To Charles Lyell 20 November [1860]
Summary
Admires Edward Forbes’s theory of continental extensions, but it will discourage investigation of distribution.
Mentions Oswald Heer’s proposed map of Atlantis.
Discusses extinction of plants caused by the glacial era. Migration of plants and animals during glacial period.
Encourages CL’s work [on Antiquity of man (1863)].
Comments on unfriendly reviews. Asks CL’s opinion about including a reply to reviewers in next edition of Origin.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 20 Nov [1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.233) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2989 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … from J. D. Hooker, 4 August 1856 , and letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 August [1856] . …
- … Correspondence vol. 6, letter to Charles Lyell, 25 June [1856] . Heer 1855 . Lyell was …
- … E. Forbes 1846 . See preceding letter. In 1856, when he was composing his species …
- … See Correspondence vol. 6, letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856 . See, for example, …
To Charles Lyell 3 October [1860]
Summary
Comments on letter from Jeffries Wyman.
Discusses reprinting reviews by Asa Gray.
Mentions views of W. S. Symonds on the geological record.
Discusses descent of turtles and tortoises.
The universality of variation.
Notes only a few species leave modified descendants.
Discusses Apteryx.
Variation among pigeons.
Comments on fertility among hybrids.
Does not agree that he makes natural selection do too much work.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 3 Oct [1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.230) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2935 |
To Charles Lyell 8 [May 1860]
Summary
Did not know about separation between Silurian and Cambrian.
Cannot attend Geological Society meeting.
Etty [Henrietta Darwin] ill.
Sedgwick in his attack at Cambridge Philosophical Society states "there must be [on CD’s theory] large genera not varying".
Discusses migration of plants and animals from Old World to New.
Views of Asa Gray on Aster.
Mentions flora of coal period.
Has been elected to Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 8 [May 1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.211) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2788 |
Matches: 3 hits
- … 25 June [1856] , and letters from Charles Lyell , 17 …
- … 1856. See Correspondence vol. 6, especially letters to Charles Lyell , 16 [June 1856] and …
- … 1856] . CD was drafting chapters on pigeons that were eventually published in Variation (see ‘Journal’; Appendix II). CD had been elected as a corresponding member of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia (see letter …
From Charles Lyell 28 August 1860
Summary
Objections to Origin which Owen and Wilberforce could have used. Why have incipient mammalian forms not arisen from lower vertebrates on islands separated since Miocene period? Knows CD would not derive Eocene Mammalia from higher reptiles, but would bats not be modified into other mammalian forms on an ancient island? This is not the case in New Zealand. Why have island seals not become terrestrial? Assumes rate of change is greatest in mammals. Difficulties are small compared with ability to explain absence of Mammalia in pre-Pliocene islands. Asks about descent of Amblyrhynchus. Believes objections apply equally well to independent creation of animal types, but not if the First Cause is allowed completely free agency.
| Author: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Aug 1860 |
| Classmark: | The University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections (Lyell collection Coll-203/A3/6: 164–71) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2900A |
To Charles Lyell 10 January [1860]
Summary
Comments on corrections [in Origin, 2d ed. (1860)], especially on use of Wallace’s name.
Discusses human evolution with respect to CL’s work. Cites expression as a source of evidence.
Andrew Murray’s criticisms of the Origin involving blind insects in caves [Edinburgh New Philos. J. n.s. 11 (1860): 141–51].
Humorously describes human ancestors.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 10 Jan [1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.191) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2647 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … See Correspondence vol. 6, letters from Thomas Hutton , 8 March 1856 , and from W. F. …
- … Correspondence vol. 6, letter to Herbert Spencer, 11 March [1856] ). CD’s copy of this …
- … Daniell, 8 October – 7 November 1856; and vol. 7, letter to Asa Gray, 18 November [ …
- … Letter to Thomas Bridges, 6 January 1860 . Spencer 1855 , which Herbert Spencer presented to CD in 1856 ( …
To Charles Lyell 14 January [1860]
Summary
Review of Origin in Gardeners’ Chronicle [31 Dec 1859].
Criticises views of J. G. Jeffreys on non-migration of shells. Cites case of Galapagos shells.
Mentions Edward Forbes’s theory of submerged continental extensions. Cites Hooker’s [introductory] essay [in Flora Tasmaniae (1860)] for evidence against any recent connection between Australia and New Zealand.
Discusses Huxley’s views of hybrid sterility.
Questions whether Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire believed in species change. Mentions views of Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.
The distribution of cave insects.
CD’s study of man.
The problems of locating French and German translators.
Huxley’s criticism of Owen’s views on human classification.
The sale of Origin.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 14 Jan [1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.192) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2650 |
Matches: 3 hits
- … Correspondence vol. 6, letter to Charles Lyell, 25 June [1856] ). Hooker 1859 , p. …
- … vol. 7, letter to J. G. Jeffreys, 29 December [1859] ). Jeffreys 1856 . There is an …
- … letter is really not worth sending: he says nothing about migration but only refers me to his paper on Testacea of Piedmont in Annals & Mag. of Nat. History for Feb. 1856. …
From Charles Lyell [after 3 October 1860]
Summary
CD would have carried the public more if he had explained adaptations by multiple causes, some unknown and some well known, i.e., natural selection.
Discusses Hooker’s views of extinction on St Helena.
Work on antiquity of man suspended.
Stopped by 11th edition of Principles of geology [1872].
| Author: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 3 Oct 1860] |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.9: 397 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2937 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1856, p. 156 n. Joseph Dalton Hooker there described Alphonse de Candolle’s view that the extinction of plant species was sometimes delayed by the longevity of buried seeds. Hooker commented that the native species of Saint Helena that were rendered extinct many years ago had shown no signs of reappearing through the recent germination of long-buried seeds. See also letter …
To Charles Lyell 28 [September 1860]
Summary
Discusses extinction of ammonites.
Discusses August Krohn’s cirripede research and Krohn’s correction of his own work.
Discusses origin of dog in connection with origin of man.
Comments on the guinea-pig in South America.
Notes K. E. von Baer’s view of species.
Mentions difficulty of crossing rabbit and hare.
Agrees with Hooker’s views on variation under cultivation and in nature.
Regrets use of term "natural selection", would now use "Natural Preservation".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 28 [Sept 1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.229) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2931 |
To Charles Lyell 4 December [1860]
Summary
Sale of Origin requires new edition [3d (Apr 1861)].
Further discussion of geological elevation and subsidence in Europe. Compares evidence to that of South America. His theory that semi-fluid matter underlies earth’s crust.
Mentions David Forbes’s explanation of South American nitrate deposits.
Has followed CL’s advice not to reply directly to reviewers.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 4 Dec [1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.236) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3006 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter from David Forbes, [November? 1860] . Stur 1860 . There is an annotated copy of this monograph on the geographical distribution of the plant genus Astrantia in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL. Dionyz Štúr was a Hungarian botanist and palaeontologist whom Lyell had met during a continental tour in 1856. …
To Charles Lyell 27 and 28 April [1860]
Summary
Thanks CL for loan of paper by J. S. Newberry ["Notes on the ancient vegetation of N. America", Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 29 (1860): 208–18].
Mentions reviews of the Origin.
Discusses evolution of the domestic dog, especially with respect to the views of Owen, Pallas, and Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.
Mentions W. B. Carpenter’s views on taxonomy.
Discusses hybridisation of plants and animals.
Comments on progress in human evolution.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 27 and 28 Apr 1860 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.209) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2771 |
To Charles Lyell 1 September [1860]
Summary
Discusses at length CL’s criticisms of natural selection.
Comments on possible former connection between the Galapagos and South America.
Discounts survival of mammals on atolls.
Discusses reptile origin of mammals.
Discounts development of a mammal on an island and the descent of mammals from a bird.
The antiquity of islands.
Comments on bats of New Zealand. Geographical distribution of seals. Discusses Amblyrhynchus.
Glad CL will read his MS on origin of dogs [Variation 1: 15–43].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 1 Sept [1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.225) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2903 |
Matches: 1 hit
| letter | (11) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (9) |
| Lyell, Charles | (2) |
| Lyell, Charles | (9) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (11) |
| Lyell, Charles |
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 …
