To E. A. Darwin 30 June 1864
Summary
Has heard nothing about the Copley Medal. Is grateful for Hugh Falconer’s interest [see 4546].
Supplies details about circumstances of his voyage on the Beagle.
Does not believe that his sea-sickness was the cause of his subsequent ill-health.
Encloses the requested list of publications [see 4550].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
Date: | 30 June 1864 |
Classmark: | ML 1: 247–8; DAR 154: 67 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4548A |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Parallel Roads of Glen Roy. Phil. Transact. 1839 The Structure and Distribution of Coral …
- … Voyage of the Beagle 1831–36, published 1839 & 1845. On the Connexion of certain Volcanic …
- … By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Living Cirripedia (1851): A monograph of …
- … By Charles Darwin. [Read 7 February 1839. ] Philosophical Transactions of the Royal …
To Ernst Haeckel [after 10] August – 8 October [1864]
Summary
Can understand EH’s feelings on death of his wife.
CD was impressed by manner in which species in South America are replaced by closely allied ones, by affinity of species inhabiting islands near S. America, and by relation of living Edentata and Rodentia to extinct species. When he read Malthus On population, the idea of natural selection flashed on him.
Agrees with EH’s remarks on Kölliker ["Darwin’sche Schöpfungstheorie", Z. Wiss. Zool. 14 (1864): 174–86].
Asks EH to thank Carl Gegenbaur [for Vergleichende Anatomie der Wirbelthiere (1864)].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Ernst Philipp August (Ernst) Haeckel |
Date: | [after 10] Aug – 8 Oct [1864] |
Classmark: | Ernst-Haeckel-Haus (Bestand A–Abt. 1: 1–52/5) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4631 |
From John Lubbock 2 September 1864
Summary
Wishes to borrow volumes 1 and 3 of Narrative [vol. 1 by Capt. P. P. King, vol. 3 by CD].
Author: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Sept 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR 170: 47 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4606 |
From Daniel Oliver 21 July 1864
Author: | Daniel Oliver |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 21 July 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR 157.2: 105 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4571 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … copied the figures of Nepenthes is Korthals 1839–42, plates 1–3. See also letter to Daniel …
From Erasmus Alvey Darwin [1864?]
Summary
Asks CD to sign some "Sunday tickets" [for the Zoological Garden?].
Author: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [1864?] |
Classmark: | DAR 105: B17 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4365 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … a fellow of the Zoological Society in 1839, Erasmus in 1855 ( Freeman 1978 , List of …
To A. R. Wallace 28 [May 1864]
Summary
Response to ARW’s papers on Papilionidae ["On the phenomena of variation and geographical distribution", Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 25 (1866): 1–71; abstract in Reader 3 (1864): 491–3],
and man ["The origin of human races", J. Anthropol. Soc. Lond. 2 (1864): clviii–clxxxvi].
The former is "really admirable" and will be influential.
The idea of the man paper is striking and new. Minor points of difference. Conjectures regarding racial differences; the possible correlation between complexion and constitution. His Query to Army surgeons to determine this point. Offers ARW his notes on man, which CD doubts he will be able to use.
On sexual selection in "our aristocracy"; primogeniture is a scheme for destroying natural selection.
[Letter incorrectly dated March by CD.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
Date: | 28 [May 1864] |
Classmark: | British Library (Add. MS 46434: 39) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4510 |
From J. D. Hooker [2 April 1864]
Summary
JDH explains why he cannot take Scott on at Kew.
John Tyndall cannot answer CD’s questions on glaciers. Edward Frankland’s ignorance. In JDH’s opinion, heaviness of winter snowfall is the greatest element in size of glaciers and this is a function of low mean temperature. Discusses descent of glaciers.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [2 Apr 1864] |
Classmark: | DAR 101: 198–200, 203; DAR 104: 222 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4445 |
From J. D. Hooker 15 June 1864
Summary
JDH busy reforming Kew’s operations.
Falconer may "fall foul" of Huxley’s anger over his attacks on Lyell.
Has heard of a coffee plantation post for Scott.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 15 June 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR 101: 227–8 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4537 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Markham, Clements Robert. 1880. Peruvian …
From William Bennett 29 April 1864
Summary
Will send grasses CD asked about.
Reports observations on brood of Australian chicks he is hatching.
Author: | William Bennett |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 29 Apr 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 146 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4475 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Origin : On the origin of species by means …
From Hermann Kindt 11 October 1864
Summary
Requests photograph.
Author: | Hermann Adolph Christian August (Hermann) Kindt |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 11 Oct 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR 169: 14 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4632 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Origin 2d ed. : On the origin of species …
To J. D. Hooker 4 December [1864]
Summary
CD pleased with Huxley for defending him against Sabine. Also pleased with much of Sabine’s address. Is sure JDH wrote the botanical part.
Suggests James Hector observe which insects visit endemic New Zealand plants
and JDH examine distribution of white vs coloured corollas in New Zealand.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 4 Dec [1864] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 255a–c |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4697 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Marginalia : Charles Darwin’s marginalia. …
To J. D. Hooker 3 November [1864]
Summary
Asks JDH to verify an observation on Dicentra – what CD thought was a branch in the young plant now looks like a gigantic leaf in the old.
Concurs on Spencer’s clever emptiness.
Ramsay exaggerates role of ice. Sorry to hear that Tyndall grows dogmatic.
Admits difficulty of making case for Wallace’s Royal Medal at this time.
Will soon finish the first draft of Variation.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 3 Nov [1864] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 253 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4650 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Lenoir, Timothy. 1982. The strategy of …
From J. D. Hooker 19 May 1864
Summary
JDH suggests Scott go to India; he will write letters of introduction.
Conversation with Herbert Spencer.
George Bentham would like to know how CD’s view of hybridism diverges from Charles Naudin’s.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 19 May 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR 101: 220–1 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4501 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of the globe. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. [Separately published as Journal of …
To J. D. Hooker [20–]22 February [1864]
Summary
Does not know Scott’s qualifications to be curator at Kew.
Frankland’s theory of glaciers is absurd.
Has JDH heard claim that plants in Northern and Southern Hemispheres turn in opposite directions?
Are there plant families with no twining and climbing plants?
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [20–]22 Feb [1864] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 221a–c |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4412 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Lindley, John. 1853. The vegetable kingdom; …
From [C. P.] 29 April 1864
Summary
On rereading the Origin, he offers a criticism on two grounds: 1. Blending inheritance; 2. The tendency of species to elude competing species. Also competition within species eliminates the weak and thus preserves the species.
Author: | P., C. |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 29 Apr 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR 174: 1 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4476 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Natural selection : Charles Darwin’s Natural …
From Benjamin Dann Walsh 29 April – 19 May 1864
Summary
Recalls being introduced to CD when [undergraduate] at Cambridge.
Sends CD some of his pamphlets
and expresses support of Origin.
Has discovered there are "3 sexes" in the solitary Cynips as well as social insects.
Author: | Benjamin Dann Walsh |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 29 Apr – 19 May 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR 181: 9 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4477 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … emigrated to the United States in 1838 or 1839 ( DAB ). The Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL …
To J. D. Hooker 26[–7] March [1864]
Summary
John Scott has left Edinburgh Botanic Garden.
Asks JDH to ask Tyndall whether Frankland exaggerates the effect of snowfall on advance of European glaciers.
Huxley and Falconer squabble too much in public.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 26[–7] Mar [1864] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 225 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4436 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Lindley, John. 1853. The vegetable kingdom; …
From J. D. Hooker 5 February 1864
Summary
John Scott’s paper [see 4332] read at Linnean Society; praised by George Bentham.
Himalayan pine in Macedonia.
JDH is in a quarrel with H. C. Watson.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 5 Feb 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR 100: 161; DAR 101: 180–1, 201 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4401 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … exhibens synopsin plantarum quas aest. 1839 legit. 2 vols. Brunswick: F. Vieweg. Hooker, …
From B. J. Sulivan 23 September [1864]
Summary
BJS’s health much improved by his continental tour.
Author: | Bartholomew James Sulivan |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 23 Sept [1864] |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 283 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4622 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 3 vols. and appendix. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Navy list : The navy list. London: John …
From Leo Lesquereux 14 December 1864
Summary
Fossil flora of the Carboniferous. Variation of forms found in coal analogous to succession of forms in peat-bogs.
Author: | Leo Lesquereux |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 14 Dec 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR Pamphlet Collection–CUL (bound with G256) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4715 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Lesquereux, Leo. 1844. Quelques recherches …
letter | (22) |
Darwin, C. R. | (7) |
Hooker, J. D. | (6) |
Bennett, William | (1) |
Darwin, E. A. | (1) |
Kindt, Hermann | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (15) |
Hooker, J. D. | (4) |
Darwin, E. A. | (1) |
Haeckel, Ernst | (1) |
Wallace, A. R. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (22) |
Hooker, J. D. | (10) |
Darwin, E. A. | (2) |
Bennett, William | (1) |
Haeckel, Ernst | (1) |

Darwin’s reading notebooks
Summary
In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…
Matches: 21 hits
- … to read in Notebook C ( Notebooks , pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in …
- … in the Royal Society of London (Royal Society of London 1839) has been heavily marked, and quite a …
- … Pierquin, published in Paris (in 2 vols.), so long ago as 1839 4 [Pierquin de Gembloux 1839]. …
- … 1814–29] D r Royle on Himmalaya types [Royle 1839] (read) Smellie Philosophy of …
- … 12 by Owen in Encyclop. of Anat. & Physiology [R. Owen 1839] Dampier probably worth …
- … on subjects of science connected with Nat. Theol: [Brougham 1839] on instinct & animal …
- … 1808] Brit. & Foreign Medical Rev. N o 14. Ap 1839 [Anon. 1839b] Rev. on Walker on …
- … Smart 17 Beginning of a New School of metaphysic. [Smart 1839] about connection of language & …
- … Babbington on Flora of Channel Isl d . [Babington 1839] says he has remarks on affinities of …
- … 1816 [Gallesio 1816]— quoted by D r . Holland [Holland 1839] (p. 27) as good— Decandoelle …
- … [Thacker 1834–5] p. 291 Athenæum 1839. p. 546— M r Conrad has published …
- … Arboretum [Loudon 1838] in Edinburgh Review July 1839 [Anon. 1839a]— there are pencil remarks on it. …
- … would contain facts for me [DAR *119: 9v.] 1839. Decemb. Advertised . …
- … Dog with illustrations of about 100 varieties [?C. H. Smith 1839–40] 24 Flourens “Resume …
- … publishing Travels into interior of N. America [Wied-Neuwied 1839–41]— in Geograph Soc …
- … 1840. Octob & Jan. Papers on Instinct by Flourens [Flourens 1839] (read) Index of Clarkes …
- … S. Bellamy on Nat. Hist. of S. Devonshire [Bellamy 1839] chiefly on distribution of forms said to be …
- … at end of Catalogue of Royal Soc. [Royal Society of London 1839]— Meckel’s Anatomy. French …
- … ed. 1834] read Vol. (2 d ) on Dogs [C. H. Smith 1839–40] /on Ruminants [Jardine ed. 1835–6] …
- … on the Obligations of man to the inferior animals’ [Youatt 1839] discusses their minds. …
- … by Hooker . [A. P. de Candolle 1839–40] Jussieus …

Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'
Summary
The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…
Matches: 5 hits
- … they show for one another’s sensibilities. Early in 1839 the couple set up house in London and at …
- … and set in type by November 1837, though not published until 1839, when it appeared as the third …
- … of species” ( Letter to J. S. Henslow, [November 1839] ). note book, after note …
- … Marriage Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in January 1839. His hopes and fears about married life …
- … to act’ ( Letter from Emma Darwin, [ c. February 1839] ). These are not matters that she would …

Science: A Man’s World?
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 489 - Darwin to Wedgwood, E., [20 January 1839] Written shortly before their …

Natural Science and Femininity
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters A conflation of masculine intellect and feminine thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity. Working from the private domestic comfort of their homes and exercising…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 542 - Darwin to Wedgwood, C. S., [27 October 1839] Darwin details his typical …

Darwin’s observations on his children
Summary
Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children,[1] began the research that culminated in his book The Expression of the emotions in man and Animals, published in 1872, and his article ‘A biographical sketch of an infant’, published in…
Matches: 4 hits
- … races, lunatics, the blind, and animals. And as early as 1839 Darwin had begun to collect …
- … development from the day of his birth, 27 December 1839, until September 1844. Parallels in the …
- … 1 [9] W. Erasmus. Darwin born. Dec. 27 th . 1839.—[10] During first week. yawned, streatched …
- … vol. 2, letter from Emma Wedgwood, [23 January 1839] . [7] Correspondence vol. 2, …

The evolution of honeycomb
Summary
Darwin recognised that explaining the evolution of the honey-bee’s comb-building abilities was essential if his theory of natural selection was to be taken seriously, and in the 1850s he carried out his own experiments at his home at Down House in Kent,…
Matches: 3 hits
- … on subjects connected with natural theology (1839), Brougham commented that bees acted with a …
- … suppose when we recollect who is her teacher’ (Brougham 1839, 1: 35, 77). William Kirby wrote of the …
- … no bee in the world ever made cylindrical cells (Brougham 1839, 1: 32). However, Darwin knew that …
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: 1 hits
- … Letter 471 — Darwin, Emma to Darwin, C. R., [c. Feb 1839] Emma discusses Darwin’s religious …

Journal of researches
Summary
The Journal of researches, Darwin’s account of his travels round the world in H.M.S. Beagle, was his first published book. The circumstances of its publication were not shaped by Darwin, however, but by the Beagle’s captain, Robert FitzRoy, who, according…
Matches: 3 hits

York Minster (Elleparu)
Summary
York Minster was known as Elleparu among the Alakaluf, or canoe people from the western part of Tierra del Fuego. He was captured by FitzRoy in 1830 after one the small boats used for surveying the narrow inlets of the coast of Tierra del Fuego had been…
Matches: 1 hits
- … FitzRoy.] 3 vols. and appendix. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. …

Bibliography of Darwin’s geological publications
Summary
This list includes papers read by Darwin to the Geological Society of London, his books on the geology of the Beagle voyage, and other publications on geological topics. Author-date citations refer to entries in the Darwin Correspondence Project’s…

Fuegia Basket (Yokcushlu)
Summary
Fuegia Basket was known as Yokcushlu among the Alakaluf, or canoe people from the western part of Tierra del Fuego. She was one of the hostages seized by Robert FitzRoy, after the small boat used for surveying the narrow inlets of the coast of Tierra del…
Matches: 1 hits
- … FitzRoy.] 3 vols. and appendix. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. …

Jemmy Button (Orundellico)
Summary
Jemmy Button was known as Orundellico among the Yahgan, or canoe people of the southern part of Tierra del Fuego. He was the fourth hostage taken by FitzRoy in 1830 following the theft of the small surveying boat. This fourteen-year old boy was called…
Matches: 1 hits
- … FitzRoy.] 3 vols. and appendix. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. …

Darwin in letters, 1821-1836: Childhood to the Beagle voyage
Summary
Darwin's first known letters were written when he was twelve. They continue through school-days at Shrewsbury, two years as a medical student at Edinburgh University, the undergraduate years at Cambridge, and the of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle.…
Matches: 1 hits
- … until FitzRoy completed his volume of the Narrative in 1839. London scientific society …
Darwin's works in letters
Summary
To celebrate Darwin's 210th birthday, we present a new section on Darwin's works in letters, featuring Journal of researches, Living and fossil cirripedia, Descent of man, and Expression of emotions. And here is a song with lyrics based on…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the hidden life of: Journal of researches (1839; better known as The voyage of the …

Marriage
Summary
Charles Darwin and Emma Wedgwood are married. They were first cousins. Darwin had proposed on 11 November 1838, describing it as the 'day of days!'.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Charles Darwin and Emma Wedgwood are married. They were first cousins. Darwin had proposed on 11 …

Darwin on marriage
Summary
On 11 November 1838 Darwin wrote in his journal ‘The day of days!’. He had proposed to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and been accepted; they were married on 29 January 1839. Darwin appears to have written these two notes weighing up the pros and cons of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Wedgwood, and been accepted; they were married on 29 January 1839. Darwin appears to have written …
Alexander Burns Usborne
Summary
Alexander Burns Usborne was born in Kendal, Westmorland, in 1808, the son of Alexander and Margaret Usborne; his father died in 1818 and in his will was described as the purser on HMS Hannibal. His son joined the navy in 1825 aged 16 as a second-class…
Matches: 1 hits
- … coast of Australia is named after him. However in May 1839 he was so badly injured when a musket …
William Darwin born
Summary
The Darwins' first child, William Erasmus Darwin, is born. His father immediately starts to record observations on his behaviour and development. Years later these are published in the journal Mind.
Matches: 1 hits
- … The Darwins' first child, William Erasmus Darwin, is born. His father immediately starts to …

Syms Covington
Summary
When Charles Darwin embarked on the Beagle in 1831 Syms Covington was ‘fiddler & boy to Poop-cabin’. Covington died in 1861 reportedly 47 years old, so he would have been 17; although if he was the Simon Covington born in Bedford on 30 January 1809,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … employ, paying him extra for secretarial duties. In January 1839 CD married his cousin, Emma …

Journal of Researches published
Summary
Darwin's account of the Beagle voyage, based on his personal diaries, is published and is a great success. It appeared as the third volume of the Narrative of the surveying voyage of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle, with the title Journal and remarks but…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin's account of the Beagle voyage, based on his personal diaries, is published and is a …