16 Items
Page: 1
From Asa Gray 1 June 1857
Summary
Comments on species with disjoined ranges; does not feel, despite CD’s expectations, that they tend to belong to small families.
Gives the proportion of U. S. trees in which the sexes are separate [see Natural selection, p. 62].
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 June 1857 |
| Classmark: | DAR 8: 47bA |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2098 |
To J. D. Hooker 2 June [1857]
Summary
Qualifications of John Lindley, Huxley, Albany Hancock, Joseph Prestwich, J. C. Ross, and Francis Beaufort for Royal Medal.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 2 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 199 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2099 |
To William Sharpey 2 June [1857]
Summary
Supports nomination of John Lindley for award of Royal Medal of the Royal Society.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Sharpey |
| Date: | 2 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | Houghton Library, Harvard University (MS Lowell Autograph File 84) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2100 |
To J. D. Hooker 3 June [1857]
Summary
"Law" [see 2092] correlating variability and abnormal development not confirmed by JDH for plants.
CD studies struggle for existence in his weed garden.
Scotch fir observed at Moor Park.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 3 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 200 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2101 |
To J. D. Hooker 5 June [1857]
Summary
Royal Society medals.
Correlation of variability and abnormal development is G. R. Waterhouse’s law. Relation of this law to polymorphism.
Colouring and marks of ancestral horse deduced from facts observed in pigeons.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 5 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 201 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2102 |
To T. C. Eyton 9 June [1857]
Summary
Comments on TCE’s work [Catalogue of the species of birds in his collection (1856)].
Mentions African dog’s skin.
Asks about colours of horses
and about variation in tracheae of male birds.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Campbell Eyton |
| Date: | 9 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.146) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2103 |
To Gardeners’ Chronicle [before 13 June 1857]
Summary
Requests information from readers on breeding of dun or mouse-coloured ponies with a dark stripe down their backs. Must one or both parents be dun?
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Gardeners’ Chronicle |
| Date: | [before 13 June 1857] |
| Classmark: | Gloucestershire Archives (T. C. Morton deposit D1021/8/4) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2105 |
From H. C. Watson 14 June [1857]
Summary
Sends a reference to Subularia which bears on a query CD made some time ago [see 2002]. Subularia was seen to flower in the air in a remarkably dry season.
| Author: | Hewett Cottrell Watson |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 207: 20 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2106 |
To W. B. Tegetmeier [18 June 1857]
Summary
Is glad WBT is investigating "the tail question"; hopes he will work out "down & colour point". Is much interested in runts, which seem to vary more than other breeds.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | [18 June 1857] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2108 |
To Asa Gray 18 June [1857]
Summary
Thanks for AG’s remarks on disjoined species. CD’s notions are based on belief that disjoined species have suffered much extinction, which is the common cause of small genera and disjoined ranges.
Discusses out-crossing in plants.
Has failed to meet with a detailed account of regular and normal impregnation in the bud. Podostemon, Subularia, and underwater Leguminosae are the strongest cases against him.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 18 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (9a) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2109 |
To W. B. Tegetmeier 23 June [1857]
Summary
CD anxious to examine rumpless chick 24 hours before hatching.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 23 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2110 |
To W. B. Tegetmeier 25 [June 1857]
Summary
Needs only one nearly-hatched chick.
Has all published numbers of Poultry book [1856–7].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 25 [June 1857] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2111 |
To J. D. Hooker 25 June [1857]
Summary
Seedling leaves of gorse look like clover leaves. This is like young lions being striped. Thus, laws of animal embryology apply to plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 25 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 205 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2112 |
To T. C. Eyton 26 [June 1857]
Summary
Ill.
Comments on TCE’s study of birds’ bones.
His work on variation progresses.
Asks about horses with bars like zebra or ass.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Campbell Eyton |
| Date: | 26 [June 1857] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.147) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2113 |
From J. D. Hooker [27] June 1857
Summary
Embryology of plants of low systematic order. Comparative development begins only with first post-cotyledonary leaves.
Curt letter to JDH from George Henslow.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [27] June 1857 |
| Classmark: | DAR 100: 115 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2114 |
To J. D. Hooker [June 1857]
Summary
Request for Floras of Pacific Islands and Greenland.
Individual variation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [June 1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 222b |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2198 |
Author
| Darwin, C. R. | (13) |
| Gray, Asa | (1) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
| Watson, H. C. | (1) |
Addressee
| Hooker, J. D. | (5) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (3) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (3) |
| Eyton, T. C. | (2) |
| Gardeners’ Chronicle | (1) |
Correspondent
| Darwin, C. R. | (16) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (6) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (3) |
| Eyton, T. C. | (2) |
| Gray, Asa | (2) |
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102 Items
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: 22 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] ). …
- … overt act, and I shall watch for a fitting opportunity’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] …
- … in the fossil record ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] January [1863] ). Only until March did …
- … Dana, 20 February [1863] , and letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). In March, after …
- … 29 May [1863] , and letter to Hugh Falconer, [25–6 August 1863] ). Sterility and …
- … [1863] that he had been ‘ordered to do nothing for 6 months’ by his doctors, mentioning that even …
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: 23 hits
- … species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. …
- … below, ‘Textual changes made to C. Lyell 1863c’). On 6 February 1863, Antiquity of man (C. Lyell …
- … Galton. In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, evidently in response …
- … over the comparative anatomy of human and ape brains. 6 Many of Lyell’s supporters were …
- … 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 …
- … Lyell, see Bynum 1984 and L. G. Wilson 1996. 6. Owen’s complaints about C. Lyell 1863a …
- … See Correspondence vol. 11, letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] and n. 7. 9. …
- … T. H. Huxley, 7 June 1865, Imperial College, Huxley papers 6: 110). For more on the X-club, see …
- … to Huxley, 5 June 1865 (Imperial College, Huxley papers 6: 104). 27. Rough draft of a …
- … June 1865, and 8 June 1865 (Imperial College, Huxley papers 6: 108, 111). 30. Letter from …
- … Charles Lyell, 11 June 1865, Imperial College, Huxley papers 6: 116). 34. C. Lyell 1865. …
- … for man. British Journal for the History of Science 6 (1972–3): 261–303. Barton, Ruth. …
- … Hugh. 1863. Letter. Athenaeum , 4 April 1863, pp. 459-60. Forchhammer, G. et al . 1851 …
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 …
- … by the conciseness & clearness of your thought’ ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 20 April 1874 ). …
- … legal action over the ‘scurrilous libel’ on his son ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [27 July 1874] ). …
- … false, scurrilous accusation of [a] lying scoundrel’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ). …
- … on the outcome ( enclosure to letter from G. H. Darwin, 6 [August] 1874 ): I think you …
- … & it had been refused’ ( letter from G. H. Darwin, [6 or 7 August 1874] ). When the letter was …
- … to the vomit and ate it ( letter from W. G. Walker, 6 December 1874 ). The Zoological …
Darwin's Fantastical Voyage
Summary
Learn about Darwin's adventures on his epic journey.
Matches: 1 hits
- … These activities explore Darwin’s life changing voyage aboard HMS Beagle. Using letters home, …
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
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, …
- … 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] ) …
- … Index-maker’, Darwin wrote to Joseph Dalton Hooker on 6 January . Darwin had sent the manuscript …
- … 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. …
- … but never fulfilled. He was sent a news clipping on 6 July from the Maryport Weekly Advertiser …
- … House of Commons than any assembly in the world’ (from ?, 6 April 1868). On 21 May , Darwin …
- … The Swiss botanist Alphonse de Candolle described on 6 July the inheritance over eight …
- … 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 …
- … is too short for so long a discussion’, he wrote on 6 April . Yet Wallace continued to press him, …
- … you as their leader’ ( letter from Gaston de Saporta, 6 September 1868 ). The support …
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: 29 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 …
- … and her sisters while on holiday in Llandudno. Letter 4823 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
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
- … confounded ( Charles Darwin to Charles Lyell 6 June [1860 ]) Darwin …
- … of twenty years, Natural Selection . With that letter to Gray, Darwin enclosed a …
- … explainer. ( Charles Darwin to Charles Lyell, 6 June [1860]) To Lyell, Darwin …
- … 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 ' …
Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments
Summary
1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…
Matches: 28 hits
- … but really I do think you have a good right to be so’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 and] 20 …
- … species. Darwin attempted to dissuade him from this view ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 [January 1862 …
- … partially sterile together. He failed. Huxley replied ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 January 1862 …
- … and pronounced them ‘simply perfect’, but continued ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 18 December [1862] ) …
- … resigned to their difference of opinion, but complained ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1862 …
- … letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] …
- … protégé, telling Hooker: ‘he is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). …
- … Towards the end of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): …
- … and added, ‘new cases are tumbling in almost daily’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). In …
- … hopeful, became increasingly frustrated, telling Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 March [1862] ) …
- … on the problem: ‘the labour is great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ), ‘I …
- … resulted from his ‘ enormous labour over them’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [October 1862] ; …
- … Oliver: ‘I can see at least 3 classes of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), …
- … result once out of four or five sets of experiments’ ( letter to M. T. Masters, 24 July [1862] ). …
- … one species may be said to be generically distinct’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 14 July [1862] ). The …
- … and determined to publish on Linum ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), …
- … d . like to make out this wonderfully complex case—’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 29 [July 1862] ). …
- … The case clearly excited Darwin, who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 9 August [1862] ), ‘I …
- … that the case warranted a paper for the Linnean Society ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 October [1862] …
- … that had given him ‘great pleasure to ride’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). But he …
- … know not in the least , whether the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] …
- … govern the structure of almost every flower’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 8 June [1862] ). …
- … so doubtful about anything I published’, he told Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 [May 1862] ). …
- … May, and George Bentham pronounced it ‘most valuable’ (letter from George Bentham, 15 May 1862). …
- … in writing the book, it was, after all, ‘a success’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 [June 1862] ). …
- … different translator ( see letter from Edouard Claparède, 6 September 1862 ). In Germany, …
- … of the human species ( see letter from John Lubbock, 6 January 1862 ). Ramsay’s was not the …
- … of the pot of life’? ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 6 May 1862 ). In his address, Huxley also …
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: 26 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 …
- … Darwin’s best efforts, set the final price at 7 s. 6 d. ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 …
- … 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 ) …
- … 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] …
- … 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 …
- … to stand closer (a serried mass) and to be more erect’ ( letter to Briton Riviere, 19 May [1872] ) …
- … 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 …
- … to Henrietta; 'I know that I am half-killed myself’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 25 July 1872 …
- … effect on my mind’ ( letter to Chauncey Wright, 6 April 1872 ). A competing theory on the …
- … in his `Literary Banquet’ (letters from John Murray, 6 November [1872] and 9 November 1872 ). …
'An Appeal' against animal cruelty
Summary
The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against the cruelty of steel vermin…
Matches: 16 hits
- … was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 …
- … of the pamphlet in August and September 1863 (see letter from G. B. Sowerby Jr to Emma Darwin, 22 …
- … 1863, pp. 821–2, under the title `Vermin and traps' ( Letter no. 4282). The wording of the …
- … and to 'a good many persons Squires Ladies & MPs' (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D …
- … more success with the campaign than she expected (see the letter from Emma Darwin to William Erasmus …
- … MS), 20 August 1863, recording a payment of £2 11 s. 6 d. for distributing the 'cruelty …
- … involved no more cruelty than the possible alternatives (see letter from E. L. Darwin, 7 September …
- … against the use of steel traps in 1877 ( Spectator , 6 January 1877, p. 15, and Emma Darwin 2: …
- … to the RSPCA in 1852 for working horses with sore necks (see letter from Emma Darwin to William …
- … threatened to report a similar case of cruelty in 1866 (see letter to [Local landowner], [1866], …
- … , pp. 44, 54–5, 78, and Correspondence vol. 2, letter to W. D. Fox, 28 August [1837]). Later he …
- … Autobiography , pp. 78–9, Correspondence vol. 7, letter to W. E. Darwin, 22 [September 1858], …
- … pheasants, and other game-birds (Carr 1981, pp. 475–6, Mackenzie 1988, p. 18, Allen 1994, p. 127.). …
- … be grateful for any suggestions, addressed to A. B., 6 Mr. Strong, Printer, Bromley, Kent …
- … Gardeners’ Chronicle , 29 August 1863, pp. 821–2 ( Letter no. 4282). The woodcut was arranged …
- … of animals, 1835 ( Statutes, public and general , 5 & 6 Will. IV c. 59), and the Act for the …
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: 4 hits
- … F. J. Wedgwood to H. E. and C. R. Darwin, [1867–72], letter nos. 7058–62). She had published a …
- … I can perfectly understand being carried away—Laura 6 likens it to a mustard plaister wh. …
- … when I feel my day made bright & happy by one short letter. I want him to take me in his arms …
- … 5 Miss Hollway ( sic ) has not been identified. 6 Laura May Forster . 7 …
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 …
- … on roots’, read at the Linnean Society of London on 6 and 16 March, respectively. In January, …
- … 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] …
- … pain’, ‘ slight attack’ (Darwin pocket diary, 1882, 6, 7, 10 April 1882). Some days he was able …
- … yesterday’ (letter from Emma Darwin to G. H. Darwin, 6 April 1882 (DAR 210.3: 46)). Despite his …
- … in Natural History every day’ ( letter to Henry Holland, 6 November [1864] ). Writing to the …
Interview with Randal Keynes
Summary
Randal Keynes is a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, and the author of Annie’s Box (Fourth Estate, 2001), which discusses Darwin’s home life, his relationship with his wife and children, and the ways in which these influenced his feelings about…
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: 30 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] …
- … 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] …
- … coloured varieties (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter to John Scott, 19 November [1862] ). …
- … species arising’ ( Correspondence vol. 9, letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 September [1861] ). …
- … experiments in 1863 (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from John Scott, 21 September [1863] …
- … modification of structure’ (G. D. Campbell 1864, pp. 275–6). Campbell argued further that natural …
- … observations to high scientific account’ (A. Gray 1865–6, pp. 273-4). Darwin had also written to …
- … to the Anthropologicals?’ ( letter from F. H. Hooker, 6 September [1865] ). Before he returned …
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Matches: 4 hits
- … ( Beagle diary , p. 143). He was delighted to receive a letter from an African correspondent …
- … and Progress Key letters: Letter to J. S. Henslow, 11 April 1833 …
- … race making. British Journal of the History of Science 6: 9–23 [in a special issue on ‘Descent …
- … Correspondence with women Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February …
Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants
Summary
Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…
Matches: 18 hits
- … purposes’ (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1862] , and …
- … his botanical work, at Down House since the winter of 1855–6 (see CD’s Classed account book (Down …
- … its sensitivity to touch (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December …
- … his employer’s hothouses over the previous two years. In a letter of 24 December [1862] ( …
- … he had had, he would ‘probably have made a mess of it’ (letter to G. H. Turnbull, [16? February …
- … adding ‘I shall keep to curious & experimental plants’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January …
- … of Westerham, with whom he had dealt over many years. In his letter to Hooker, Darwin mentioned that …
- … of the plants you want before going to Nurserymen’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 January 1863] ) …
- … I shall avoid[,] of course I must not have from Kew’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 January [1863] ) …
- … him: ‘I long to stock it, just like a school-boy’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 February [1863] ). …
- … which I wished for, but which I did not like to ask for’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, [21 February …
- … in a particular mixture of moss, peat, and charcoal (see the letter from Henrietta Emma Darwin to …
- … of his plants, proffering further advice on cultivation (see letter from J. D. Hooker, [6 March …
- … sh d . not see such transcendent beauty in each leaf’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
- … to envision the tropics (see Correspondence vol. 1, letter to Caroline Darwin, [28 April 1831] …
- … § Asclepias currasavica 3 1.6 …
- … Canna Warscewisii— 4 2.6 …
- … Pentas rosea 1.6 …
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 17 hits
- … On 8 January , he told Hooker: ‘I will write a savage letter & that will do me some good, if I …
- … ‘How grandly you have defended me’, Darwin wrote on 6 January , ‘You have also greatly honoured …
- … to the Editor … Poor Murray shuddered again & again’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 January …
- … offered to pay the costs for printing an additional 250 ( letter to John Murray, 3 May 1875 ). …
- … book had to go along on the excursion,’ he reported on 6 July , ‘and it did us excellent service. …
- … & bless the day That ever you were born (letter from E. F. Lubbock, [after 2 …
- … that the originally red half has become wholly white’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [before 4 …
- … pp. 188–90). He drew attention to this discussion in a letter to George Rolleston, remarking on 2 …
- … Darwin wrote, ‘I beg ten thousand pardon & more’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [ c . February …
- … signed himself, ‘Your affect son … the proofmaniac’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, 1 and 2 May [1875 …
- … both critical and reverential. On 16 July he received a letter from an advocate of women’s …
- … laurel in the wreath of your fame ’, Haeckel wrote on 6 June , ‘to have a predecessor in the …
- … her presentation copy of Insectivorous plants ( letter to D. F. Nevill, 15 July [1875] ). Such …
- … of my house within the short time I can talk to anyone’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 3 May [1875] ). …
- … and had agreed to see him at Down with Thiselton-Dyer ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 7 July 1875 …
- … lay of hair in eyelashes and on arms, a typically lengthy letter full of personal observations, …
- … examination it was pronounced to be of a ‘high type’ ( letter from Woodward Emery, 17 September …
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: 15 hits
- … 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, …
- … on board Darwin’s comments and sent a fair copy of his letter with his letter of 6 [August] 1874 …
- … 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 …
- … of London.) Mivart swiftly replied to Huxley’s letter : again, Darwin did not see this. …
- … Confidential Dear Huxley, I thank you for your letter of yesterday’s date as also for …
- … in my own name. The way however, in which you take my letter makes it necessary for me, in …
Women as a scientific audience
Summary
Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…
Matches: 26 hits
- … Were women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
- … Tollet for proofreading and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. …
- … her to read to check that she can understand it. Letter 7312 - Darwin to Darwin, F. …
- … from all but educated, typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E …
- … he seeks her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 …
- … in order to minimise impeding general perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, …
- … he uses to avoid ownership of indelicate content. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to …
- … so as not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
- … which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to …
- … Darwin’s female readership Letter 5391 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [6 February …
- … of the Manchester Ladies Literary Society . Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to …
- … the chapter on pangenesis, which is a revelation. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. …
- … Darwin assumes that 'A. B. Blackwell' is a man. Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to …
- … him to the psychology of Herbert Spencer. Letter 7624 - Bathoe, M . B. to Darwin …
- … his statements on a lack of reasoning in animals. Letter 7644 - Barnard, A. to …
- … during a visit to an asylum with her father. Letter 7651 - Wedgwood, F. J. to …
- … on any comments that she feels might be suitable. Letter 7411 - Pfeiffer, E. J. to …
- … and beauty in the process of sexual selection. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, …
- … of a woman’s natural thinking”. Letter 8778 - Forster, L. M . to Darwin, H. …
- … and the showing of teeth in Expression . Letter 10072 - Pape, C. to …
- … and hopes Darwin will complete her questionnaire. Letter 10390 - Herrick, S. M. B. …
- … of questions which she hopes aren’t too silly. Letter 10415 - Darwin to Herrick, S. …
- … and is pleased that his work has interested her. Letter 10508 - Treat, M. to Darwin …
- … it nearly all night before she could lay it down. Letter 13547 - Tanner, M. H. …
- … involving worms which occurred in her garden. Letter 13650 Kennard, C. A. to Darwin …
- … Reading Variation Letter 5712 - Dallas, W. S. to Darwin, [8 December 1867] …
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 …
- … had been fixed through the process of stereotyping (see letter from Asa Gray, 23 January [1860] and …
- … of species; Darwin sent this off to Gray enclosed in his letter of [8 or 9 February 1860]. He had …
- … [1860] and 1 February [1860]). A month later, in his letter of 8 March [1860], Darwin sent …
- … (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]). …
- … resulting from three separate printings of Origin (see letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] and …
- … the sixth English edition of 1872 (Freeman 1977, pp. 85–6). PREFACE …
- … in the nature of the plant. Pages 293 and 294. 6 Omit thirty lines, beginning, ‘‘ On …
- … third edition of Origin ( Origin 3d ed., pp. 363–6). See also letter from John Lubbock, …
