To Leonard Horner [1856–7]
Summary
Thanks LH for memorandum [missing] by K. R. Lepsius.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Leonard Horner |
| Date: | [1856–7] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2618 |
To William Bernhard Tegetmeier 1 January [1856]
Summary
Will attend the Philoperisteron [pigeon fanciers’ club] if he possibly can.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 1 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1813 |
To John Maurice Herbert 2 January [1856]
Summary
Thanks JMH for book of poems.
Recalls early days together. He cannot visit due to health.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Maurice Herbert |
| Date: | 2 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.121) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1814 |
To John Davy 3 January [1856]
Summary
Delighted to hear that JD’s research is continuing. CD has heard that JD’s paper will at last be published. He is flattered by the form [as a letter addressed to CD] of communication. [See 1651a and 1819a, published in Phil. Trans. R. S. 146 (1856): 21–9 and Proc. R. S. London 8 (1856–7): 27–33.]
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Davy |
| Date: | 3 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | David Schulson (dealer) (Catalogue 61, 1991) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1816A |
To W. D. Fox 3 January [1856]
Summary
Thanks WDF for his help and reports on progress in "the Cock and Hen line of business". Has written to every quarter of the world for skins of poultry and pigeons.
As for seeds, Hooker and Bentham obstinately refuse to believe they can live even a few years in the ground.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | 3 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 86) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1815 |
To John Stevens Henslow 3 January [1856]
Summary
Thanks for JSH’s letter, which has been of real use.
Complains of the trouble caused by reports to Government required of Benefit Clubs.
Interested in case of Canada geese with seed in crop, because means of distribution is now a great hobby.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | 3 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR 93: A106–A107 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1816 |
To Armand de Quatrefages 4 January [1856]
Summary
The information correspondent hopes to get from M.-J.-P. Flourens will be valuable.
CD is keeping all varieties of pigeons, poultry, ducks, etc. for his work on variation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Jean Louis Armand (Armand de Quatrefages) Quatrefages de Bréau |
| Date: | 4 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.144) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2036 |
From Charles Wade Crump to Edward Blyth [before 8 January 1856]
Summary
Reports upon a breed of wild cattle found in southern India. The herd is reputedly descended from a wild, red bull that mated with tame cows.
[This memorandum was forwarded to CD enclosed with 1817.]
| Author: | Charles Crump |
| Addressee: | Edward Blyth |
| Date: | [before 8 Jan 1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: A114–A116 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1819 |
From Edward Blyth 8 January [1856]
Summary
Encloses "notes for Mr. D" [see 1818] and a memorandum on the wild cattle of southern India [see 1819].
Breeds of silky fowl of China and Malaya. Black-skinned fowl.
Doubts any breed of canary has siskin blood; all remain true to their type.
Wild canary and finch hybrids.
Hybrids between one- and two-humped camels.
Does not regard zebra markings on asses as an indication of interbreeding but as one of the many instances of markings in the young which more or less disappear in the adult.
Crossing of Coracias species at the edges of their ranges.
Regional variations and intergrading between species of pigeons.
Regards the differences in Treron as specific [see Natural selection, p. 115 n. 1].
Gives other instances of representative species or races differing only in certain details of colouring.
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: A110–13, A117–21 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1817 |
From John Davy 10 January 1856
Summary
On the vitality of the ova of the Salmonidae at different stages of development.
| Author: | John Davy |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Jan 1856 |
| Classmark: | Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 8 (1856–7): 27–33 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1819A |
To John Edward Gray 14 January [1856]
Summary
Requests that JEG secure the assistance of Samuel Birch in regard to information about varieties of domesticated animals and plants in China. Encloses memorandum.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Edward Gray |
| Date: | 14 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | British Museum (Department of the Middle East, correspondence 1826–67: 1490, 1488) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1820A |
To John Lubbock [14 January 1856]
Summary
Inquires about a Mr Smith, who might prove helpful "in the domestic bird line".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Date: | [14 Jan 1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR 263: 6 (EH 88206455) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1884 |
To W. B. Tegetmeier 14 January [1856]
Summary
Is attempting to get skins of poultry from all quarters of the world. Wants to inspect poultry collections.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 14 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1820 |
To John Phillips 18 January [1856]
Summary
Discusses chapter [6] on cleavage and foliation in South America. Notes especially cleavage where two series cross and cleavage as basis of foliation in metamorphosed rock. Notes foliation in rocks that have been liquefied by heat. Mentions case described in his "Geology of the Falkland Islands" [Collected papers 1: 203–12]. Discusses relationship of cleavage to beds. Speculations on association between grauwacke and clay-slates.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Phillips |
| Date: | 18 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.122) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1822 |
To J. E. Gray 19 January [1856]
Summary
Is obliged for JEG’s assistance.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Edward Gray |
| Date: | 19 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | British Museum (Department of the Middle East, correspondence 1826–67: 1491) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1822A |
From George Gulliver 20 January [1856]
Summary
Discusses the similarity in size, shape, and structure of the blood corpuscles of the Aves. Notes differences between the corpuscles of the domestic dog and some wild species.
| Author: | George Gulliver |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR (CD library – Gulliver, George 1846) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1632 |
To J. S. Henslow 22 January [1856]
Summary
Alphonse de Candolle’s Géographie botanique [raisonnée (1855)] strikes him as a wonderful, admirable work.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | 22 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR 93: A108–A109 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1823 |
From Edward Blyth 23 January 1856
Summary
Believes the goldfish originates from a wild, gold variety of Chinese carp.
Gallinaceous birds.
Crested turkeys.
EB divides the gallinaceous birds into five families on anatomical distinctions.
Wild dog species of India and Asia; ranges of some species, specific identity of others.
The fauna of the Seychelles.
Breeding of fowls in India and Africa.
Occurrence of turkeys in Africa.
Refers to some of his own papers giving fuller details of points raised previously.
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 Jan 1856 |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: A122–A125 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1825 |
To Walter Elliot 23 January 1856
Summary
Requests WE’s measurements of tigers.
Asks about a work on domestic pigeons in an Eastern language. Will consult [Ayeen Akbery or, the institutes of the Emperor Akber, trans. from Persian by Francis Gladwin, 2 vols. (1777, 1800)].
Asks for specimen skins of domestic pigeons and poultry. [See Variation 1: 205.]
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Walter Elliot |
| Date: | 23 Jan 1856 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.123) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1824 |
To Katharine Murray Lyell 26 January [1856]
Summary
Suggests that J. E. Gray and/or G. R. Waterhouse might be willing to set her butterfly collection. Recommends that her children should collect their own butterflies.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Katharine Murray Horner; Katharine Murray Lyell |
| Date: | 26 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.124) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1827 |
| Darwin, C. R. | (16) |
| Blyth, Edward | (2) |
| Crump, Charles | (1) |
| Davy, John | (1) |
| Gulliver, George | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (4) |
| Gray, J. E. | (2) |
| Henslow, J. S. | (2) |
| Phillips, John | (2) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (20) |
| Blyth, Edward | (3) |
| Davy, John | (2) |
| Gray, J. E. | (2) |
| Henslow, J. S. | (2) |
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
Darwin The Collector
Summary
Look at nature more closely and create and record your own natural collections.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Activities provide an introduction to Charles Darwin, how and why he collected so many specimens …
Detecting Darwin
Summary
Who was Charles Darwin? What is he famous for? Why is he still important?
Matches: 1 hits
- … Pupils act as Darwin detectives, exploring clues about Darwin’s life and work. No prior knowledge …
Cross and self fertilisation
Summary
The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom, published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells us, in the most emphatic manner, that she abhors…
4.18 'Figaro' chromolithograph 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction In a cartoon of 1874 by Figaro’s French-born artist Faustin Betbeder (known as Faustin), Darwin holds up a mirror reflecting himself and the startled ape sitting beside him. Their hairy bodies, seen against a background of palm…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 1874 computer-readable date c. 1874-02-01 to 1874-02-17 medium and material …
Language: Interview with Gregory Radick
Summary
Darwin made a famous comment about parallels between changes in language and species change. Gregory Radick, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Leeds University, talks about the importance of the development of language to Darwin, what…
1 Belgrave Street, London
Summary
Marriages and gossip
Matches: 1 hits
- … A family friend relates news of her marriage and other gossip. …
1.4 Samuel Laurence drawing 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction Samuel Laurence’s intimate chalk drawing of Darwin is dated 1853. It is likely that Darwin sat for the portrait at Down House, and Francis Darwin, in his catalogue of portraits of his father painted or drawn ‘from life’, noted…
3.2 Maull and Polyblank photo 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction The rise of professional photographic studios in the mid nineteenth century was a key factor in the shaping of Darwinian iconography, but Darwin’s relationship with these firms was from the start a cautious and sometimes a…
4.44 'Puck' cartoon 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction In March 1882, a month before Darwin’s death, an admiring image of him appeared in the American comic journal Puck. It was in a cartoon drawn by Joseph Keppler, Puck’s co-publisher, co-editor and chief cartoonist, titled Reason…
4.21 Gegeef, 'Our National Church', 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction A print with the ironic title Our National Church: The Aegis of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity was issued by the London publisher Edmund Appleyard in c.1872-3, and sold at a penny. The artist who drew it signed himself …
3.4 William Darwin, photo 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction In the 1860s Darwin increasingly turned to two of his sons - first to William and later to Leonard - for the fashioning of his image. William, the eldest, apparently took up photography c.1857, when still in his teens, and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction In the 1860s Darwin increasingly turned to two of his sons - …
4.34 'Punch', Sambourne cartoon 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction Linley Sambourne’s cartoon in Punch, a ‘Suggested Illustration’ for Darwin’s forthcoming book on The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants (1875) is another playful transformation of the author into an ape or monkey. However,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … December 1875 computer-readable date 1875-12-01 to 1875-12-10 medium and …
German poems presented to Darwin
Summary
Experiments in deepest reverence The following poems were enclosed with a photograph album sent as a birthday gift to Charles Darwin by his German and Austrian admirers (see letter from From Emil Rade, [before 16] February 1877). The poems were…
Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species
Summary
Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…
Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms
Summary
‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
Matches: 0 hits
Darwin And Evolution
Summary
What is evolution? What did Darwin discover and how did he come to his conclusions?
Matches: 1 hits
- … Activities give an introduction to Charles Darwin and his theories of evolution. Specimens brought …
Henrietta Darwin's diary
Summary
Darwin's daughter Henrietta kept a diary for a few momentous weeks in 1871. This was the year in which Descent of Man, the most controversial of her father's books after Origin itself, appeared, a book which she had helped him write. The small…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Lena much excited about the Mission which was just over. 1 Whilst it is fresh in my mind I …
Home learning: 7-11 years
Summary
Do try this at home! Support your children’s learning by downloading our free and fun activities for those aged between 7-11 and 11-14 years, using Darwin’s letters.
