To Richard Owen 28 April [1850]
Summary
Discusses possibility of providing B. J. Sulivan with a vessel for fossil hunting in Patagonia.
Asks RO to ask Mrs Dixon about borrowing cirripede specimen.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Richard Owen |
| Date: | 28 Apr [1850] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1322 |
From Asa Gray [10–16] June [1863]
Summary
Possible dimorphism in Phlox.
Knows of no U. S. law prohibiting marriage of cousins.
Gives references to papers on phyllotaxy.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [10–16] June [1863] |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 136 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4198 |
From J. D. Hooker [17 February 1865]
Summary
Why botanists will not subscribe to Falconer’s bust with enthusiasm.
Scott has been offered curatorship at Calcutta Botanic Garden.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [17 Feb 1865] |
| Classmark: | DAR 102: 10–11 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4773 |
To Smith, Elder & Co. [17 May 1842]
Summary
Gives instructions for sending out copies of Coral reefs to various journals. Discusses the complimentary copies which have already been sent out.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Smith, Elder & Co |
| Date: | [17 May 1842] |
| Classmark: | Christie’s (dealers) (7 December 1988); Gerard A. J. Stodolski (dealer) (April 2014) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-629A |
Matches: 2 hits
- … in May 1842. CD left London (see n. 6, below) on 18 May. Parts of this letter were …
- … 1842, and did not return until 18 July ( Correspondence vol. 2, Appendix II). CD had received information from James Brands Allan on coral formations in the Indian Ocean via John Grant Malcolmson (see Correspondence vol. 2, letters …
From Charles Lyell 30 September 1861
Summary
Asks for copy of CD’s paper ["Ancient glaciers of Caernarvonshire", Collected papers 1: 163–71]. Gathers that drift of Moel Tryfan is glacial.
Believes Glen Roy roads formed later than submergence of Scotland.
Asks CD’s opinion concerning relative chronology of various glacial deposits, particularly a flint tool find in the Ouse River near Bedford.
| Author: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Sept 1861 |
| Classmark: | The University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections (Gen.112/2813-16) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3270 |
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 |
From John Murray 3 February [1869]
Summary
Gives consent, which is unnecessary because term of protection has expired, for French translation of Journal of researches.
Is at a loss to know how many copies of F. Müller’s Facts and arguments for Darwin to print.
The printer is ready for copy for a new "edition" of Variation. [Presumably another issue. 2d edition did not appear until 1875.]
| Author: | John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Feb [1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 363 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6597 |
From Edward Blyth 22–3 August 1855
Summary
Gives extracts from a letter by Thomas Hutton.
Rabbits are kept (generally by Europeans) in the NW. provinces and breed freely. Canaries are not well adapted to the climate. Reports on domestic cats and pigeons of the area. EB gives references to further information on cats, pigeons, and silkworms.
[CD’s notes are an abstract of this letter.]
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22–3 Aug 1855 |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: A79–A84 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1746 |
To J. S. Henslow 17 January [1850]
Summary
Announces birth of his fourth son, Leonard.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | 17 Jan [1850] |
| Classmark: | DAR 93: A96–A97 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1293 |
From H. W. Bates [1 December] 1861
Summary
Furnishes CD with more information on Volucella and gives him references relating to this and butterfly colourings. States that colours are not necessarily related to resting-places but rather an endowment to enable them to withstand adverse conditions.
| Author: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [1 Dec] 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.10: 93 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3336 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … letter to J. D. Hooker, 25 November [1861] . Macquart 1834–5 . Amédée Louis Michel Lepeletier de St Fargeau was a noted French entomologist. Zeller 1842 . …
- … 1842 . Rössler 1861 . The publication details of the essay by the German naturalist Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister have not been traced. It is possible that CD made some of the cover annotations several years after he received the letter, …
To T. H. Huxley 27 June [1863]
Summary
Has caught a frog and examined its possibly rudimentary toe. Asks THH if he will dissect it.
Has heard THH is abused in Edinburgh Review and in Anthropological Review [reviews of Man’s place in nature, Edinburgh Rev. 117 (1863): 541–69 and Anthrop. Rev. 1 (1863): 107–17].
Owen on heterogeny and the aye-aye.
Has been very ill.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Date: | 27 June [1863] |
| Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 225) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4223 |
To John Stevens Henslow 11 December [1851]
Summary
Sends cirripede specimens for Ipswich Museum.
Asks how much a village fireworks display would cost.
Comments on the need in education for good habits of expression and accurate observation instead of making "wretched Latin verses".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | 11 Dec [1851] |
| Classmark: | DAR 93: A85–A88 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1463 |
To Smith, Elder & Company 14 January [1863]
Summary
Asks for account of sales of Geology of "Beagle". Willing to consider offer for remaining stock in order to close account.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Smith, Elder & Co |
| Date: | 14 Jan [1863] |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (MS.23181, ff.1-5 (S. E. & Co. work slip, ff.1-2, letter ff.3-4, address envelope f.5)) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3914 |
To H. E. Strickland 10 February [1849]
Summary
HES’s letter will fructify to some extent: CD will try to be more faithful to rigid virtue and priority. Would not adopt his own notion in cirripede book without prior approval by others. Will not append "Darwin" to any of his species. Feels sure many others share his aversion.
Asks HES’s opinion on retention of generic name Conchoderma.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Hugh Edwin Strickland |
| Date: | 10 Feb [1849] |
| Classmark: | Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1225 |
From George Gulliver 20 January [1856]
Summary
Discusses the similarity in size, shape, and structure of the blood corpuscles of the Aves. Notes differences between the corpuscles of the domestic dog and some wild species.
| Author: | George Gulliver |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR (CD library – Gulliver, George 1846) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1632 |
From William Henry Harvey 19 May 1864
Summary
Sends dandelion [enclosed] with peculiar form of achene; suggests this solitary "sport" must have arisen by sudden jump from normal type.
| Author: | William Henry Harvey |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 19 May 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 116 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4503 |
From J. D. Hooker 22 June 1868
Summary
The grass [see 6243] is Sporobolus elongatus, common in the tropics.
Visit to Oxford with X Club.
On his forthcoming address.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 June 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 102: 218–19 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6254 |
From J. D. Hooker 15 January 1858
Summary
Has gone over to CD’s side on the fertilisation of clover in New Zealand by bees.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Jan 1858 |
| Classmark: | DAR 100: 120–1; L. Huxley ed. 1918, 1: 453 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2204 |
To John Lubbock 10 [September 1853]
Summary
Asks about source of paper on the metamorphosis of Pycnogonida for C. S. Bate.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Date: | 10 [Sept 1853] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.97) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1365 |
| letter | (245) |
| people | (10) |
| bibliography | (4) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (167) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (16) |
| Lyell, Charles | (7) |
| Gray, Asa | (3) |
| Harvey, W. H. | (3) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (78) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (30) |
| Lyell, Charles | (14) |
| Henslow, J. S. | (7) |
| Gray, Asa | (5) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (244) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (46) |
| Lyell, Charles | (21) |
| Gray, Asa | (8) |
| Henslow, J. S. | (7) |
| 1838 | (4) |
| 1839 | (3) |
| 1840 | (3) |
| 1841 | (2) |
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| 1843 | (8) |
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| 1845 | (10) |
| 1846 | (7) |
| 1847 | (7) |
| 1848 | (5) |
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| 1850 | (2) |
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| 1880 | (4) |
| 1881 | (5) |
Darwin and Fatherhood
Summary
Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten …
Natural Selection: the trouble with terminology Part I
Summary
Darwin encountered problems with the term ‘natural selection’ even before Origin appeared. Everyone from the Harvard botanist Asa Gray to his own publisher came up with objections. Broadly these divided into concerns either that its meaning simply wasn’t…
Matches: 1 hits
- … I suppose “natural selection” was bad term but to change it now, I think, would make confusion …
Darwin & coral reefs
Summary
The central idea of Darwin's theory of coral reef formation, as it was later formulated, was that the islands were formed by the upward growth of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. It overturned previous ideas and would in itself…
Matches: 1 hits
- … No other work of mine was begun in so deductive a spirit as this; for the whole theory was …
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: 1 hits
- … In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to …
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: 1 hits
- … The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of …
Darwin’s Photographic Portraits
Summary
Darwin was a photography enthusiast. This is evident not only in his use of photography for the study of Expression and Emotions in Man and Animal, but can be witnessed in his many photographic portraits and in the extensive portrait correspondence that…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin was a photography enthusiast. This is evident not only in his use of photography for the …
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: 1 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children,[1] began the research that …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … This list includes papers read by Darwin to the Geological Society of London, his books on the …
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, …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
Living and fossil cirripedia
Summary
Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin published four volumes on the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia between 1851 and 1854, two on …
Darwin in letters, 1844–1846: Building a scientific network
Summary
The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but he broadened his continuing investigations into the nature and origin of species. Far from being a recluse, Darwin was at the heart of British scientific society,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but …
Before Origin: the ‘big book’
Summary
Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his …
Darwin in letters, 1851-1855: Death of a daughter
Summary
The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. The period opens with a family tragedy in the death of Darwin’s oldest and favourite daughter, Anne, and it shows how, weary and mourning his dead child,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. …
Controversy
Summary
The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Disagreement & Respect | Conduct of Debate | Darwin & Wallace The best-known …
Alfred Russel Wallace
Summary
Wallace was a leading Victorian naturalist, with wide-ranging interests from biogeography and evolutionary theory to spiritualism and politics. He was born in 1823 in Usk, a small town in south-east Wales, and attended a grammar school in Hertford. At the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Wallace was a leading Victorian naturalist, with wide-ranging interests from biogeography and …
Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin
Summary
The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet …
1.2 George Richmond, marriage portrait
Summary
< Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more may once have existed. In a letter of 1873 an old Shrewsbury friend, Arthur Mostyn Owen, offered to send Darwin a watercolour sketch of him, painted many years…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more …
About Darwin
Summary
To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But even before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, he was publicly known through his popular book about the voyage of the Beagle, and he was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But …
About Darwin
Summary
To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But even before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, he was publicly known through his popular book about the voyage of the Beagle, and he was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But …
