To Lawson Tait 24 April 1876
Summary
The Royal Society have returned RLT’s Nepenthes paper and will not have it read because of unfavourable reports from referees.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Robert Lawson (Lawson) Tait |
Date: | 24 Apr 1876 |
Classmark: | DAR 202: 84 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10470 |
From J. H. Kidder 5 June 1876
Summary
Sends his papers ["Contributions to the natural history of Kerguelen Island", U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 1, nos. 2, 3 (1876)], which are inspired by Journal of researches.
Author: | Jerome Henry Kidder |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 5 June 1876 |
Classmark: | DAR 169: 10 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10533 |
To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 26 April [1876]
Summary
Asks for titles of papers on structure of Nepenthes for use by R. L. Tait. Mentions paper by RLT.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Turner Thiselton-Dyer |
Date: | 26 Apr [1876] |
Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Thiselton-Dyer, W.T., Letters from Charles Darwin 1873–81: 62–3) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10477 |
To Lawson Tait 29 April [1876]
Summary
Sends Thiselton-Dyer’s suggestions for references to Nepenthes,
and gives his opinion on what will influence the Royal Society’s Council in considering RLT’s candidacy.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Robert Lawson (Lawson) Tait |
Date: | 29 Apr [1876] |
Classmark: | DAR 221.5: 36 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10484 |
To John Tyndall 5 June [1876]
Summary
CD has quite given up the marine theory [of Glen Roy] and has accepted glacier lakes. "Nothing makes me gnash my teeth so much as that confounded paper of mine." It is a lesson "never in science to infer one explanation is right because no other one seems possible".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Tyndall |
Date: | 5 June [1876] |
Classmark: | DAR 261.8: 25 (EH 88205963) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10532 |
To Fritz Müller 11 December 1876
Summary
FM’s new position in Rio.
CD interested in nature of surface deposits at Rio.
Sends a copy of Cross and self-fertilisation.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Date: | 11 Dec 1876 |
Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 40) (EH 88205870) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10709 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Orchids 2d ed. : The various contrivances …
To W. H. Flower 24 September [1876]
Summary
Sends photographs received from Mr Van der Weyde who is working with associates in Montevideo collecting fossil bones. Asks WHF’s opinion of a specimen about which they are curious.
CD intends urging them to search the Tertiary bed beneath the Pampean formation.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Henry Flower |
Date: | 24 Sept [1876] |
Classmark: | Bonhams (dealers) 15 July 2004 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10615 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Darwin. London: Smith, Elder and Co. 1839–43. Geological observations 2d ed. : Geological …
From Thomas Moore to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 15 February 1876
Summary
Responds to CD’s request for the names of species from which Cineraria varieties supplied to him have sprung. [Cross and self-fertilisation, p. 335 n.]
Author: | Thomas Moore |
Addressee: | William Turner Thiselton-Dyer |
Date: | 15 Feb 1876 |
Classmark: | DAR 76: B186–7 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10394 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … vi. 409— See Bot. Mag. t 3215, Bot. Mag. 1839 t. 7. For the last 30 years or more cross …
From Asa Gray 22 December 1876
Summary
Discusses some dimorphic plants.
Sends specimens of Rhamnus but his few specimens of Leucosmia are very poor.
Author: | Asa Gray |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 22 Dec 1876 |
Classmark: | DAR 110: B36–7, B74–5 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10731 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Exploring Expedition during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, under the command of …
From H. N. Moseley 3 November 1876
Summary
Sends a Japanese book illustrating the expression of emotions.
Author: | Henry Nottidge Moseley |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 3 Nov 1876 |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 254 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10661 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. Michener, James A. 1959. The Hokusai sketch- …
From W. H. Flower 27 September 1876
Summary
Identifies South American fossils in photographs sent by John Van der Weyde.
Author: | William Henry Flower |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 27 Sept 1876 |
Classmark: | DAR 164: 141 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10620 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Owen. Edited and superintended by Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder and Co. 1839–43. …
From J. D. Hooker [24 September 1876]
Summary
JDH again expresses his condolences.
The Glasgow BAAS meeting was good, except for Tait’s shameful attack on Tyndall.
Immensely impressed on Scottish geological and glacial features. Is CD aware that the earth beneath Glen Roy roads was found to contain freshwater diatoms?
Recounts the itinerary of his honeymoon in Scotland.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [24 Sept 1876] |
Classmark: | DAR 104: 62–5 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10605 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. [Read 7 February 1839. ] Philosophical Transactions of the Royal …
From Robert Bell 28 March 1876
Summary
Encloses letter printed in the Toronto Globe about the discovery on Prince Edward Island of a skeleton of a tailed man.
Author: | Robert Bell |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 28 Mar 1876 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 127 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10432 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of Captain FitzRoy, RN, from 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. …
letter | (13) |
Darwin, C. R. | (6) |
Tait, Lawson | (2) |
Thiselton-Dyer, W. T. | (2) |
Flower, W. H. | (1) |
Müller, Fritz | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (12) |
Flower, W. H. | (2) |
Tait, Lawson | (2) |
Thiselton-Dyer, W. T. | (2) |
Bell, Robert (b) | (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, 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 Mind…
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
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: 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 …

Introduction to the Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle
Summary
'a humble toadyish follower…': Not all pictures of Darwin during the Beagle voyage are flattering. Published here for the first time is a complete transcript of a satirical account of the Beagle’s brief visit in 1836 to the Cocos Keeling islands…
Matches: 4 hits
- … voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle (1839), was written by John Clunies Ross, …
- … in the Beagle , and especially the works published in 1839 by her captain, Robert FitzRoy and his …
- … are marked in roman numerals. Others relate to Darwin’s 1839 or 1845 volumes and Belcher’s …
- … star in the scientific world, and had copies of both the 1839 Narrative and the 1845 second edition …

Syms Covington
Summary
When Charles Darwin embarked on the Beagle voyage in 1831, Syms Covington was ‘fiddler & boy to Poop-cabin’. Covington kept an illustrated journal of his observations and experiences on the voyage, noting wildlife, landscapes, buildings and people 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: 1 hits
- … Letter 471 — Darwin, Emma to Darwin, C. R., [c. Feb 1839] Emma discusses Darwin’s religious …

Journal of researches
Summary
Within two months of the Beagle’s arrival back in England in October 1836, Darwin, although busy with distributing his specimens among specialists for description, and more interested in working on his geological research, turned his mind to the task of…
Matches: 3 hits
George James Stebbing
Summary
George James Stebbing (1803—1860) travelled around the world with Charles Darwin on board HMS Beagle and helped him with measuring temperature on at least one occasion. However, Stebbing barely registers in Darwin’s correspondence. The only mention omits…

Elleparu (York Minster)
Summary
Elleparu was one of the Alakaluf, or canoe people from the western part of Tierra del Fuego. He was captured by Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle, in 1830 after one the small boats used for surveying the narrow inlets of the coast of Tierra del Fuego…
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…

Yokcushlu (Fuegia Basket)
Summary
Yokcushlu was one of the Alakaluf, or canoe people from the western part of Tierra del Fuego. She was one of the hostages seized by Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle, 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. …

Orundellico (Jemmy Button)
Summary
Orundellico was one of the Yahgan, or canoe people of the southern part of Tierra del Fuego. He was the fourth hostage taken by Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle, in 1830 following the theft of the small surveying boat. This fourteen-year old boy was…
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
Another present for Darwin's birthday: five new pages are added to our Works in letters section on the 'big book' before Origin, Origin itself, the subsequent editions of Origin, Orchids, and the Life of Erasmus Darwin. These complement…
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 …