From Robert Caspary [after 9 June 1866]
Summary
Data on good and bad pollen-grain yields of different species. Sends sketches of two male Rhamnus catharticus flowers [see Forms of flowers, p. 294].
| Author: | Johann Xaver Robert (Robert) Caspary |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 9 June 1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 109: A81; DAR 111: B45, B48b, B48c |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10344 |
To Francis Darwin [after 12 October 1866]
Summary
Instructions on paying a bill.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | [after 12 Oct 1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 211: 2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13793 |
From W. D. Fox [before 1 March 1866]
Summary
Would much like to see Dr Birchfield appointed superintendent of the new asylum at Woking.
| Author: | William Darwin Fox |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 1 Mar 1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 164: 205 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13808 |
To Charles Lyell [22 November 1866 – 14 December 1871]
Summary
CD asks if he can call tomorrow (Friday) at 9: 30, and offers to come on Saturday if that would suit CL better.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | [22 Nov 1866 – 14 Dec 1871] |
| Classmark: | Natural History Museum, Library and Archives (L DC AL 1/2) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13825G |
From William Turner [after 28 April 1866?]
Summary
Observations on a bird that used a stone to break open a snail.
| Author: | William Turner |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 28 Apr 1866?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 197 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13850 |
From John Walton [after 4 April 1866]
Summary
Reports of a tooth found in the testicle of a horse.
Hares are very fleet in countries in which greyhound coursing is developed, slow in those in which no greyhounds are kept.
| Author: | John Walton, Jr |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 4 Apr 1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 47: 210 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13851 |
To E. F. Lubbock [1 October 1866]
Summary
"… Mr Herbert Spencer. I will call tomorrow about half past 12".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Ellen Frances Hordern; Ellen Frances Lubbock |
| Date: | [1 Oct 1866] |
| Classmark: | Henry Bristow (dealer) (Catalogue 265) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13863 |
To [H. B. Jones?] 13 April [1866]
Summary
CD’s plans have changed. He will be in London the following week and therefore able to call on correspondent.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Bence Jones |
| Date: | 13 Apr [1866] |
| Classmark: | Sotheby’s (dealers) (17 December 1973) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13868 |
To H. A. Huxley [before 25 November 1866?]
Summary
Asks if he may call on Sunday at 10 o’clock.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henrietta Anne Heathorn; Henrietta Anne Huxley |
| Date: | [before 25 Nov 1866?] |
| Classmark: | Janet Huxley (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2797F |
From W. E. Darwin 8 May [1866]
Summary
Describes the floral structure of broom, particularly the form of the varying anthers. Encloses drawings of anthers and pollen.
| Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 May [1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 76: B52, 66–72 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3144 |
From E. F. Lubbock [1 October 1866]
Summary
Herbert Spencer is staying with the Lubbocks and would much like to see CD.
| Author: | Ellen Frances Hordern; Ellen Frances Lubbock |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [1 Oct 1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 170: 8 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4728 |
From Richard Trevor Clarke 6 November [1866]
Summary
Wants to publish his observation on colour changes in Matthiola seeds.
Has been crossing cotton.
Approves of C. V. Naudin and Max Wichura.
| Author: | Richard Trevor Clarke |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Nov [1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 163 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4932 |
To Edward Blyth 10 December [1866]
Summary
Asks for reference to EB’s article about tame deer on island in Aral Sea.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Edward Blyth |
| Date: | 10 Dec [1866] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4950 |
From Harriet Lubbock [April? 1866]
Summary
Local matters.
| Author: | Harriet Hotham; Harriet Lubbock |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [Apr? 1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 170: 18 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4960 |
To George Howard Darwin [1866]
Summary
Asks GHD what the chances are against squinting and non-squinting children coming alternately in a family of ten.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George Howard Darwin |
| Date: | [1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.1: 1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4961 |
From W. E. Darwin [23 June 1866]
Summary
Ovules of males of two forms [of Rhamnus catharticus?] are abortive and both females have incomplete stamens.
| Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [23 June 1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 109: A75 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4962 |
To a local landowner [1866?]
Summary
Requests that correspondent take some action regarding the state of horses on his farm. Robert Ainslie of Tromer Lodge, Down, was fined in 1852 following CD’s complaints.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | [1866?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 96: 27 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4963 |
From Daniel Oliver [after 13 May 1866]
Summary
Gives CD some references to papers.
Reports improvement in his wife’s health.
| Author: | Daniel Oliver |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 13 May 1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 173: 31 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4964 |
From E. A. Darwin [before 20 February 1866?]
Summary
Lyell calculates enviously that CD can do more work than any of the philosophers.
| Author: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 20 Feb 1866?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 105: B52 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4965 |
From Charles John Robinson [1866?]
Summary
Has a small living at Norton Canon.
Will visit Charles Whitley next week.
| Author: | Charles John Robinson |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [1866?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 188 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4966 |
| letter | (412) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (182) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (35) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (11) |
| Murray, John (b) | (11) |
| Henslow, George | (10) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (225) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (33) |
| Lyell, Charles | (12) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (9) |
| Müller, Fritz | (7) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (407) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (68) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (18) |
| Murray, John (b) | (17) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (16) |
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 29 hits
- … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of …
- … Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But the crowning achievement of the year …
- … publisher in December. Much of Darwin’s correspondence in 1866 was focussed on issues surrounding …
- … 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). Darwin had first consulted Jones …
- … go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). Darwin began riding the cob, …
- … the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 ). More predictably, however, Darwin …
- … how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). Towards Variation …
- … to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January [1866] ). Darwin found the evidence of …
- … 13), and continued to refine his hypothesis in 1866. He wrote to Hooker on 16 May [1866] , ‘I … …
- … to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] ). When finally published in 1868, it …
- … definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1866] ). The fourth edition of …
- … also added material obtained through correspondence in 1866, including observations by the American …
- … undertook an ambitious expedition to Brazil in 1865 and 1866, partly with a view to finding support …
- … ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8[–9] September [1866] ). Darwin had first heard of Agassiz’s …
- … dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] ). Darwin also ventured to inform …
- … more than a subsidiary agent’, Darwin wrote on 8 March [1866] , prefacing his remark with, ‘I …
- … Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). Darwin himself was jubilant: ‘I have …
- … Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 April 1866] ). Celebrity Darwin’s …
- … exalted, and most brilliant intellects of our age’ (Anon 1866, p. 176). At Down, Darwin …
- … in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [ c . 10 May 1866] ). Henrietta’s letter …
- … I dread all exertion’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [12 May 1866] ). Darwin’s interest in Caspary’s …
- … The German zoologist had written to Darwin on 11 January 1866 , ‘Every time I succeed in making a …
- … His vast work, Generelle Morphologie , published in 1866, was dedicated to Darwin (as well as to …
- … has ever received’ ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 18 August [1866] ). Darwin clearly admired parts of …
- … dreadful’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1866] ). The Origin in Germany …
- … ( see for example, letter to C. W. Nägeli, 12 June [1866] ). Also in March, however, Christian …
- … C. scoparius , sent to Darwin with his letter of 8 May [1866] , allowed detailed comparisons of …
- … diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, [7 May – 11 June 1866] ). On examining more specimens later …
- … becoming diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 20 June [1866] ). Darwin was excited by …
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…
Matches: 6 hits
- … … is highly remarkable’ In September 1866, Darwin announced to the American botanist …
- … is highly remarkable’ ( To Asa Gray, 10 September [1866] ). By early December, the French botanist …
- … for several years ( To Édouard Bornet, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin began a series of experiments, …
- … ). Fritz Müller, writing from Brazil in December 1866, noted that plants of this poppy growing in …
- … climatic conditions’ ( From Fritz Müller, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin’s interest was piqued and he …
- … not exist in Britain. During a visit to Darwin in May 1866, Robert Caspary, a specialist in …
Beauty and the seed
Summary
One of the real pleasures afforded in reading Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the discovery of areas of research on which he never published, but which interested him deeply. We can gain many insights about Darwin’s research methods by following these …
Matches: 7 hits
- … a new edition of On the Origin of Species (the fourth) in 1866. Darwin made substantive changes to …
- … … or are they? Towards the end of September 1866 Darwin received a letter from Fritz Müller, …
- … composite of letter from Müller to Darwin, 2 Aug 1866, in Darwin’s experimental notebook"," …
- … Fritz Müller to Charles Darwin, 2 Aug 1866. Darwin immediately responded: I have …
- … Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 25 Sept [1866] This letter must have crossed in the post …
- … me.— Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 10 Dec [1866] Hooker replied with …
- … birds. Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 14 Dec 1866 Darwin was skeptical about …
Capturing Darwin’s voice: audio of selected letters
Summary
On a sunny Wednesday in June 2011 in a makeshift recording studio somewhere in Cambridge, we were very pleased to welcome Terry Molloy back to the Darwin Correspondence Project for a special recording session. Terry, known for his portrayal of Davros in Dr…
Was Darwin an ecologist?
Summary
One of the most fascinating aspects of Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the extent to which the experiments he performed at his home in Down, in the English county of Kent, seem to prefigure modern scientific work in ecology.
Matches: 6 hits
- … Charles Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1866] . The ‘hard seed for grit’ …
- … did not then exist: even the word was not coined until 1866. There was no academic department that …
- … coined by the German scientist and theorist Ernst Haeckel in 1866. ‘By ecology, we mean the whole …
- … dreadful’, Darwin wrote to T. H. Huxley on 22 December 1866 . ‘He seems to have a passion for …
- … such study to an ‘uncritical’ natural history (Haeckel 1866, 2: 286–7; see also Stauffer 1957, p. …
- … et al . New York: CABI Publishing. Haeckel, Ernst. 1866. Generelle Morphologie der …
Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions
Summary
Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …
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…
Survival of the fittest: the trouble with terminology Part II
Summary
The most forceful and persistent critic of the term ‘natural selection’ was the co-discoverer of the process itself, Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace seized on Herbert Spencer’s term ‘survival of the fittest’, explicitly introduced as an alternative way of…
Bartholomew James Sulivan
Summary
On Christmas Day 1866, Bartholomew Sulivan sat down to write a typically long and chatty letter to his old friend, Charles Darwin, commiserating on shared ill-health, glorying in the achievements of their children, offering to collect plant specimens, and…
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: 6 hits
- … Letter 5140 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 2 July 1866 Wallace writes a lengthy analysis …
- … Letter 5303 — Boole, M. E. to Darwin, C. R., 13 Dec 1866 In this letter marked “private”, …
- … Letter 5307 — Darwin, C. R. to Boole, M. E., 14 Dec 1866 Darwin believes he is unable to …
- … Letter 5003f — Shaw, James to Darwin, C. R., [6--10 Feb 1866] James Shaw transcribes a …
- … Letter 5004 — Darwin, C. R. to Shaw, James, 11 Feb [1866] Darwin thanks James Shaw for the …
- … Letter 5060 — Shaw, James to Darwin, C. R., 19 Apr 1866 James Shaw fills a letter to Darwin …
Have you read the one about....
Summary
... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …
Darwin and vivisection
Summary
Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Correspondence vol. 14, letter to a local landowner, [1866?] ). A regular subscriber to the …
3.10 Ernest Edwards, 'Men of Eminence'
Summary
< Back to Introduction In 1865 Darwin was invited to feature in another series of published photographs, Portraits of Men of Eminence in Literature, Science and Art, with Biographical Memoirs . . . The Photographs from Life by Ernest Edwards, B.A.…
Matches: 8 hits
- … seems to have taken place, in November 1865 and April 1866. Darwin’s account book (among Down House …
- … appeared in volume 5 of Men of Eminence , published in 1866 – the biographical ‘facts’ having …
- … Philosopher’. The beard that Darwin had grown by 1865–1866 helped to enhance this impression of …
- … was clearly taken on the same occasion and is dated 24 April 1866. John van Wyhe believes that two …
- … derived from the three-quarter view photograph of 1865–1866 mentioned above (see separate catalogue …
- … Ernest Edwards date of creation 1865–1866 computer-readable date c. 1865-11 …
- … of his life for the text of Men of Eminence , 3 May [1866], (DCP-LETT-5524). Edward Walford (ed.) …
- … Reeve [later Alfred William Bennett], 1863–1867), vol. 5 (1866), ‘Charles Robert Darwin’, pp. 49–52. …
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 5 hits
- … had been delivered to the publisher in the final week of 1866. It would take all of 1867 to correct …
- … on human expression that he may have drawn up in late 1866. His correspondents were asked to copy …
- … completely revised the German translation of Origin in 1866, would be called upon to translate …
- … Beagle shipmate Bartholomew James Sulivan at Christmas 1866, Darwin had written at the end of the …
- … work, Generelle Morphologie der Organismen (Haeckel 1866), contained much interesting material, …
'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…
3.3 Maull and Polyblank photo 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction Despite the difficulties that arose in relation to Maull and Polyblank’s first photograph of Darwin, another one was produced, this time showing him in three-quarter view. It was evidently not taken at the same session as the…
Matches: 3 hits
- … before the partnership with Polyblank was dissolved c.1866). The full image was reproduced …
- … and publishers. Ernst Haeckel, writing to Darwin in January 1866, thought it was ‘certainly very bad …
- … DCP-LETT-3745. Letter from Ernst Haeckel to Darwin, 11 Jan. 1866, DCP-LETT-4973, and Darwin’s reply, …
The evolution of honeycomb
Summary
Honeycombs are natural engineering marvels, using the least possible amount of wax to provide the greatest amount of storage space, with the greatest possible structural stability. Darwin recognised that explaining the evolution of the honey-bee’s comb…
Matches: 1 hits
- … in different ways (letter from Jeffries Wyman, 11 January 1866 ). Concurrently with his …
Science, Work and Manliness
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters In 1859, popular didactic writer William Landels published the first edition of what proved to be one of his best-selling works, How Men Are Made. "It is by work, work, work" he told his middle class audience, …
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 4997 - Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, [4 February 1866] Wallace laments the sense of …
Scientific Practice
Summary
Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 5173 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. R., 2 Aug 1866 Müller provides some observations …
3.5 William Darwin, photo 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction Darwin’s son William, who had become a banker in Southampton, took the opportunity of a short visit home to Down House in April 1864 to photograph his father afresh. This half-length portrait was the first to show Darwin with a…
