of the Peninsular & Oriental Company, and assuming that the letter to Darwin was posted at the …
  • … 20 May via Southampton. According to Brooks, Darwin kept the letter for a month, during which time …
  • … at Down on 18 June. In the absence of Wallace’s letter or of any firm evidence for the date of its …
  • … work, and he shows no sign of anxiety. He says in a letter to Syms Covington, 18 May [1858], that he …
  • … ‘There is not least hurry in world about my M.S.’ In his letter to Hooker of 8 June [1858], he …
  • … of someone who is distressed, as Darwin clearly was in his letter to Lyell, at the prospect of …
  • … papers at the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858, including a letter from Wallace to Hooker thanking him …
  • … Darwin was during the days immediately following his letter to Lyell. On 18 June 1858, his eldest …
  • … of his material would require a ‘small volume’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] ). …
  • … kidney beans’, to the  Gardeners’ Chronicle  (see letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [before 13 …

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: 3 hits

  • … 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 …
  • … more for them than for anything in this world.’ (Darwin to Syms Covington,  9 March 1856 ) In the …

The writing of "Origin"

Summary

From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … whole has infinitely exceeded my wildest hopes.— (letter to Charles Lyell,  25 [November …
  • … to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
  • … as evidence for what actually occurred in nature (see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and  …
  • … throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have …
  • … his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
  • … selection. Darwin’s shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell …
  • … Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
  • … on Charles Lyell’s endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the …
  • … McKinney has suggested that Darwin received Wallace’s letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same …
  • … Brooks maintains that Darwin received Wallace’s letter even earlier, perhaps as early as 14 May. …
  • … of the Peninsular & Oriental Company, and assuming that the letter to Darwin was posted at the …
  • … 20 May via Southampton. Accordingto Brooks, Darwin kept the letter for a month, during which time he …
  • … at Down on 18 June. In the absence of Wallace’s letter or of any firm evidence for the date of its …
  • … work, and he shows no sign of anxiety. He says in a letter to Syms Covington, 18 May [1858] , …
  • … ‘There is not least hurry in world about my M.S.’ In his letter to Hooker of 8 June [1858] , he …
  • … of someone who is distressed, as Darwin clearly was in his letter to Lyell, at the prospect of …
  • … Society on 1 July 1858. It also includes an unpublished letter from Wallace to Hooker thanking him …
  • … Darwin was during the days immediately following his letter to Lyell. On 18 June 1858, his eldest …
  • … abstract of his material would require a ‘small volume’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] …
  • … for the work. Again, he called upon Lyell for advice (letter to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] ). …
  • … Darwin held firm to the original plan of his book (see letter from Elwin to Murray, 3 May 1859 , …

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: 16 hits

  • … hurrah for my species-work’ ( Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
  • … 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] ). …
  • … 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 ), …
  • … information and the loan of materials. Even further afield, Syms Covington, Darwin’s servant during …
  • … 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 ). …

Before Origin: the ‘big book’

Summary

Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … to the entire natural history community by sending a letter to the Gardeners’ Chronicle , …
  • … in May 1858. ‘This work will be my biggest’, he told Syms Covington, his assistant during the …
  • … it adequately. On 18 June 1858, Darwin received a now lost letter from Wallace enclosing his essay …
  • … I had, however, quite resigned myself & had written half a letter to Wallace to give up all …

Books on the Beagle

Summary

The Beagle was a sort of floating library.  Find out what Darwin and his shipmates read here.

Matches: 29 hits

  • … Captain FitzRoy in the  Narrative  (2: 18). CD, in his letter to Henslow, 9 [September 1831] , …
  • … . . . There will be  plenty  of room for Books.’ (Letter from Robert FitzRoy, 23 September 1831 …
  • … the ‘immense stock’ which CD mentions may be had from a letter FitzRoy wrote to his sister during an …
  • … on board the  Beagle §  —  mentioned in a letter or other source as being on board …
  • … Naturelle  3 (1834): 84–115. (DAR 37.1: 677v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 12 July 1835). * …
  • … d’histoire naturelle . 17 vols. Paris, 1822–31. (Letter from J. S. Henslow, 15–21 January [1833]). …
  • … a report of the proceedings . .  . Cambridge, 1833.  (Letter to Charles Whitley, 23 July 1834). …
  • … of the 2d meeting . . . Oxford, 1832 . London, 1833.  (Letter to J. S. Henslow, March 1834 and …
  • … also Hawkesworth, John). (DAR 32.2: 89v.; Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the South African Christian …
  • … residence in New Zealand in 1827 . . . London, 1832. (Letter to Caroline Darwin, 27 December 1835). …
  • … 33: 254). § Euclid.  Elements of geometry.  (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 30 October 1831). …
  • … The philosophy of zoology . . .  2 vols. Edinburgh, 1822. (Letter from Susan Darwin, 15 October …
  • … to the mountain barometer.  2d ed. London, n.d. [1802]. (Letter to Robert FitzRoy, [10 October 1831 …
  • … de l’ordre des polypiers.  Paris, 1821. (DAR 30.1: 13v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 …
  • … Video. Novem r . 1832’; vol. 3 (1833): ‘C. Darwin’; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November …
  • … of England.  Volume one. London, 1830. (Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the  South African Christian …
  • … ‘A few little books written by Miss Martineau’. (Letter from Caroline Darwin, 28 October [1833]). …
  • … and La Plata . . .  2 vols. London, 1826. (DAR 31.2: 319; letter to Robert Fitzroy, 28 August 1834) …
  • … John.  Paradise lost.  ( ’Beagle’ diary , p. 107; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 November 1832). …
  • … account of several late voyages.  2 parts. London, 1694. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 …
  • … introducton to . . . mineralogy . . .  London, 1816. (Letter from J. S. Henslow, 22 July 1834;  …
  • … the Cambridge Philosophical Society  4 (1833): 209–17. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 …
  • … 1803, and 1804 . . .  London, 1805. (Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the  South African Christian …
  • … of the world . . .  Vol. 1. London, 1832. (DAR 30.1: 2v.; letter to J. M. Herbert, 2 June 1833). …
  • … of the voyages . . .  London, 1773. (Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the  South African Christian …
  • … state . . . by a country pastor [R. W.].  London, 1829. (Letter from Caroline Darwin, 28 October …
  • … of the Royal Society of London  123 (1833): 147–236. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, March 1834;  …
  • … James.  Elements of algebra.  8th ed. Cambridge, 1825. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 30 October 1831). …
  • … 1768. (‘Vide (Sarmiento Viage) Spanish edition’ in Syms Covington, MS ‘Journal 1831–6’, p. 30; …