To William Benjamin Carpenter 6 January [1860]
Summary
WBC’s review [of Origin, Natl Rev. 10 (1860): 188–214] will do great good. It "turns the flanks of theological opposers" capitally.
Asks for information about cuckoo eggs and West Indian sheep.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Benjamin Carpenter |
Date: | 6 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | DAR 261.6: 4 (EH 88205921) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2641 |
From Joshua Toulmin Smith 6 January 1860
Summary
Sends a copy of his Ventriculidae [of the Chalk (1848)]. This group, he feels, is well represented by CD’s plate of graduating species [Origin, ch. 4].
Author: | Joshua Toulmin Smith |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 6 Jan 1860 |
Classmark: | DAR 261.11: 32.ii (EH 88206084) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2642 |
From Thomas Bridges [October 1860 or later]
Author: | Thomas Bridges |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [Oct 1860 or later] |
Classmark: | DAR 85: 39 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2643 |
To Leonard Jenyns 7 January [1860]
Summary
Thanks LJ for his letter on Origin. Finds LJ agrees with him more than CD had expected.
Discusses problems of geological record, single primordial form, and man.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Leonard Jenyns; Leonard Blomefield |
Date: | 7 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2644 |
To Asa Gray 7 January [1860]
Summary
Comments on AG’s memoir on Japanese plants [see 2599]; relationship of Japanese flora to N. American.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 7 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (15) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2645 |
To T. H. Huxley 9 January [1860]
Summary
Sends ticket to pigeon show.
A quotation from Erasmus Darwin’s Zoonomia [1794, 1796] shows that he anticipated Lamarck.
G. Grote impressed by Times review [26 Dec 1859, p. 8].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
Date: | 9 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 96) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2646 |
To Charles Lyell 10 January [1860]
Summary
Comments on corrections [in Origin, 2d ed. (1860)], especially on use of Wallace’s name.
Discusses human evolution with respect to CL’s work. Cites expression as a source of evidence.
Andrew Murray’s criticisms of the Origin involving blind insects in caves [Edinburgh New Philos. J. n.s. 11 (1860): 141–51].
Humorously describes human ancestors.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | 10 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.191) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2647 |
To T. H. Huxley 11 January [1860]
Summary
On the problem of want of sterility in crosses of domestic varieties. Refers to discussion in Origin, pp. 267–72 ["Fertility of varieties when crossed"]. We do not know precise cause of sterility in species.
Andrew Murray has attacked Origin [see 2647].
H. C. Watson objects to natural selection on grounds of limitless diversification of species.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
Date: | 11 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 98) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2649 |
To Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 12 January [1860]
Summary
Very pleased with IGStH’s approval [of Origin]. Will be proud to place IGStH’s Résumé des lecons sur la question de l’espèce (I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1851) alongside his other works in his library.
Grateful for his offer to look over the difficult passages in Origin for a translator.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire |
Date: | 12 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | Archives de l’Académie des sciences, Paris (63 J Fonds Gabriel Bertrand) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2649F |
To Charles Lyell 14 January [1860]
Summary
Review of Origin in Gardeners’ Chronicle [31 Dec 1859].
Criticises views of J. G. Jeffreys on non-migration of shells. Cites case of Galapagos shells.
Mentions Edward Forbes’s theory of submerged continental extensions. Cites Hooker’s [introductory] essay [in Flora Tasmaniae (1860)] for evidence against any recent connection between Australia and New Zealand.
Discusses Huxley’s views of hybrid sterility.
Questions whether Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire believed in species change. Mentions views of Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.
The distribution of cave insects.
CD’s study of man.
The problems of locating French and German translators.
Huxley’s criticism of Owen’s views on human classification.
The sale of Origin.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | 14 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.192) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2650 |
To J. D. Hooker 14 [January 1860]
Summary
CD has learned from Lyell that JDH reviewed Origin in Gardeners’ Chronicle writing in Lindley’s style.
Lyell is working on man.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 14 [Jan 1860] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 36 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2651 |
To Edward Cresy 15 January [1860]
Summary
P. T. A. Talandier wants to translate Origin into French. Talandier gave Louis Blanc as a referee. Could Mrs Cresy, who knows Blanc, find out what he thinks of Talandier?
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Edward Cresy, Jr |
Date: | 15 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | Private collection |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2652 |
To Armand de Quatrefages 15 January [1860]
Summary
Asks if Quatrefages has found anyone to translate Origin into French, because P. T. A. Talandier, although not a naturalist, wishes to do so.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Jean Louis Armand (Armand de Quatrefages) Quatrefages de Bréau |
Date: | 15 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | Archives de l’Académie des sciences, Paris (75 J 837 Fonds Alfred Lacroix) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2652F |
To Williams and Norgate 16 January [1860]
Summary
Orders J. E. Tennent’s work on Ceylon [Sir James Emerson, afterwards Tennent, Ceylon, an account of the island, physical, historical, and topographical (1859)], and Richard Owen’s Classification and distribution of Mammalia [1859].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Williams & Norgate |
Date: | 16 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2653 |
DCP-LETT-2653A
Summary
Origin reached AG at Christmas. Louis Agassiz cannot abide the book and has publicly denounced it as atheism. AG feels bound to defend the book and counter the "demagogue" Agassiz. Has written a long article to this end [Am. J. Sci. and Arts 2d ser. 29 (1860): 153–84].
Author: | Asa Gray |
Addressee: | Francis Boott |
Date: | 16 Jan 1860 |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2653A |
To Baden Powell 18 January [1860]
Summary
CD is pleased by BP’s appreciative opinion of Origin. He never intended to claim that he originated the doctrine that species have not been independently created. The only novelty in his work is the attempt to explain how species became modified and how the theory of descent explains large classes of facts. If he has taken anything from BP, he has done so unconsciously. Gives names of those he would have mentioned in any account of authors who maintained that species have not been separately created.
CD greatly admires BP’s Philosophy of creation.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Baden Powell |
Date: | 18 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | Linnean Society of London (Quentin Keynes collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2654 |
To Baden Powell 18 January [1860]
Summary
To avoid possible misundertanding of his letter [2654] of that morning, CD wishes to make clear that he did not wish to imply that BP’s essay and the Vestiges of creation were in the same class. The more he thinks of it the more difficult he feels it would be to give a fair account of the authors who have maintained the modification of species. CD finds that he referred to BP’s views in the preface to his larger work [Natural selection], which was replaced by the Origin.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Baden Powell |
Date: | 18 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | Linnean Society of London (Quentin Keynes collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2655 |
To William Bernhard Tegetmeier 20 January [1860]
Summary
Gives the results of crossing experiments; some interesting and curious facts.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
Date: | 20 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2656 |
To Edward Cresy 20 January [1860]
Summary
Thanks EC for help in finding French translator [for Origin].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Edward Cresy, Jr |
Date: | 20 Jan [1860] |
Classmark: | DAR 143 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2657 |
To Gardeners’ Chronicle [14–19 January 1860]
Summary
Hopes readers will send information on the permanence of cross-bred plants and animals. No one doubts that cross-bred productions tend to revert in various degrees to either parent for many generations. But are there not cases of crossed breeds of sheep and pigs that breed true? CD believes occasional cross-breeding of varieties is advantageous in nature as well as under domestication. [See reply to this letter by J. O. Westwood, Gard. Chron. (1860): 122.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Gardeners’ Chronicle |
Date: | [14–19 Jan 1860] |
Classmark: | Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, 21 January 1860, p. 49 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2658 |
Darwin, C. R. | (380) |
Lyell, Charles | (16) |
Hooker, J. D. | (8) |
Gray, Asa | (6) |
Oliver, Daniel | (5) |
Darwin, C. R. | (100) |
Hooker, J. D. | (56) |
Lyell, Charles | (40) |
Huxley, T. H. | (29) |
Gray, Asa | (25) |
Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics
Summary
On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…
Matches: 18 hits
- … On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of …
- … learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January …
- … the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
- … he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] …
- … his theory would have been ‘ utterly smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A …
- … the only track that leads to physical truth’ (Sedgwick 1860) that most wounded Darwin. Having spent …
- … from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
- … a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
- … phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
- … natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19 …
- … considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
- … naturalists because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). …
- … two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like …
- … tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 3 April [1860] ). By the …
- … favour of change of form’, namely those of embryology ( letter to Asa Gray, 10 September [1860] ). …
- … his study of the geographical distribution of species ( see letter from T. H. Huxley, 6 August 1860 …
- … ‘man is in same predicament with other animals’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] )— he …
- … book had become ‘topics of the day’ at the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. …
British Association meeting 1860
Summary
Several letters refer to events at the British Association for the Advancement of Science held in Oxford, 26 June – 3 July 1860. Darwin had planned to attend the meeting but in the end was unable to. The most famous incident of the meeting was the verbal…
Matches: 7 hits
- … the Advancement of Science meeting in Oxford, June–July 1860 Several letters in the year 1860 …
- … Advancement of Science held in Oxford, 26 June – 3 July 1860. Darwin had planned to attend the …
- … treatment for a stomach that had “utterly broken down” (letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [June 1860] ) …
- … are less well known. The following account of the 1860 meeting of the British Association in …
- … by their precise attribution. Athenæum , 7 July 1860, p. 19: Introduction to the reports …
- … lively during the week. Athenæum , 7 July 1860, pp. 25–6: Thursday session of Section D. …
- … monkey was the gift of speech. Athenæum , 14 July 1860, pp. 64–5: Saturday session, …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 15 hits
- … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
- … 11 My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my …
- … be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy it… His letter does strike me as most uncommonly …
- … on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year …
- … a brace of letters 25 I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received …
- … might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing …
- … Atlantic. HOOKER: 28 Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which …
- … notions of natural Selection and would see whether it or my letter bears any date, I should be very …
- … 55 My good dear friend, forgive me. This is a trumpery letter influenced by trumpery feelings. …
- … should not be in conflict. A TREMENDOUS FURORE: 1859-1860 In which Darwin distributes …
- … in the long run prevail. CERTAIN BENEFICIAL LINES: 1860 Asa Gray presents his argument …
- … do a good deal to secure it. Darwin passes Gray’s letter to Hooker with a cringe. …
- … full relief from all anxiety. Darwin shows Gray’s letter to Hooker. DARWIN: …
- … back. JANE GRAY: 189 [Jane Gray. Letter to her sister. Fall, 1868.] Mr Darwin …
- … 1859 70 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 5 JANUARY 1860 71L AGASSIZ, JULY 1860 …
New material added to the American edition of Origin
Summary
A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…
Matches: 12 hits
- … Soon after Origin was published, Darwin received a letter from Asa Gray offering to arrange an …
- … Darwin responded favourably to Gray’s proposal in his letter of 21 December [1859] ( Correspondence …
- … response to Darwin (see letters from Asa Gray, [10 January 1860], [17 January 1860], and 23 January …
- … had been fixed through the process of stereotyping (see letter from Asa Gray, 23 January [1860] and …
- … of species (two letters to Baden Powell, 18 January 1860), Darwin subsequently changed his mind. On …
- … of species; Darwin sent this off to Gray enclosed in his letter of [8 or 9 February 1860]. He had …
- … (especially that given by Hewett Cottrell Watson in his letter of [3? January 1860]) that Darwin …
- … changes he intended to make in the American edition in the letter to Lyell, 18 [and 19 February 1860 …
- … corrected Second Edition with additional corrections” (letter to Asa Gray, 1 February [1860]). …
- … American edition of Origin was available in July 1860 (see [Gray] 1860b, p. 116). It is …
- … Charles Darwin Down, Bromley, Kent, Feb. 1860 [Darwin’s …
- … of Origin ( Origin 3d ed., pp. 363–6). See also letter from John Lubbock, [after 28 April …
Natural Selection: the trouble with terminology Part I
Summary
Darwin encountered problems with the term ‘natural selection’ even before Origin appeared. Everyone from the Harvard botanist Asa Gray to his own publisher came up with objections. Broadly these divided into concerns either that its meaning simply wasn’t…
Matches: 5 hits
- … ( Charles Darwin to Charles Lyell 6 June [1860 ]) Darwin encountered problems with the …
- … of twenty years, Natural Selection . With that letter to Gray, Darwin enclosed a …
- … ( Charles Darwin to Charles Lyell, 6 June [1860]) To Lyell, Darwin wrote: ‘ I doubt …
- … Nevertheless, regret lingered, and he wrote in a later letter to Lyell: ' Talking of “Natural …
- … used natural preservation '. (There is now a hole in the letter where Darwin wrote ' …
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: 30 hits
- … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
- … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
- … observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
- … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
- … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
- … Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L …
- … Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
- … expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
- … is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
- … of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
- … briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
- … expression of emotion in dogs with Emma Darwin. Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, …
- … birds, insects or plants on Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to …
- … of an angry pig and her niece’s ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
- … that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 …
- … on her experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9426 - Story …
- … without the birds attacking the buds and flowers. Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to …
- … and her father of plants and insects. Men: Letter 2221 - Blyth, E. to Darwin …
- … specimens and bird observations from Calcutta. Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 …
- … “enthusiasm and indomitable patience”. Letter 4242 - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin …
- … contained in “a little treatise”. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 …
- … he has moved one or two of them into his bedroom. Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to …
- … expression of emotion in chimpanzees and orangs. Letter 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von …
- … to show in his museum in Canterbury, New Zealand. Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to …
- … to be attracted to dark spots on the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. …
- … the black letters in a marble tablet”. Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July …
- … Fieldwork Women: Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June …
- … on the shores of mountain lakes in Pennsylvania. Letter 3681 - Wedgwood, M. S. to …
- … Letter 2781 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [3 May 1860] Doubleday describes his …
- … Letter 3001 - Darwin to Lubbock, J., [28 November 1860] Darwin offers editorial …
Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad
Summary
At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…
Matches: 23 hits
- … that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
- … persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled considerably. The …
- … from ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
- … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
- … than Origin had (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
- … from animals like the woolly mammoth and cave bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, 23 …
- … leap from that of inferior animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
- … book he wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
- … I respect you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … against stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). …
- … thinking, while Huxley’s book would scare them off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In …
- … change of species by descent put him ‘into despair’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). In the …
- … disaffected towards Lyell and his book. In a February letter to the Athenæum , a weekly review of …
- … find great difficulty in answering Owen unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
- … of so much of Lyell’s book being written by others’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
- … is wretched to see men fighting so for a little fame’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). …
- … who was already ill-disposed towards Owen following his 1860 review of Origin , wrote to Falconer …
- … overt act, and I shall watch for a fitting opportunity’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] …
- … God demented Owen, as a punishment for his crimes… ?’ ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 January [1863] …
- … Darwin’, a transitional form between reptiles and birds ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 January …
- … exercise Darwin was Huxley’s assertion, first made in his 1860 review of Origin , that in order …
- … and Viola species, had interested Darwin since 1860; it continued to capture his attention ( …
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: 11 hits
- … the last proof sheets on 26 December 1859 ; published 1860 1 st US ‘revised and augmented’ …
- … buried Darwin under a blizzard of letters (see especially letter to Charles Lyell, 11 October …
- … getting permission to quote prominently from Kingsley’s letter in the revised summary: A …
- … 2 nd to 3 rd editions; US edition By June 1860 Darwin was at least open to the …
- … be needed ‘ soon, ever, or never ’. By November 1860 he had heard that it was , and it was …
- … additions now sent.— In the meantime, in July 1860, a ‘revised and augmented’ American …
- … sufficiently acknowledged earlier work. According to a letter to Asa Gray he had yet to start …
- … an animal’s colour and its immunity to poison (see letter from Jeffries Wyman, [ c . 15] …
- … who only began corresponding with Darwin in November 1860, too late for the third edition. …
- … hitherto slurred it over. In his Christmas Day letter to his old friend Joseph Hooker, …
- … of population increase in elephants in response to a letter published in the Athenaeum by a …
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: 23 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, …
- … about his “honest & conscientious doubts”. Letter 471 — Darwin, Emma to Darwin, C. …
- … there is a danger in giving up revelation”. Letter 2534 — Kingsley, Charles to Darwin, …
- … need of an act of intervention to bring change. Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, …
- … with that knowledge which only He can give me.” Letter 5303 — Boole, M. E. to Darwin, C …
- … that his theory be compatible with her faith. Letter 5307 — Darwin, C. R. to Boole, M. …
- … and science should each run its own course. Letter 8070 — Darwin, C. R. to Abbot, F. E. …
- … “with qualifications”, if he wishes. Letter 8837 — Darwin, C. R. to Doedes, N. D., 2 …
- … man’s intellect, “but man can do his duty”. Letter 12041 — Darwin, C. R. to Fordyce, …
- … most correct description of my state of mind”. Letter 12757 — Darwin, C. R. to Aveling, …
- … as examples to illustrate his ideas on beauty. Letter 4752 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
- … discusses humming birds and orchids as examples. Letter 4939 — Shaw, James to Darwin, C …
- … a long discussion on beauty in the natural world. Letter 4943 — Darwin, C. R. to Shaw, …
- … beauty of flowers is solely to attract insects. Letter 5003f — Shaw, James to Darwin, C …
- … Beauty against the Duke of Argyll’s criticisms. Letter 5004 — Darwin, C. R. to Shaw, …
- … of beauty being displayed in conspicuous parts. Letter 5060 — Shaw, James to Darwin, C. …
The Lyell–Lubbock dispute
Summary
In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…
Matches: 24 hits
- … implements of early humans (C. Lyell 1859). In September 1860 he visited sites in both France and …
- … species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. …
- … book, Prehistoric times (Lubbock 1865). By 1860, Lyell had begun work on a sixth edition …
- … completed and set in type for Elements of geology in 1860 and then re-set in 1861 for …
- … Galton. In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, evidently in response …
- … about Lyell’s failure to support him. In April 1863, in a letter to the Athenæum , he discussed a …
- … transmutation; he also wrote to Lyell telling him about the letter to the Athenæum . 9 …
- … 1863b, p. 213). In May 1864, Lubbock received a letter from Falconer, who reiterated his …
- … and went on to say that he intended to make a copy of his letter to show to friends. 18 In …
- … wrote to Darwin to ask what he thought of the affair ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 June 1865] ). …
- … he reiterated his admiration for Lubbock’s book ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [4 June 1865] ). A week …
- … in the dispute. When Hooker pressed him for an opinion ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 July 1865 ), …
- … with Huxley in June and July and had seen Huxley’s letter to Hooker about the affair, 24 he …
- … reluctantly agreed to delete his own note. In his last letter to Huxley dealing with the affair, he …
- … 30 However, two weeks later, in his last letter to Hooker on the matter, Lubbock’s tone was …
- … analysis of the situation was succinct. In his letter to Hooker of [4 June 1865] he warned that …
- … third edition of Antiquity of man (C. Lyell 1863c; see letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 June 1865 …
- … well as the Swiss lake-dwellings, was originally written in 1860 for the sixth edition of the ‘ …
- … written in Swedish, he gave me an abstract for my use, in a letter dated December 1859. He referred …
- … discoveries and conclusions which had been made before 1860; but I gladly took advantage of the …
- … to them, or to any authors of later date than the summer of 1860, I must have expanded the plan of …
- … 1983, Stocking 1987, and Van Riper 1993. 2. Letter from Charles Lyell to John Lubbock, 20 …
- … pp. 154–9. 7. See Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
- … expenditures, and condition of the institution for the year 1860 15 (1861): 284–343. Translated by …
From morphology to movement: observation and experiment
Summary
Darwin was a thoughtful observer of the natural world from an early age. Whether on a grand scale, as exemplified by his observations on geology, or a microscopic one, as shown by his early work on the eggs and larvae of tiny bryozoans, Darwin was…
Matches: 4 hits
- … (pollen masses naturally fall on the stigma). In a letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle in June 1860 …
- … plant Drosera rotundifolia (common sundew) in 1860, around the same time he began work on orchid …
- … performed by Sachs, their results were often at odds. In a letter to William Turner Thiselton-Dyer …
- … it would injure the root and prevent geotropism. In a letter to his father, Francis described his …
Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…
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: 3 hits
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.…
Matches: 23 hits
- … earthworms . Selected letters Letter 1113 - Darwin to Whitby, M. …
- … work are referenced throughout Variation . Letter 2395 - Darwin to Holland, …
- … her identity is both anonymised and masculinised. Letter 3316 - Darwin to Nevill, D …
- … Darwin’s Fertilisation of Orchids . Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., …
- … being acknowledged publicly as a science critic. Letter 4370 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
- … are identified only as “friends in Surrey”. Letter 4794 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [25 …
- … Sir C. Lyell” or received from “Miss. B”. Letter 7060 - Wedgwood, F. J. to …
- … was referenced in the final publication. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C …
- … are not cited in Expression . Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H., …
- … description of a crying baby in Mary Barton. Letter 8321 - Darwin to …
- … he would “feel the public humming” at him. Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, …
- … lady, on whose accuracy I can implicitly rely”. Letter 8427 - Darwin to Litchfield H …
- … of Henrietta’s considerable editorial input. Letter 8719 - Darwin to Treat, M., [1 …
- … Letters relating to Earthworms Letter 7428 - Wedgwood, F. to Darwin, [4 …
- … depth of furrows in an old field near his house. Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R. to …
- … activity in the fields of North Wales. Letter 8193 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H …
- … published discussion of earthworm activity . Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. …
- … discussion of turf-based worm castings . Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, …
- … lady, on whose accuracy I can implicitly rely”. Letter 11221 - Darwin to Darwin …
- … are referenced in Vegetable Mould . Letter 12742 - Darwin, H. to Darwin, …
- … "My son Horace" in Vegetable Mould . Letter 12745 - Darwin to …
- … anonymously in Vegetable Mould . Letter 12760 - Wedgwood, K. E. S. to …
- … but does not identify the workers in question. Letter 13037 - Darwin to Darwin, …
Natural Science and Femininity
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters A conflation of masculine intellect and feminine thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity. Working from the private domestic comfort of their homes and exercising…
Matches: 16 hits
- … Britain? Letters Letter 109 - Wedgwood, J. to Darwin, …
- … pursuit of real, professional work on his return. Letter 158 - Darwin to Darwin, R. W., …
- … colour and “beauty” of tropical vegetation. Letter 542 - Darwin to Wedgwood, C. S., [27 …
- … meals, family time and walks into town with Emma. Letter 555 - Darwin to FitzRoy, R., …
- … ‘ A Biographical Sketch of an Infant ’. Letter 2781 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [3 May …
- … them in the north-facing borders of his garden. Letter 2864 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
- … and “never saw anything so beautiful”. Letter 4230 - Darwin to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [2 …
- … linked with his domestic family life. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [2 …
- … at least provide Darwin with aesthetic pleasure. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
- … he has moved one or two of them into his bedroom. Letter 4469 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin …
- … before expecting to dedicate his life to science. Letter 4472 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin …
- … duty to the public to contribute more than this. Letter 6044 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H., …
- … and influence to help shape his sons’ fortunes. Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, …
- … from the comfort of his “ pretty garden ”. Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 …
- … moths all of which were conducted in his home. Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S …
- … attracted to dark spots on the bedroom wallpaper. Letter 10821 - Graham C. C. to Darwin …
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…
Matches: 25 hits
- … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
- … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
- … François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20 …
- … quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January …
- … probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
- … we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He …
- … of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
- … find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
- … sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
- … leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
- … on the summit, whence it rolls down the sides’ ( letter from J. F. Simpson, 7 January 1882 ). The …
- … light on it, which would have pleased me greatly’ ( letter from J. H. Gilbert, 9 January 1882, …
- … annelid seemed to have rather the best of the fight’ ( letter from G. F. Crawte, 11 March 1882 ). …
- … by the American educator Emily Talbot (Talbot ed. 1882). His letter to Talbot written the previous …
- … by the flippant witlings of the newspaper press’ ( letter from A. T. Rice, 4 February 1882 ). Rice …
- … men, and their role as providers for the family. In his letter, he conceded that there was ‘some …
- … of our homes, would in this case greatly suffer’ ( letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). …
- … she be fairly judged, intellectually his inferior, please ( letter from C. A. Kennard, 28 January …
- … he has allied himself to so dreadful a man, as Huxley’ ( letter to John Collier, 16 February 1882 …
- … Would my actions be the same without my consciousness?’ ( letter from John Collier, 22 February …
- … a solid scientific foundation cannot be overestimated’ ( letter to William Jenner, 20 March [1882] …
- … to delight in his children’s accomplishments. In a letter to Anthony Rich, he shared several of his …
- … or where to begin’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 21 [January 1860] ). Darwin’s former mentor at …
- … when we meet’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 29 January [1860] ). Origin would bring Darwin much …
- … to value great minds’ ( letter from Aleksander Jelski, [1860–82] ). In 1863, the final blow …
Darwin in letters, 1861: Gaining allies
Summary
The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. He had weathered the storm that followed the publication of Origin, and felt cautiously optimistic about the ultimate acceptance of his ideas. The letters from this year provide an…
Matches: 29 hits
- … of notes on variation at Down House. During the summer of 1860, he had become interested in …
- … . Having learned from his publisher John Murray in November 1860 that a new edition of Origin …
- … will do me & Natural Selection, right good service’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 26–7 Februrary [1861] …
- … ‘barometer’ of scientific opinion, Charles Lyell ( see letter to Charles Lyell, 20 July [1861] ). …
- … selection could not be ‘directly proved’ ( see second letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 [April 1861] ). …
- … was ‘the only one proper to such a subject’ ( letter from Henry Fawcett, 16 July [1861] ). Mill in …
- … or against some view if it is to be of any service!’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] …
- … chapter on the imperfection of the geological record ( see letter to George Maw, 19 July [1861] ). …
- … he planned to report ‘at a favourable opportunity’ ( letter from Joseph Leidy, 4 March [1861] ). …
- … laboratory where Nature manufactures her new species’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 28 March [1861] ) …
- … study of natural history was evident. He told Darwin in his letter of [1 December] 1861: …
- … by insect enemies from which the other set is free’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 30 September 1861 ) …
- … be a ‘very valuable contribution to Nat. History.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 4 April [1861] ). He …
- … causes &c’, and ‘Monkeys,—our poor cousins.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 3 December [1861] ). …
- … a view to obtaining ‘large distribution’ for the work ( letter to H. W. Bates, 25 September [1861] …
- … him on producing ‘a complete and awful smasher’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 January [1861] ). Ever …
- … but he and Owen would ‘never be friends again’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 January [1861] ). …
- … fourth child, remained desolate over the death in September 1860 of their first-born, Noel, he and …
- … fully believe a better man never walked this earth’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 [May 1861] ). …
- … in the voyage of the Beagle is well known. As late as 1860, Henslow had defended Darwin against …
- … could perhaps ‘throw some light on Hybridisation’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 September [1861] ). …
- … the diversity & perfection of the contrivances.–-’ ( letter of [28 July–10 August 1861] ). …
- … had ‘some direct bearing on the subject of species’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] …
- … whether I am not doing a foolish action in publishing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1861] …
- … ‘it is such tedious work comparing skeletons—’ ( letter to Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefage de Bréau …
- … on the subject had been ‘one long gigantic blunder’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 September [1861] …
- … £800, and would so ‘be at once an almost rich man’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, [26 May 1861] ). The …
- … of what was thought to be ‘a form of typhus fever’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 11 May 1860 ). This …
- … America that threatened peace in Britain in 1861. The end of 1860 and the beginning of 1861 saw …
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: 4 hits
- … any of his children were ill, Darwin was unable to work. In 1860 his seventeen-year-old daughter …
- … on account of Etty.’ (Darwin to W. D. Fox, 18 October [1860] ) Seven of the Darwin children lived …
- … 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 …
Darwin’s Photographic Portraits
Summary
Darwin was a photography enthusiast. This is evident not only in his use of photography for the study of Expression and Emotions in Man and Animal, but can be witnessed in his many photographic portraits and in the extensive portrait correspondence that…
Matches: 7 hits
- … to the copy he had sent five years previously in his 1860 letter to Hooker , Darwin exclaimed …
- … matter, and he was far more satisfied with the results. In 1860-61 and again in 1864 Charles Darwin …
- … most transformative photographs of Darwin.The years between 1860 and 1864 took a physical and …
- … his ‘venerable beard’! Images: Charles Darwin, 1860-61, William Darwin, Courtesy of Harvard …
- … gaze. These photographs were rarely included in a Darwin letter, save for perhaps a very few close …
- … taken for public consumption. Responding to a letter from a German translator – Adolph …
- … which you do me the honour to wish to possess.” As the letter and photograph had to travel from Down …
Insectivorous Plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Plants that consume insects Darwin began his work with insectivorous plants in the mid 1860s, though his findings would not be published until 1875. In his autobiography Darwin reflected on the delay that…
Matches: 7 hits
- … Murray. Chapters 17 and 18 Letters Letter Packet: Insectivorous Plants …
- … Scott's objection to Natural Selection. Letter 2951 - Charles Darwin to Daniel …
- … ammonia as a substitute for flies on Drosera . Letter 2932 - Charles Darwin to J.S. …
- … teacher during Darwin's students days at Cambridge. In this letter Darwin asks Henslow whether …
- … the Drosera is a known or common phenomenon. Letter 8113 - Mary Treat to Charles …
- … observations in gratitude for Darwin's own work. Letter 9005 - Charles Darwin to …
- … of utricularia expressed by Mary Treat in an 1874 letter to Charles Darwin: I …