To John Lubbock [November 1858]
Summary
Praise for abstract of JL’s paper on insects ["On the ova and pseudova of insects", Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 9 (1857–9): 574–83].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
Date: | [Nov 1858] |
Classmark: | DAR 263: 25 (EH 88206474) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2331 |
To J. D. Hooker 2 November [1858]
Summary
On moving the natural history collection of the British Museum to Kensington.
Subscription for John Ralfs.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 2 Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 252 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2351 |
To T. H. Huxley 3 November [1858]
Summary
Hooker has convinced him that move of British Museum by Government is anticipated. He is now willing to sign the memorial. Still fears for library needs, and objects to distant Kensington site. Lyell should be asked to sign.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
Date: | 3 Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 248) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2352 |
To W. E. Darwin 5 [November 1858]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Date: | 5 [Nov 1858] |
Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 33 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2353 |
To James Egan 8 November [1858]
Summary
Asks about dark stripes on shoulders and legs of Hungarian horses. Are stripes plainer in foal or adult?
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | James Egan |
Date: | 8 Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.160) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2354 |
To J. D. Hooker 9[–10] November [1858]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 9[–10] Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 253 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2355 |
To J. S. Henslow 9 November [1858]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
Date: | 9 Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | DAR 93: A60–1 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2356 |
To Robert Monsey Rolfe 10 November [1858]
Summary
Thanks RMR for contribution to Down charities. Declines invitation.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth of Cranworth |
Date: | 10 Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2357 |
From J. D. Hooker 12 November 1858
Summary
Busy with introductory essay to [The botany of the Antarctic voyage, pt III] Flora Tasmaniae [printed separately as On the flora of Australia (1859)].
Now explains greater abundance of European species in Tasmania than in Fuegia by CD’s "refrigeration" hypothesis.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 12 Nov 1858 |
Classmark: | DAR 100: 123–4 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2358 |
To Gardeners’ Chronicle [before 13 November 1858]
Summary
Reports the decreased yield of pods resulting from excluding bees from the flowers of the kidney bean. Gives other observations suggesting the importance of bees in the fertilisation of papilionaceous flowers.
Cites cases of crosses between varieties of bean grown close together and requests observations from readers on the subject. States his belief "that is a law of nature that every organic being should occasionally be crossed with a different individual of the same species".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Gardeners’ Chronicle |
Date: | [before 13 Nov 1858] |
Classmark: | Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, 13 November 1858, pp. 828–9 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2359 |
To W. D. Fox 13 November [1858]
Summary
Has suggested WDF’s name to Hooker and Henslow, who are sending a circular for aid to John Ralfs.
Is working steadily at his abstract, hopes to publish in spring.
Asks if WDF has seen a donkey with double shoulder stripe; also, has he seen a black greyhound with tan feet and a tan spot over each eye? "Such must exist because theory tells me it ought!"
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
Date: | 13 Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 119) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2360 |
To J. D. Hooker 14 November [1858]
Summary
Hermaphrodite trees are enough to "knock" CD down. Can JDH observe Eucalyptus to see whether pollen and stigma mature at same time?
JDH’s facts showing European plants are more common in southern Australia than in South America are disturbing because they are improbable on CD’s views of migration.
JDH said he would give examples of Australian forms that have migrated north along the mountains of the Malay Archipelago.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 14 Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 254 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2361 |
To J. D. Hooker [14 November 1858]
Summary
An enclosure sent with the letter to JDH, 14 November [1858] (Correspondence vol. 7) - questions and comments on lists of European species found in south-west Australia and Tasmania, and European genera found in Australia.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [14 Nov 1858] |
Classmark: | DAR 50: E55–6 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2361F |
To W. B. Tegetmeier 16 November [1858]
Summary
Wants WBT’s advice on poultry breeding experiments. Are certain birds true to their kind, and what should he pay for them?
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
Date: | 16 Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2362 |
From Samuel Wells 17 November 1858
Author: | Samuel Wells |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 17 Nov 1858 |
Classmark: | DAR 77: 147 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2363 |
To Asa Gray 18 November [1858]
Summary
Wishes to know whether differences in constitution (such as disease susceptibility) are related to differences in complexion. "Liability to such a disease as yellow fever would answer my question in the best possible way."
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 18 Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (19) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2364 |
To the Chancellor of the Exchequer 18 November 1858
Summary
CD and eight zoologists and botanists publish a memorial on "the arrangements by which National Collections in Natural History can be best adapted to the advancement of science and its general diffusion among the Public".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Chancellor of the Exchequer |
Date: | 18 Nov 1858 |
Classmark: | Parliamentary Accounts and Papers, Finance; banking; revenue, &c., Session 3 December 1857–2 August 1858, 33: 499–503; Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, 27 November 1858, p. 861 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2365 |
From William Allport Leighton 19 November 1858
Summary
Sends an account of different colours and shapes of seeds raised from ordinary seeds of scarlet runner. [See Cross and self-fertilisation, p. 151.]
Author: | William Allport Leighton |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 19 Nov 1858 |
Classmark: | DAR 77: 149–51 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2366 |
From J. D. Hooker [20 November 1858]
Summary
At work on the introductory essay to Flora Tasmaniae.
Discusses the effects of climate and geography on "vegetable strife".
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [20 Nov 1858] |
Classmark: | DAR 50: E1–2 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2367 |
To W. A. Leighton 21 November [1858]
Summary
Thanks WAL for specimens and observations [on scarlet runner beans]. CD is perplexed whether to account for the changes as due to simple variation or to crossing. The information will be used when he finally comes to a conclusion on the subject [see Cross and self-fertilisation, p. 151].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Allport Leighton |
Date: | 21 Nov [1858] |
Classmark: | DAR 112: B97–8 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2368 |
Darwin, C. R. | (23) |
Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
Wells, Samuel | (2) |
Leighton, W. A. | (1) |
Pearson, John (a) | (1) |
Hooker, J. D. | (7) |
Darwin, C. R. | (6) |
Darwin, W. E. | (2) |
Egan, James | (2) |
Tegetmeier, W. B. | (2) |
Darwin, C. R. | (29) |
Hooker, J. D. | (9) |
Darwin, W. E. | (2) |
Egan, James | (2) |
Leighton, W. A. | (2) |
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: 16 hits
- … on the topic. Lyell also added the following note on page 11: *Mr. John Lubbock published …
- … 2 have struck out Galton & Prestwich at p. 11 who will be surprisd [ sic ] to …
- … had done ‘an injustice’ to Falconer and Prestwich. 11 In the same review Lubbock expressed …
- … he took exception to the wording of the note on p. 11 of C. Lyell 1863c, which implied that Lubbock …
- … The statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in a note to page 11 of his work, that my article on the …
- … of the note in the preface (letter to John Lubbock, 11 June [1865] ). No correspondence with …
- … of the preface of C. Lyell 1863c and reworded the note on p. 11. Unlike the earlier …
- … Lyell revised both the preface and the note on page 11 of the third edition of Antiquity of man …
- … versions of the end of the preface and of the note on page 11 are included below. Preface, C …
- … as well as of the subsequent issues.” Note on page 11, C. Lyell 1863c (original version) …
- … made by him in company with Mr. Busk. Note on page 11, C. Lyell 1863c (revised version) …
- … in Letters, 1863 , (introduction to Correspondence vol. 11, pp. xv–xvii). For a comparison of …
- … 1984, pp. 154–9. 7. See Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] …
- … Bartholomew 1973. 8. See Correspondence vol. 11, letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March …
- … 18 April [1863 ]. 10. Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March …
- … (rough draft of letter from T. H. Huxley to Charles Lyell, 11 June 1865, Imperial College, Huxley …
Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
Matches: 7 hits
- … German edition (see letter from H. G. Bronn, [before 11 March 1862] ). Since the publication of …
- … & a few of importance’ (see letter to H. G. Bronn, 11 March [1862] ). Darwin had sent Bronn …
- … letter from E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 11 July 1862 ). (No American edition …
- … we shall immediately see)’. Page xiv, n., line 11, delete ‘in the years 1794–5’. …
- … substitute for ‘but then . . . kinds of flowers.’: 11 In just some of …
- … sentence also appears in Origin 4th ed., p. 20. 11. p. 56. This whole paragraph was …
- … in Origin 4th ed., p. 449. 47. p. 409–11. This passage also appears, with slight …
1.1 Ellen Sharples pastel
Summary
< Back to Introduction The earliest surviving portrayal of Darwin, who was born on 12 February 1809, is this pastel or chalk drawing by Ellen Wallace Sharples. He is shown kneeling chivalrously before his sister Catherine (born in 1810), in the kind…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Art Journal , 16:1 (Spring–Summer 1995), pp. 3–11. Julius Bryant (ed.), English Heritage …
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: 8 hits
- … backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). I feel …
- … review me in a hostile spirit’ ( letter to John Murray, 11 August 1874 ). Darwin was …
- … Correspondence vol. 20, letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). To Darwin’s relief, …
- … the moment of being hatched ( letter to Nature , 7 and 11 May [1874] ; Spalding 1872a). …
- … & that must be enough for me’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). Plants that eat . …
- … cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). His research …
- … Correspondence vol. 21, letter from Francis Darwin, [11 October 1873] ). Darwin wasted …
- … the photograph he sent highly ( letter from D. F. Nevill, [11 September 1874] ). At the …
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: 7 hits
- … gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ). Darwin was altogether …
- … on Linum ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), writing up his experiments in …
- … of Natural History’ ( letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 11 July [1862] ). She had had assistance …
- … for a second edition ( letter from H. G. Bronn, [before 11 March 1862] ), Darwin asked him to use …
- … see letter from E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 11 July 1862 ). Yet Darwin was now …
- … interest. He told Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 11 September [1862] ): ‘This is a nice, but …
- … from one parent’ ( letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 11 July [1862] ). really good …
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
Matches: 8 hits
- … Blair, R.H. 11 July 1871 Worcester College for the …
- … Chaumont, F.S.B.F. de 11 March 1871 Woolston, …
- … 9 Nov 1870 11 St Mary Abbot's Terrace, London, England …
- … 1 Feb 1871 11 St Mary Abbot's Terrace, London, England …
- … 7 Sept 1872 11 St Mary Abbot's Terrace, London, England …
- … 1 Feb. 1871 11 Saint Mary Abbot's Terrace, Kensington. W., London, …
- … Sulivan, B.J. 11 Jan 1867 Bournemouth, England …
- … Wallace, A. R. 11 March [1867] 9 St. Mark’s Crescent …
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: 11 hits
- … regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). The botanist Asa Gray, …
- … by descent put him ‘into despair’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). In the same letter, he …
- … bottom of seas, lakes, and rivers ( Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix VII). Quarrels at …
- … Academy of Sciences, Berlin (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix III), and of the Société des …
- … unsuccessful ( see letter from E. A. Darwin to Emma Darwin, 11 November [1863] ). The council of …
- … [9 May 1863] , and memorandum from G. H. Darwin, [before 11 May 1863]) . As he struggled …
- … to drive the quietest man mad’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). Hooker and Gray agreed …
- … tropical plants than before (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix VI). He was fascinated with …
- … pistils mature at different times ( see letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). The fertility of …
- … ‘Crossing & Sterility’ (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix II). When Darwin finished, by …
- … animal suffering caused by them (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix IX). Francis Darwin later …
Darwin's 1874 letters go online
Summary
The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1874 through his letters and see a full list of the letters. The 1874 letters…
Race, Civilization, and Progress
Summary
Darwin's first reflections on human progress were prompted by his experiences in the slave-owning colony of Brazil, and by his encounters with the Yahgan peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh conditions, privation, poor climate, bondage and servitude,…
Matches: 4 hits
- … man in his most "primitive wildness" ( letter to Henslow, 11 April 1833 ). They …
- … Letter 204 : Darwin to Henslow, J. S., 11 April 1833 "The Fuegians are in a more …
- … 98). Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C., 11 October [1859] "the …
- … Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C., 11 October [1859] I suppose that you do not …
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: 4 hits
- … St George Jackson Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). A worsening …
- … Mivart not to acknowledge it ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). 'I hate …
- … attacks on Darwin became notorious, had written on 11 May expressing concern that his recently, …
- … well informed: `The die is cast’, he wrote excitedly on 11 May , when the matter was first raised …
Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours
Summary
Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…
Matches: 6 hits
- … the popularity of his book, writing to Robert Cooke on 11 April , ‘though I believe it is of …
- … for extended periods. In a letter to Thiselton-Dyer of 11 October , Darwin described how the …
- … Charles Darwin and Ernst Haeckel). Writing to Darwin on 11 March 1877 , Krause declared the …
- … visits from distinguished persons. Gladstone came to Down on 11 March. ‘I expected a stern, …
- … not been a difficulty to me,’ he replied to Romanes on 11 June , ‘as I have never believed in a …
- … that they become quite tipsy’ ( letter to W. M. Moorsom, 11 September [1877] ). Moorsom replied …
Charles Harrison Blackley
Summary
You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 million people in the UK who suffer from hay fever, you are indebted to him. For it was he who identified pollen as the cause of the allergy. Darwin was…
Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life
Summary
1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…
Matches: 5 hits
- … to think of the future’, Darwin confessed to William on 11 September just hours after Amy’s …
- … naturalist Thomas Edward ( letter from F. M. Balfour, 11 December 1876 ; letter to Samuel Smiles …
- … who died at the age of 10 in 1851, but William, who was 11 years old at the time of her death, would …
- … you are one of the best of all’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 11 September [1876] ). …
- … do I cannot conceive’, Darwin wrote anxiously to Hooker on 11 September. By the time Darwin …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 10 hits
- … in that little sheet of note-paper! DARWIN: 11 My dear Hooker… What a remarkably …
- … 1 OCTOBER 1846 7 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 11 JANUARY 1844 8 C DARWIN TO A …
- … 10 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 24 AUGUST 1855 11 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, 5 JUNE 1855 …
- … 22 NOVEMBER 1856 29 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 11 APRIL 1861 30 A GRAY TO C …
- … A GRAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 1858 58 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 11 OCTOBER 1858 59 A GRAY TO …
- … HOOKER, 18 OCTOBER 1859 63 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 11 NOVEMBER 1859 64 JD …
- … 13 NOVEMBER 1859 66 C DARWIN TO R OWEN, 11 NOVEMBER 1859 67 C DARWIN …
- … 17 FEBRUARY 1861 111 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 11 DECEMBER 1861 112 C DARWIN …
- … DARWIN TO A GRAY 28 MAY 1864 159 FROM A GRAY 11 JULY 1864 160 C DARWIN …
- … TO A GRAY 28 JANUARY 1876 204 FROM A GRAY 11 DECEMBER 1874 205 TO A …
Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 4 hits
- … Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864 : ‘the venerable beard gives …
- … continue his observations indoors ( Correspondence vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] …
- … two letters to the Athenæum ( Correspondence vol. 11). Darwin’s anxiety about the matter was …
- … and the question of human origins ( Correspondence vol. 11). Wallace, however, traced a possible …
Thomas Rivers
Summary
Rivers and Darwin exchanged around 30 letters, most in 1863 when Darwin was hard at work on the manuscript of Variation of plants and animals under domestication, the lengthy and detailed sequel to Origin of species. Rivers, an experienced plant breeder…
Darwin and Religion
Summary
When Darwin published On the Origin of Species, was there a clear cut division between those who supported science and those who supported God? Find out how Darwin’s letters reveal a complex reaction from all sides and a desire from Darwin to keep his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Pupils explore the reaction to Darwin’s findings as evidenced through his letters. Activities …
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…
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
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…