To J. D. Hooker 19 June [1861]
Summary
CD’s changing taste in periodical literature.
William Darwin’s partnership in bank.
Work: variation and orchids.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 19 June [1861] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 103 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3190 |
To T. C. Eyton 14 May [1861]
Summary
Asks TCE to confirm some general statements on resemblances in skeletons of birds of same genus.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Campbell Eyton |
| Date: | 14 May [1861] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.249) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3148 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … vol. 6, letter to T. C. Eyton, 31 August [1856] ). See letter to T. C. Eyton, 6 May [ …
To J. D. Hooker 17 November [1861]
Summary
JDH’s letter on grounds of generalisation in plant morphology.
Faunal distribution and the glacial period.
Orchid homologies.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 17 Nov [1861] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 131 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3322 |
To Journal of Horticulture [17 May 1861]
Summary
Thanks Mr Beaton for his answer [to 3147].
Asks further questions on points raised in Beaton’s previous papers: whether crossing white and blue varieties of Anemone apennina produced many pale shades; whether the Mathiola incana and M. glabra which crossed freely were artificially or naturally crossed.
CD is delighted by Beaton’s assertion that "not a flower in a thousand is fertilised by its own immediate pollen".
Recounts his experiments with Leschenaultia formosa to show insect fertilisation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Journal of Horticulture |
| Date: | [17 May 1861] |
| Classmark: | Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardener, and Country Gentleman n.s. 1 (1861): 151 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3162 |
To W. D. Fox 9 January [1861]
Summary
Thanks WDF for an inkstand that keeps ink from getting muddy.
Asks if WDF can verify truth of a statement that white sows carry their young for a longer or shorter time (CD forgets which) than other colours. Presumes it is false, "but many odd peculiarities are correlated with colour".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | 9 Jan [1861] |
| Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 126) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3046 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: …
From George Maw 27 August [1861]
Summary
Thanks CD for his letter about GM’s review of the Origin.
Sends instances of correlative organisation and functions which he finds difficult to believe could have accumulated by gradual modifications.
[Letter erroneously dated 1862 by GM.]
| Author: | George Maw |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 Aug [1861] |
| Classmark: | DAR 99: 11–12 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3236 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: …
From B. O’Neile Wilson 22 December 1861
Summary
Variation in instincts among domestic animals.
| Author: | Benjamin O’Neile Wilson |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 Dec 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 118 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3348 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: …
From William Hugh Gower 23 November 1861
Summary
Sends notes on fertilisation of Victoria regia tending to show that impregnation with foreign pollen increases productivity of seeds.
| Author: | William Hugh Gower |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 Nov 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 81 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3327 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: …
To John Lubbock 14 August [1861]
Summary
JL is thinking of moving to Brighton.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Date: | 14 Aug [1861] |
| Classmark: | DAR 263: 47 (EH 88206491) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3233 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … near Down, Kent since their marriage in 1856. Expecting the birth of their third child in …
From B. P. Brent 15 June 1861
Summary
On his father’s crossing experiments with cacti, in which hybrids were found quite fertile.
On his breeding of guinea-pigs.
Sends Miss E. Watts’s message about crested fowls and Brahmas.
| Author: | Bernard Peirce Brent |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 June 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160.2: 300 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3184 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: …
To John Crawfurd 25 March [1861]
Summary
Asks for information about JC’s essay, "On the relation of the domesticated animals to civilisation" [read at BAAS meeting 1859].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Crawfurd |
| Date: | 25 Mar [1861] |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 299 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13786 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 6, letter from Edward Blyth , [ c . 22 March 1856]). See also letter to John Crawfurd, 7 …
To J. D. Hooker 14 May [1861]
Summary
Henslow’s long suffering.
Donald Beaton’s articles in Cottage Gardener clever but not to be trusted.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 14 May [1861] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 99 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3149 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: …
To [Robert Chambers?] 13 April [1861]
Summary
Since his previous letter, has unexpectedly arranged to go to London next Tuesday.
Hopes to call on recipient.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Chambers |
| Date: | 13 Apr [1861] |
| Classmark: | John Wilson (dealer) (item 25007) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3117F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … puts the letter between 1843 and 1846, or 1856 and 1868, and by the reference to a visit …
From William A. Wooler 4 February 1861
Summary
Discusses the colouring of the young of various breeds of rabbit.
Observations on results of various poultry crosses and on a character which is linked to sex.
| Author: | William Alexander Wooler |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Feb 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 156 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3058 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: …
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 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … included’ stamens and long styles ( A. Gray 1856 , p. 171 n. ). The term had first been …
To H. W. Bates 15 December [1861]
Summary
Praises MS of first chapter of HWB’s book [The naturalist on the river Amazons (1863)]. Suggests he give common names and make comparisons to familiar English species to help readers. Suggests a few changes. Will speak strongly to Murray about publishing whenever HWB is ready.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 15 Dec [1861] |
| Classmark: | Leeds University Library Special Collections (Brotherton collection) (tipped into a copy of Bates 1892) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3345 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 6, letter to John Lubbock, 27 October [1856] ). The state of Pará is in northern Brazil. …
From H. C. Watson [after 24 July 1861]
Summary
Gives CD an instance of facts that can be read either way as to whether a plant (Veronica humifusa) is a species or a variety.
| Author: | Hewett Cottrell Watson |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 24 July 1861] |
| Classmark: | DAR 47: 162 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13853 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: …
To W. E. Darwin 12 October [1861]
Summary
Asks whether WED has signed the articles of partnership in the bank.
Has been working at orchid drawings with G. B. Sowerby, Jr.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Oct [1861] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 78 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3284 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … been governess to the Darwin children in 1856 and 1857 and afterwards occasionally visited …
To John Lubbock [before 5 February 1861]
Summary
Comments on JL’s paper ["Notes on the generative organs, and on the formation of the egg in the Annulosa", Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 11 (1860–2): 117–24].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Date: | [before 5 Feb 1861] |
| Classmark: | DAR 263: 40c (EH 88206451) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3038 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 6, letter to John Lubbock, 27 October [1856] ; and vol. 7, letter to John Lubbock, [ …
To Henry Fawcett 18 September [1861]
Summary
Comments on MS of HF’s address ["On the method of Mr Darwin in his treatise on the origin of species", Rep. BAAS (1861) pt 2: 141–3]. "How odd it is that anyone should not see that all observation must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service."
Describes his health.
The response to his views in Germany, Holland, and Russia.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Fawcett |
| Date: | 18 Sept [1861] |
| Classmark: | Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3257 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: …
| letter | (47) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (32) |
| Brent, B. P. | (2) |
| Gray, Asa | (2) |
| Clarke, W. B. (b) | (1) |
| Gower, W. H. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (15) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (5) |
| Journal of Horticulture | (3) |
| Bates, H. W. | (2) |
| Eyton, T. C. | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (47) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (6) |
| Brent, B. P. | (3) |
| Gray, Asa | (3) |
| Journal of Horticulture | (3) |
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: 21 hits
- … On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that he ‘Began by Lyell’s …
- … Charles Lyell and Joseph Dalton Hooker, who were joined in 1856 by Hooker’s friend the American …
- … only source of information about his preoccupations during 1856 and 1857. They reveal little noticed …
- … might work in nature ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. 10 ). He was surprised that no …
- … remarked to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 September [1856] ). I mean to make my …
- … on plants. Expanding projects set up during 1855 and 1856 (see Correspondence vol. 5), he tried …
- … first two chapters of his species book, completed by October 1856 (‘Journal’; Appendix II). …
- … Gray, vary in the United States ( letter to Asa Gray, 2 May 1856 )? What about weeds? Did they …
- … hermaphrodite’ ( letter to to T. H. Huxley, 1 July [1856] ), which became a source of amusement in …
- … that Asa Gray and Hooker confirmed during the course of 1856. Science at home: the botanical …
- … many different experiments on plants through the summers of 1856 and 1857, particularly with garden …
- … have grown well.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1856] ). His faith in his ideas …
- … trees (see letters to William Erasmus Darwin, [26 February 1856] and to Charles Lyell, 3 May …
- … Waring Darwin, the sixth and last, was born on 6 December 1856) was a constant worry, particularly …
- … in New South Wales ( letter to Syms Covington, 9 March 1856 ). Many other topics, …
- … the geological phenomenon of cleavage, still unresolved in 1856, with John Phillips and entered into …
- … visited the Darwins at Down House for several days in April 1856, and Darwin took this opportunity …
- … made in a letter written by Lyell from London on 1–2 May 1856. Darwin took the suggestion seriously …
- … him to write up his views ( letters to J. D. Hooker, 9 May [1856] ). Darwin had also …
- … At a second weekend party held at Down on 26 and 27 April 1856, he had discussed the question of …
- … doctrine.’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. 7 ). The excitement and intellectual …
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: 4 hits
- … were built to the area (Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 8 April [1856] ). This meant that most of the …
- … family duties (Darwin to W. B. Tegetmeier, 19 November [1856] ) made him unable to travel to many …
- … his son William, [30 October 1858] ). In one letter in 1856, he explained his paternal feelings …
- … in this world.’ (Darwin to Syms Covington, 9 March 1856 ) In the late nineteenth century, …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
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…
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: 5 hits
- … Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s …
- … as Natural selection ). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by June 1858. At …
- … 2 13 October 1856 [Variation under domestication] [2] …
- … 11 13 October 1856 Geographical distribution (DAR 14; …
- … 3 16 December 1856 On the possibility of all organic …
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
- … research notes, including letters going back to at least 1856 . Among them were accounts of …
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
- … undefinable’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1856] ). The idea that sterility was a test …
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: 27 hits
- … [DAR *128: 160] Mansfield’s Paraguay [Mansfield 1856] } read Chesterton Prison Life …
- … Hutchison Dog Breaking 3 d . Edit [Hutchinson 1856] new information on Pointer & Retriever …
- … Annal des Sc. Nat. 4 th Series. Bot. Vol 6 [Naudin 1856]. Read Notes to Jardine & …
- … 1855 Sept. Tegetmeier on Poultry [Tegetmeier 1856–7] —— 27 th . Mem. de l’Acad. …
- … Das Ganze der Landwirttschaft [Kirchhof 1835].— 1856. Jan 10 th G. Colin Traite de …
- … [Rudolphi 1812] [DAR 128: 16] 1856 Jan 21. Huc’s Chinese Empire [Huc …
- … Mar 1 Veith Naturgeschichte Haussaugethiere [Veith 1856].— 3 d Knox Races of Man.— 1850 [R …
- … 1741–55] d[itt]o [DAR 128: 17] 1856 . Jan 28. Watt’s Life by Muirhead …
- … [Pepys 1848–9]— April 21 Sandwitt Kars [Sandwith 1856]. [DAR 128: 18] March …
- … 1851–6] —— Wollaston on Variation [Wollaston 1856] F. Smith on Apidæ [F. Smith 1855] …
- … 1835 [H. C. Watson 1835] [DAR 128: 20] 1856 June 26. Davis J. Barnard. …
- … 1855] —— 19 Von Tschudi Alpine life [Tschudi 1856] 30. Brehm Handbuch Vogel …
- … 1857 Nov. 15. Andersson Lake Gnami [Andersson 1856] —— 26 Slightly skimmed Forbes …
- … 1765] Oct. 23. Tracings of Iceland Chambers [Chambers 1856]. —— Mansfield Travels in …
- … 2 vols July D r . Kane’s Arctic Voyage [Kane 1856] Sept. 12. Ch. Napiers Life …
- … rubbish yet amusing Nov. 15. Tender & True [Spence] 1856]: H. Coverdale [Smedley [1854–6] …
- … Travels I ever read) Sept. Froude Henry VIII [Froude 1856]. 4 vols very interesting. …
- … —— 16 Zoologist [ Zoologist ]. up Vol. 14. 1856 May 9 th Voyage au Pol. Sud. Consid. Gen …
- … 1859 Feb. 28 Olmstead S. States [Olmsted 1856] (excellent) March 21. Mill on Liberty …
- … The revised edition of Johnston’s Physical atlas (1856) included ‘Map of the distribution of …
- … 113 The Cottage Gardener ceased publication in 1856. 114 CD marked this entry …
- … vols. London. 119: 14a Andersson, Carl Johan. 1856. Lake Ngami; or, explorations and …
- … [Darwin Library.] 119: 20a; *128: 173 ——. 1856. Tracings of Iceland and the Faröe …
- … [Other eds.] 119: 9a Chesterton, George Laval. 1856. Revelations of prison life; …
- … 128: 5 Davis, Joseph Barnard and Thurnam, John. 1856–65. Crania Britannica. …
- … Three visits to Madagascar during the years 1853, 1854, 1856 . London. 128: 24 …
- … . Lundæ. *119: 5v. Froude, James Anthony. 1856. History of England from the fall of …
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: 9 hits
- … naturalist Edward Forbes. Darwin declared to Hooker in July 1856 ‘y ou continental extensionists …
- … of his old friend, the geologist Charles Lyell, who, in May 1856, twenty months after Darwin had …
- … urgency to publish and, following Lyell’s advice in May 1856, began to write a sketch his theory. ‘I …
- … without full details. ’ Writing to his cousin Fox in June 1856, Darwin openly confessed his fears …
- … work ’ he had ‘desisted’. By November 1856, he had both good and bad news to report to Lyell: ‘ …
- … press. Although Darwin had decided in the autumn of 1856 to write only from the materials he …
- … wrote ten and a half chapters of his Big Book between May 1856 and June 1858. With a total of …
- … length ’, he had complained to Hooker in December 1856. By mid-1858, only the first chapter on …
- … being the second part of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858 (Cambridge University …
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…
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…
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
- … of the human form’, Quarterly Review , 99:198 (Sept. 1856), pp. 452-491. Joseph Simms, Nature’s …
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
- … to me’ ( letter to E. W. V. Harcourt, 24 June [1856] ). In a follow-up letter, Darwin hinted at …
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
- … it was the subject of his first scientific paper (Müller 1856). In the autumn of 1855, Müller …
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
- … Letter 1979 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, 27 Oct [1856] Darwin provides detailed …
Correlation of growth: deaf blue-eyed cats, pigs, and poison
Summary
As he was first developing his ideas, among the potential problems Darwin recognised with natural selection was how to account for developmental change that conferred no apparent advantage. He proposed a ‘mysterious law’ of ‘correlation of growth’ where…
3.2 Maull and Polyblank photo 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction The rise of professional photographic studios in the mid nineteenth century was a key factor in the shaping of Darwinian iconography, but Darwin’s relationship with these firms was from the start a cautious and sometimes a…
Begins 'Natural Selection'
Summary
Darwin begins writing his 'big book', Natural Selection. The book was never finished, but later formed the basis for On the Origin of Species
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin begins writing his 'big book', Natural Selection. The book was never finished, but …
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. …
