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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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?]

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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?]

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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
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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: 18 hits

  • … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of …
  • … Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But …
  • … publisher in December. Much of Darwin’s correspondence in 1866 was focussed on issues surrounding …
  • … able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
  • … once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
  • … see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866
  • … work doing me any harm—any how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
  • … production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January …
  • … 13), and continued to refine his hypothesis in 1866. He wrote to Hooker on 16 May [1866] , ‘I … …
  • … of “Domestic Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
  • … good deal I think, & have come to more definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December …
  • … also added material obtained through correspondence in 1866, including observations by the American …
  • … ‘I quite follow you in thinking Agassiz glacier-mad’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8[–9] September …
  • … ten times more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] …
  • … past few years. Emma described the Royal Society event in a letter to George: ‘Your father … entered …
  • … you—& told me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). …
  • … 3 calls! & then went for ¾ to Zoolog. Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 April 1866
  • … delighted to come on those terms so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [  c . 10 May …

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: 9 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 …
  • … 17 March [1867] ). He noted another factor in a letter to Gray, remarking, ‘I am going on with my …
  • … not exist in Britain. During a visit to Darwin in May 1866, Robert Caspary, a specialist in …
  • … [1873] ). In September, Darwin wrote a long letter to Nature commenting on a seemingly …
  • … A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this letter has been found, but Darwin had long …

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: 12 hits

  • … about Darwin’s research methods by following these ‘letter trails’ and observing how correspondence …
  • … 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, …
  • … had begun to correspond with Darwin only a year earlier. The letter is now incomplete; Darwin had …
  • … 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 …
  • … birds. I rec d  some seeds the day after receiving your letter; & I must own that the fleshy …
  • … Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 25 Sept [1866] This letter must have crossed in the post …
  • … brilliant red pearls. By the time he received Darwin’s letter he had found yet more examples and …
  • … by our Jacús ( Penelope ) or other birds.’ ( see the letter ) By this time Darwin had already …
  • … 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…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … of his theories (e.g. to M. E. Boole, 14 December 1866 ). Even the youngest …
  • … letters to his Wedgwood nieces, Lucy ( [before 25 September 1866] ; 8 June [1867-72?] ) and …
  • … seeking permission to go on the Beagle voyage, to a letter to C. A. Kennard written on 9 …
  • … from the youthful exuberance of the Beagle letters (e.g. letter to Caroline Darwin, 29 April …
  • … that led up to his ‘confessing a murder’ in his famous  letter to J. D. Hooker, in which he admitted …
  • … who was proofreading a draft chapter of Descent (letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …

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: 12 hits

  • … Charles Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1866] .  The ‘hard seed for grit’ …
  • … Despite the difference in language between Darwin’s letter and the modern scientific paper quoted …
  • … 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. …
  • … for atheism, but as Darwin himself acknowledged in a letter to Mary Boole, it was more satisfactory …
  • … as a result of the direct intervention of God.  See the letter We may contrast Darwin’s …
  • … sucks it, must have! It is a very pretty case.’  See the letter Darwin was confident …
  • … nature as she really is.’ It seems from Haeckel’s letter that what most struck him about …
  • … of his great discovery is by contrast extremely modest. In a letter written in 1864 and …
  • … 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, …

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: 22 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 …
  • 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 …

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…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … to confide in his closest friends and associates by letter. The letters in this volume speak …
  • … are badly galled … Darwin to a local landowner, 1866. Science must take …
  • … should be still very far off. Mary Boole to Darwin, 1866. Never, for God’s …

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…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … ( Alfred Russel Wallace to Charles Darwin, 2 July 1866 )   Continued from ' …
  • … survival of the strongest or most healthy. In July 1866 Wallace wrote Darwin a long and …
  • … as ‘survival of the better’ (see Spencer 1872, and the letter to Herbert Spencer, 10 June [1872] …

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…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … On Christmas Day 1866, Bartholomew Sulivan sat down to write a typically long and chatty letter to …
  • … clothes & dry blankets for the first time for weeks.’ ( Letter from B. J. Sulivan, 25 December …

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 …
  • … and her sisters while on holiday in Llandudno. Letter 4823  - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
  • … 5254  - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin, [23 October 1866] German botanist Friedrich …

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: 17 hits

  • … me) attack on Virchow for experimenting on the Trichinae’ (letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January …
  • … progress of physiology. He reiterated these concerns in a letter to Thomas Henry Huxley ten days …
  • … I love with all my heart’ ( Correspondence vol. 19, letter to ?, 19 May [1871] ). As a …
  • … farmers and their staff (see Correspondence vol. 14, letter to a local landowner, [1866?] ). …
  • … by the prospect of animals suffering for science. In a letter to E. Ray Lankester, he wrote: ‘You …
  • … I shall not sleep to-night’ ( Correspondence vol. 19, letter to E. R. Lankester, 22 March [1871 …
  • … was a sensitive subject within Darwin’s family. In his letter of 14 January 1875 to Huxley, …
  • … ones (men of course) or I might get one or two’ (letter from Emma Darwin to F. P. Cobbe, 14 …
  • … to serve as the basis for a petition, and gave it to Huxley (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, …
  • … with Huxley, who produced a new sketch for a petition (letter from T. H. Huxley, [4 April 1875] ) …
  • … who drafted a memorial, sending it to Darwin on 7 April (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 7 …
  • … in order to gather signatures. More alterations were made (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 10 …
  • … had already been prepared for the House of Lords (see letter to J. S. Burdon Sanderson, [11 April …
  • … his approval as president of the Royal Society of London (letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 April [1875] …
  • … his counsel: ‘we wd do whatever else you think best’ (letter to E. H. Stanley, 15 April 1875 ). …
  • … Sanderson both expressed their dismay at this alteration (letter from T. H. Huxley, 19 May 1875 , …
  • … version, and that only minor corrections had been made (letter to Lyon Playfair, 26 May 1875 , …

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: 23 hits

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

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: 30 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 …
  • … suppose abuse is as good as praise for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] …
  • … to the printer, but without the additional chapter. In a letter written on 8 February [1867] to …
  • … books,  Descent  and  Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his …
  • … variation of animals and plants under domestication . In a letter to his son William dated 27 …
  • … of his brother’s embryological papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although …
  • … completely revised the German translation of  Origin  in 1866, would be called upon to translate  …
  • … tell me, at what rate your work will be published’ ( letter from J. V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). This …
  • … & sent to him, he may wish to give up the task’ ( letter to Carl Vogt, 12 April [1867] ). …
  • … fit person’ to introduce the work to the German public ( letter from J. V. Carus, 15 April 1867 ). …
  • … Vogt should translate my book in preference to you’ ( letter to J. V. Carus, 18 April [1867] ). …
  • … varieties at the eye, which resulted in a mottled hybrid ( letter from Robert Trail, 5 April 1867 …
  • … seems to me, if true, a wonderful physiological fact’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). …
  • … it will be a somewhat important step in Biology’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 22 August [1867] ). …
  • … if you attack it & me with unparalleled ferocity’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1867] …
  • … own discretion; anyhow most ought to be introduced’ ( letter to W. S. Dallas, 8 November [1867] ). …
  • … however, & I cannot get on so quickly as I could wish’ (letter from W. S. Dallas, 20 November …
  • … Beagle  shipmate Bartholomew James Sulivan at Christmas 1866, Darwin had written at the end of the …
  • … with me about 27 years old In a letter of 22 February [1867] to Fritz Müller in …
  • … chapter on the cause or meaning of Expression.’ With this letter Darwin enclosed a list of questions …
  • … ‘Queries about Expression’. In a postscript to the letter he added, ‘But you must not plague …
  • … that Darwin send his queries to foreign newspapers. The letter also reveals that he did not share …
  • … work in some “supplemental remarks on expression”’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [12–17] March [1867] …
  • … of no one to send them to, so do not want any more’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). …
  • … for the year 1867. In his 15 April [1867] letter to Gray , Darwin commented, ‘I have been …
  • … further ( Variation  2: 75). In notes for his reply to a letter from Edward Blyth dated 19 …
  • … on sexual differences in mammals and birds. In his letter to Fritz Müller of 22 February [1867] , …
  • … topic on a theoretical level was Alfred Russel Wallace. In a letter to Wallace written on 23 …
  • … work,  Generelle Morphologie der Organismen  (Haeckel 1866), contained much interesting material, …

John Murray

Summary

Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … end of 1845, Darwin was not happy with Colburn’s terms ( Letter 856 ). Instead he asked his friend …
  • … John Murray, to open negotiations with his own publisher ( Letter 824 ). Lyell’s talk with Murray …
  • … have transacted the business with me’ (27 August [1845] Letter 908 ). Thus began the business …
  • … copies some pages in Darwin’s chapter were transposed ( Letter 1244 ). Darwin was anxious lest an …
  • … & make the poor workman some present’ (12 June [1849] Letter 1245 ). Darwin’s next …
  • … his ‘big species book’; on 18 June 1858, he received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace with the …
  • … asked Lyell to act as his intermediary with John Murray ( Letter 2437 ), who, without even reading …
  • … not repent of having undertaken it’ (15 October [1859] Letter 2506 ). Murray decided on a retail …
  • … proud at the appearance of my child’ ([3 November 1859] Letter 2514 ). In the event, all Murray’s …
  • … – and a second edition was immediately called for ( Letter 2549 ). In the end Murray paid Darwin …
  • … (Variation ), but work progressed slowly ( Letter 3078 ); meanwhile in 1862 Murray published  On …
  • … Murray only offered Darwin half profits for this title ( Letter 3261 ); it was never a best-seller …
  • … and the preparation of the fourth edition of  Origin  in 1866; by the time Darwin had delivered …
  • … ‘I fear it can never pay’ (3 January [1867] Letter 5346 ). In the end Murray decided to print …
  • … to Brazil, the beginning of a life-long correspondence ( Letter 4881 ). Subsequently Darwin …
  • … the risk himself. Murray suggested printing 750 copies ( Letter 6597 ), but Darwin decided on 1000 …
  • … fail, I think, to be much read’ (28 September [1870] Letter 7329 ). Murray decided to print 2500 …
  • … hope to Heaven book will sell well’ (12 January [1871] Letter 7438 ). A second printing was …
  • … America, of St George Mivart‘s Genesis of species  ( Letter 7907 ) ;  this was Darwin’s …
  • … By November of that year, fourteen copies had been sold ( Letter 8044 ). Meanwhile, Darwin was …
  • … Darwin chose to print the photographic illustrations ( Letter 7773 ), proved to be expensive ( …

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: 11 hits

  • … Letters Letter 282 - Darwin to Fox, W. D., [9 - 12 August 1835] Darwin …
  • … “a little reading, thinking and hammering”. Letter 1533 - Darwin to Dana, J. D., [27 …
  • … involved in producing such a magnum opus. In a subsequent letter , Darwin describes Dana’s …
  • … that de Bosquet has bestowed on the subject. Letter 2669 - Bunbury, C. J. F. to Darwin, …
  • … a work of “astonishing labour and patience”. Letter 4262 - Darwin to Gray, A., [4 …
  • … 134 crosses which was “no slight labour”. Letter 3901 - Darwin to Falconer, H., [5 & …
  • … not depleted completely his health and strength. Letter 4000 - Darwin to Dana, J. D., …
  • … . It is, Darwin says, “a monument of labour”. Letter 4185 - Darwin to Scott, J., [25 …
  • … a wonderful, indefatigable worker you are!”. Letter 4997 - Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, [4 …
  • … systematically to collect and arrange facts. Letter 8153 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [9 …
  • … and anxiety” involved in the editorial process. Letter 9157 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H., …

Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts

Summary

At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of  Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…

Matches: 27 hits

  • … had surfaced since the fourth edition appeared at the end of 1866 and had told his cousin William …
  • … & I am sick of correcting’ ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868 …
  • … Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). …
  • … made any blunders, as is very likely to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). …
  • … than I now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , …
  • … is strengthened by the facts in distribution’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Darwin …
  • … tropical species using Croll’s theory. In the same letter to Croll, Darwin had expressed …
  • … a very long period  before  the Cambrian formation’ ( letter to James Croll,  31 January [1869] …
  • … data to go by, but don’t think we have got that yet’ ( letter from James Croll, 4 February 1869 ). …
  • … I d  have been less deferential towards [Thomson]’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 19 March [1869] ). …
  • … completed revisions of the ‘everlasting old Origin’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 1 June [1869] ), he was …
  • … him however in his researches I would willingly do so’ ( letter from Robert Elliot to George …
  • … with his noisy courting of the female in the garden ( letter from Frederick Smith, 8 October 1869 …
  • … doubted her ability to recognise the different varieties ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 25 February …
  • … weary of everlasting males & females, cocks & hens.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 November …
  • … with much more of the same description’ ( enclosure to letter from Henry Maudsley, 20 May 1869 ). …
  • … in an additional & proximate cause in regard to Man’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 …
  • … April 1869 ). Since his marriage to Annie Mitten in 1866, Wallace had become involved in the …
  • … orang-utan, and the bird of paradise  (Wallace 1869a; letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 March [1869] ) …
  • … does himself an injustice & never demands justice’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). …
  • … geological structures of the South American cordillera ( letter to Charles Lyell, 20 May 1869 ), …
  • … of the same species that Darwin had investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February …
  • … role of earthworms in the formation of the soil ( letter to  Gardeners’ Chronicle , 9 May [1869] …
  • … sundew), a genus that he had studied in the early 1860s ( letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March …
  • … for either the fourth or the fifth English editions ( see letter from Victor Masson, 29 September …
  • … not employ [her] to translate “Domestic Animals”’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 November [1869] ). …
  • … when he was thrown by his horse. Having been advised in 1866 by the doctor Henry Bence Jones to go …

'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: 14 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 …
  • … s. 6 d. for distributing the 'cruelty pamphlet', and letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. …
  • … 1865, p. 20). The competition was held again in 1865 and 1866, but still no single design fitted the …
  • … involved no more cruelty than the possible alternatives (see letter from E. L. Darwin, 7 September …
  • … to the RSPCA in 1852 for working horses with sore necks (see letter from Emma Darwin to William …
  • … , 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], …
  • … Gardeners’ Chronicle , 29 August 1863, pp. 821–2 ( Letter no. 4282). The woodcut was arranged …
  • … is to William Howitt; the quotation is taken from Howitt"s letter to the Morning Star , 8 …
  • … Gardeners’ Chronicle , 29 August 1863, pp. 821–2 ( Letter no. 4282). 7 Edward Strong …

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: 31 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] …
  • … India in late 1864, despite suffering from sea-sickness ( letter from John Scott, 21 July 1865 ). …
  • … though he praised Scott’s ‘industry & ability’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [10 March 1865] ). …
  • … that he would take up the work again when he had time ( letter from John Scott, 21 July 1865 ); at …
  • … instalment of Friedrich Rolle’s  Der Mensch  (Rolle 1866), a study of the development of human …
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