To Asa Gray 9 May [1857]
Summary
Thanks for new part of "Statistics".
Interested in disjoined species; do they tend to belong to large or small genera, and are they generally members of small families?
Is glad AG will tackle introduced plants; has noticed that the proportion of a particular family to the whole flora tends to be similar in introduced and indigenous plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 9 May [1857] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (9) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2089 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … Gray, 18 June [1857] . A. Gray 1856–7 , p. 400. See letter to Asa Gray, [after 15 March …
- … 1856–7 , p. 387 n. ), to which CD refers: Out of 49 species belonging to these first and second heads, as many as 10 belong to monotypic genera, and 21 to genera of less than ten good species;—six of the species belong to the vast genus Carex;—on the whole rather militating against the idea that the geographical extension of species bears some proportion to the size of the genus they belong to. Part of CD’s confusion is a result of an error Gray made in his note (see letter …
To Asa Gray 18 June [1857]
Summary
Thanks for AG’s remarks on disjoined species. CD’s notions are based on belief that disjoined species have suffered much extinction, which is the common cause of small genera and disjoined ranges.
Discusses out-crossing in plants.
Has failed to meet with a detailed account of regular and normal impregnation in the bud. Podostemon, Subularia, and underwater Leguminosae are the strongest cases against him.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 18 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (9a) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2109 |
From Asa Gray [before 3 April 1858]
Summary
List of close species taken from AG’s Manual of botany [1848].
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 3 Apr 1858] |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 103 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2249 |
To Asa Gray 26 November [1860]
Summary
Has reread AG’s third Atlantic Monthly article. It is admirable, but CD cannot go as far as AG on design.
Mentions other opinions and reviews of Origin.
Relates some experiments on Drosera showing its extreme sensitivity; requests some observations on orchids.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 26 Nov [1860] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (27) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2998 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … letter to Asa Gray, 31 October [1860] and the enclosure. CD had read Frederick Law Olmsted’s two previous books about his tours through the slave states of America with great interest, remarking that Olmsted 1856 …
- … 1856 , p. 350. CD remembered the plant growing in the garden of his father, Robert Waring Darwin ; he had ascertained its name by questioning Daniel Oliver . See letters …
To Asa Gray 9 February [1868]
Summary
Asks that Gray forward a letter to J. T. Rothrock. Variation is selling well. Nearly all chapters were at least partially written before Origin was published.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 9 Feb [1868] |
| Classmark: | William Patrick Watson (dealer) (catalogue 19, 2013) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5851F |
To Asa Gray 29 November [1857]
Summary
Thanks AG for his criticisms of CD’s views; finds it difficult to avoid using the term "natural selection" as an agent.
Discusses crossing in Fumaria and barnacles.
Has received a naturally crossed kidney bean in which the seed-coat has been affected by the pollen of the fertilising plant.
Finds the rule of large genera having most varieties holds good and regards it as most important for his "principle of divergence".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 29 Nov [1857] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (18) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2176 |
To Asa Gray 26 September [1860]
Summary
Has read sheets of AG’s third Atlantic Monthly article [Oct 1860] and praises it and AG’s other reviews and articles highly.
Is surprised at the inability of others to grasp the meaning of natural selection.
Has been testing the sensitivity of Drosera, which he finds remarkable.
Asks if AG will be able to make some observations on orchids for him.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 26 Sept [1860] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (28) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2930 |
To Asa Gray 9 August [1862]
Summary
Believes Lythrum is trimorphic. Asks AG for seeds of plants he suspects are polymorphic.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 9 Aug [1862] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (71) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3685 |
From Asa Gray 22 May 1855
Summary
Has filled up CD’s paper [see 1674].
Distribution and relationships of alpine flora in U. S.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 May 1855 |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: D1–D2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1685 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … letter to Asa Gray, 25 April [1855] . The list, with Asa Gray’s remarks written on it, is in DAR 46.2 (ser. 2): 36. A revised edition of A. Gray 1848 was published in 1856. …
- … 1856 is in the Darwin Library–CUL. An allusion to Joseph Dalton Hooker’s proclivity for ‘lumping’ together plants that other botanists might consider separate species. In his letter …
From Asa Gray [27 and 29 August] and 2 September [1861]
Summary
Gives some observations on the sensitivity of Drosera species and comments on cases of "dioecio-dimorphism".
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 and 29 Aug 1861 and 2 Sept 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 110 (ser. 2): 76 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3242 |
To Asa Gray 19 April [1865]
Summary
Congratulates AG on the "grand news of Richmond".
Still interested in dimorphism and would welcome new cases.
Working on Variation
and correcting proofs of Climbing plants.
Would like seed of AG’s dimorphic Plantago.
Cannot understand how the wind could fertilise reciprocally dimorphic flowers.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 19 Apr [1865] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (77) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4467 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … 1856 in the Darwin Library–CUL (see Marginalia 1: 348–51). CD discussed the pollination mechanisms of Plantago with Gray on several occasions (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter …
- … letter from John Scott, 10 April 1865 and n. 13. At the end of his notice of Scott’s paper, Gray wrote: ‘We may here append the remark that the Thymelæaceous genus Leucosmia is dimorphous, and some species of Drymispermum exhibit one if not both of the two forms’ ( A. Gray 1865a , p. 104). CD probably refers to four North American species of heterostyled Plantago discussed in A. Gray 1856 , …
From Asa Gray [10 July 1860]
Summary
Cases of "dioecio-dimorphism" as in primroses are widespread. AG always considered them the first step toward bisexuality.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [10 July 1860] |
| Classmark: | DAR 110 (ser. 2): 77 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2819 |
From Asa Gray 24 July 1865
Summary
Is reading CD’s "Climbing plants".
The Civil War is ended; slavery is dead.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 July 1865 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 148 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4877 |
To Asa Gray 24 August [1855]
Summary
"Close" species in large and small genera.
Alphonse de Candolle on geographical distribution [Géographie botanique raisonnée (1855)].
Species variability.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 24 Aug [1855] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (10) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1749 |
To Asa Gray 11 December [1860]
Summary
The pamphlet of AG’s Origin reviews [Natural selection not inconsistent with natural theology (1861)]. CD will bear half the costs of publishing.
Will write to Huxley about Chauncey Wright’s review of Origin.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 11 Dec [1860] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (38) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3017 |
From Charles Wright to Asa Gray 20, 25, and 26 March and 1 April 1864
Summary
Describes the flower and mode of action of a particular orchid.
Has been examining Spiranthes and is experimenting to see whether insects are necessary for its fertilisation.
It seems that Oncidium is designed so as not to be fertilised.
| Author: | Charles Wright |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 20, 25 and 26 Mar 1864 and 1 Apr 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 163 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4433 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letters from Gray to Hooker are in the Director’s Correspondence, Library and Archives, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Much of Wright’s correspondence was forwarded through Gray, who also purchased his collections and sent him books and supplies (see Dupree 1959 , pp. 165–6, 211, and Howard 1988 , p. 20). Wright had been collecting plants in Cuba since 1856. …
From Asa Gray 11 October 1861
Summary
Notes several cases of "dioecio-dimorphism" in different genera; feels the discovery of pollen that will act only on the pistil of another flower is most important. Believes CD should next turn his attention to investigating cases of "precocious fertilisation".
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 11 Oct 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 109: 82–3, DAR 110 (ser. 2): 117, DAR 111: 83 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3282 |
Matches: 1 hit
| letter | (37) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (23) |
| Gray, Asa | (12) |
| Watson, H. C. | (1) |
| Wright, Charles | (1) |
| Gray, Asa | (25) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (12) |
| Gray, Asa | |
| Darwin, C. R. | (35) |
| Watson, H. C. | (1) |
| Wright, Charles | (1) |
Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'
Summary
In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that he ‘Began by Lyell’s advice writing …
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 …
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: 1 hits
- … Re: Design – performance version – 25 March 2007 – 1 Re: Design – Adaptation of the …
Origin
Summary
Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to establish priority for the species theory he had spent over twenty years researching. Darwin never intended to write Origin, and had resisted suggestions in 1856…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to …
Six things Darwin never said – and one he did
Summary
Spot the fakes! Darwin is often quoted – and as often misquoted. Here are some sayings regularly attributed to Darwin that never flowed from his pen.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Spot the fakes! Darwin is often quoted – and as often misquoted. Here are some sayings regularly …
Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species
Summary
Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s …
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: 1 hits
- … Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants …
Descent
Summary
There are more than five hundred letters associated with the research and writing of Darwin’s book, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex (Descent). They trace not only the tortuous route to eventual publication, but the development of Darwin’s…
Matches: 1 hits
- … ‘ Our ancestor was an animal which breathed water, had a swim-bladder, a great swimming …
Species and varieties
Summary
On the origin of species by means of natural selection …so begins the title of Darwin’s most famous book, and the reader would rightly assume that such a thing as ‘species’ must therefore exist and be subject to description. But the title continues, …or…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On the origin of species by means of natural selection …so begins the title of Darwin’s most …
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, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and …
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 …
Scientific Networks
Summary
Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Friendship | Mentors | Class | Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific …
Thomas Henry Huxley
Summary
Dubbed “Darwin’s bulldog” for his combative role in controversies over evolution, Huxley was a leading Victorian zoologist, science popularizer, and education reformer. He was born in Ealing, a small village west of London, in 1825. With only two years of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Dubbed “Darwin’s bulldog” for his combative role in controversies over evolution, Huxley was a …
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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
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: 1 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I …
4.16 Joseph Simms, physiognomy
Summary
< Back to Introduction In September 1874, the American doctor Joseph Simms, then on a three-year lecture tour of Britain, sent Darwin a copy of his book, Nature’s Revelations of Character; Or, Physiognomy Illustrated. He was seeking a public…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction In September 1874, the American doctor Joseph Simms, then on a …
Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The origin of language was investigated in a wide range of disciplines in the nineteenth century. …
Hermann Müller
Summary
Hermann (Heinrich Ludwig Hermann) Müller, was born in Mühlberg near Erfurt in 1829. He was the younger brother of Fritz Müller (1822–97). Following the completion of his secondary education at Erfurt in 1848, he studied natural sciences at Halle and Berlin…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Hermann (Heinrich Ludwig Hermann) Müller, was born in Mühlberg near Erfurt in 1829. He was the …
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 …
