To Asa Gray 5 September [1857]
Summary
Encloses an abstract of his ideas on natural selection and the principle of divergence; the "means by which nature makes her species".
Discusses varieties and close species in large and small genera, finding some data from AG in conflict with his expectations.
Has been observing the action of bees in fertilising kidney beans and Lobelia.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 5 Sept [1857] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (48) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2136 |
Matches: 13 hits
- … To Asa Gray 5 September [1857] …
- … Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (48) Charles Robert Darwin Down 5 Sept [1857] Asa Gray …
- … to the letter to Asa Gray, 20 July [1857] , and by the reference to CD’s experiments on …
- … kidney beans (see n. 12, below). See letter to Asa Gray, 20 July [1857] . Hugh Falconer . …
- … Letter from Asa Gray, [August 1857] . In his chapter on the possibility of all organic …
- … they seem to cling to the smaller genera. See letter to Asa Gray, 20 July [1857] . A note …
- … in DAR 49: 48 headed ‘Aug 19 th 1857. ’ describes this experiment. …
- … See also letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle , 18 October [1857]. See …
- … letter from Asa Gray, 7 July 1857 . A. Gray 1857a . Gray had already sent CD the third …
- … further part that discussed introduced plants (see letters to Asa Gray , 9 May [1857] and …
- … 18 June [1857] ). …
- … See letter from Asa Gray, [August 1857] . CD was able to obtain the seeds from Kew (see …
- … letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [November 1857] ). The enclosure up to and including the …
To Hugh Falconer 23 November 1857
Summary
Can HF ask Col. E. Dickie [probably Col. Edward John Dickey] enclosed questions about Indian horses? [Questions relate to striped markings on the Kutch breed of horses.]
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Hugh Falconer |
| Date: | 23 Nov 1857 |
| Classmark: | DAR 144: 20 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2175 |
To J. D. Hooker 31 March [1858]
Summary
Writing section on large and small genera [for Natural selection, ch. 4].
Huxley supersedes Owen on parthenogenesis.
Buckle’s History of civilisation in England extremely interesting.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 31 Mar [1858] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 230 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2248 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … Notes on Livingstone 1857 are scattered throughout the Darwin Archive (see DAR 45, 46.1, …
- … Bibliography Buckle, Henry Thomas. 1857–61. History of civilization in England. 2 vols. …
- … to T. H. Huxley, [before 12 November 1857] , for CD’s comments on Owen’s hypothesis. …
- … The first volume of Buckle 1857–61 , which CD recorded having read early in 1858 ( …
- … D. Hooker, [25] February [1858] ). Livingstone 1857 . CD entered this work in his reading …
- … had been recommended to him by Hooker in 1857 (see Correspondence vol. 6, letter from …
- … J. D. Hooker, [2 December 1857] ). …
- … Stuttgart. [Vols. 6,7] Livingstone, David. 1857. Missionary travels and researches in …
To Henry Doubleday [before 5 February 1857]
Summary
Have all varieties been bred from the same set of eggs so that there can be no doubt they are all the same species?
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Doubleday |
| Date: | [before 5 Feb 1857] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2032 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … To Henry Doubleday [before 5 February 1857] …
- … Society (Mss.B.D25. ) Charles Robert Darwin unstated [before 5 Feb 1857] Henry Doubleday …
- … See letter from Henry Doubleday, 26 January 1857 . CD refers to Doubleday’s description of …
- … the resulting moths were identical. See letter from Henry Doubleday, 5 February 1857 . …
From H. C. Watson 10 March 1857
Summary
HCW is trying to define what CD means by "variable" genera.
| Author: | Hewett Cottrell Watson |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Mar 1857 |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 35 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2063 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … From H. C. Watson 10 March 1857 …
- … DAR 181: 35 Hewett Cottrell Watson Thames Ditton 10 Mar 1857 Charles Robert Darwin …
- … in the letter from Asa Gray, 16 February 1857 . CD discussed protean genera in Origin , …
- … CD forwarded Watson’s letter to Asa Gray . See letter to Asa Gray, [after 15 March 1857] . …
To J. D. Hooker 25 June [1857]
Summary
Seedling leaves of gorse look like clover leaves. This is like young lions being striped. Thus, laws of animal embryology apply to plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 25 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 205 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2112 |
Matches: 4 hits
To J. D. Hooker [29 April 1857]
Summary
Curative power of hydropathy.
General hairiness of alpine plants questioned: direct environmental effect.
CD has long felt JDH is too hard on bad observers.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [29 Apr 1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 194 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2084 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … To J. D. Hooker [29 April 1857] …
- … DAR 114: 194 Charles Robert Darwin Moor Park [29 Apr 1857] Joseph Dalton Hooker …
- … 62 (see letter to J. D. Hooker, [2 May 1857] , n. 2). Next to this passage in his copy …
- … book ( Natural selection , pp. 279–338). See letter to P. H. Gosse, 27 April [1857] . …
- … See letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 April [1857] . CD had visited Hugh Falconer at his London …
- … home (see letter to J. D. Dana, 5 April [1857] ). Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen and Claude …
To J. D. Hooker 3 June [1857]
Summary
"Law" [see 2092] correlating variability and abnormal development not confirmed by JDH for plants.
CD studies struggle for existence in his weed garden.
Scotch fir observed at Moor Park.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 3 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 200 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2101 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … To J. D. Hooker 3 June [1857] …
- … DAR 114: 200 Charles Robert Darwin Down 3 June [1857] Joseph Dalton Hooker …
- … CD’s reference to experiments carried out in 1857 (see nn. 6 and 7, below) and by dated …
- … below). See letter to J. D. Hooker, 16 [May 1857] . In the discussion of this subject in …
- … pp. 24, 25 (DAR 157a). An entry of 1 June 1857 tallies the results to June and gives the …
- … are described in notes dated 3 May 1857 in DAR 46.1: 38–9. They are transcribed as an …
- … Experimental book, p. 27 (DAR 157a), headed ‘1857. April 8 th . ’, CD recorded ‘16 K. …
From Hensleigh Wedgwood [before 29 September 1857]
Summary
Suggests CD use the common origin of the French "chef" and the English "head" or "évêque" and "bishop" to illustrate the parallels between extinction and transitional forms in language and palaeontology [see Natural selection, p. 384].
| Author: | Hensleigh Wedgwood |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 29 Sept 1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 48: A80–1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2070 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … From Hensleigh Wedgwood [before 29 September 1857] …
- … DAR 48: A80–1 Hensleigh Wedgwood unstated [before 29 Sept 1857] Charles Robert Darwin …
- … Press. 1985–. Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn 1857. The life of Charlotte Brontë. 2 vols. …
- … her biography of Charlotte Bronté ( Gaskell 1857 ) (B. Wedgwood and H. Wedgwood 1980 , …
- … p. 258). Throughout the summer of 1857, Mrs Gaskell entertained a series of guests who …
- … p. 384), which was completed on 29 September 1857 (‘Journal’; see Correspondence vol. 6, …
To W. B. Tegetmeier 18 February [1857]
Summary
Has some fowls from Sir James Brooke, which WBT might like to display at Zoological Society.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 18 Feb [1857] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2054 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … To W. B. Tegetmeier 18 February [1857] …
- … Cox Collection) Charles Robert Darwin Down 18 Feb [1857] William Bernhard Tegetmeier …
- … letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 11 February [1857] . James Brooke , raja of Saráwak, was one …
- … December 1855]). See letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 11 February [1857] and n. 2. …
To J. D. Hooker [2 May 1857]
Summary
JDH has shaved the hair off the alpine plant.
CD apologises for his criticism.
Apparent but false relations of plant structure to climate: heath-like foliage of all Cape of Good Hope plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [2 May 1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 195 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2087 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … To J. D. Hooker [2 May 1857] …
- … DAR 114: 195 Charles Robert Darwin Moor Park [2 May 1857] Joseph Dalton Hooker …
- … See letters to J. D. Hooker, 12 April [1857] and [ …
- … 29 April 1857] . CD did indeed ‘tie’ the two cases together in Natural selection , where …
- … and 14 ‘Grasses’. The last entry of 1 August 1857 gives a total of 537 plants. CD reported …
- … See letter to J. D. Hooker, [29 April 1857] . Drège 1843 , p. 26. CD reported this case …
- … p. 209. See letter to W. D. Fox, [30 April 1857] . CD recorded these experiments in his …
To J. D. Hooker 5 June [1857]
Summary
Royal Society medals.
Correlation of variability and abnormal development is G. R. Waterhouse’s law. Relation of this law to polymorphism.
Colouring and marks of ancestral horse deduced from facts observed in pigeons.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 5 June [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 201 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2102 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … To J. D. Hooker 5 June [1857] …
- … DAR 114: 201 Charles Robert Darwin Down 5 June [1857] Joseph Dalton Hooker …
- … topics first mentioned in the letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 June [1857] . See letter to J. …
- … D. Hooker, 2 June [1857] . CD had supported the nomination of John Richardson for a Royal …
- … was awarded the Copley Medal in 1860. In 1857, the recipient was the French chemist Michel …
- … did receive the Copley Medal in 1858. In 1857, the Royal Medals were given to John Lindley …
- … See letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 June [1857] . George Robert Waterhouse had first formulated …
To Charles Lyell 13 April [1857]
Summary
CD returns a letter from Wollaston.
Although opposed to the Forbesian doctrine [of continental extension] as a general rule, CD would have no objection to its being proved in some cases. Does not think Wollaston has proved it; nor can anyone until more is known about the means of distribution of insects – but the identity of the two faunas is certainly interesting.
His health is very poor and his "everlasting species-Book" quite overwhelms him with work. It is beyond his powers, but he hopes to live to finish it.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 13 Apr [1857] |
| Classmark: | The University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections (Gen.109/702) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2077 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … To Charles Lyell 13 April [1857] …
- … Gen.109/702) Charles Robert Darwin Down 13 Apr [1857] Charles Lyell, 1st baronet …
- … Bibliography Wollaston, Thomas Vernon. 1857. Catalogue of the coleopterous insects of …
- … Park, Surrey, on 22 April and returned to Down on 6 May 1857 (‘Journal’; Appendix II). …
- … passage in the introduction to Wollaston 1857 . Having stated that the Coleoptera of Porto …
- … as a whole, Wollaston wrote ( Wollaston 1857 , p. xv): And, without attempting to solve a …
From J. D. Dana 27 April 1857
Summary
In reply to CD’s query [see 2072], JDD describes what little is known about the crustacea of the Antarctic and southern lands.
Knows of no species of the cold temperate south identical with those of the cold temperate north.
| Author: | James Dwight Dana |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 Apr 1857 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 39 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2083 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … From J. D. Dana 27 April 1857 …
- … DAR 162: 39 James Dwight Dana New Haven 27 Apr 1857 Charles Robert Darwin …
- … what materials remained. See letter to J. D. Dana, 5 April [1857] , and letter from …
- … Charles Lyell [16 January 1857] , n. 2. C. Lyell 1857a . …
- … New Haven— Ap. 27. 1857. My dear Sir:— I had intended to have replied to your last letter …
- … See letter to J. D. Dana, 5 April [1857] . The ‘former’ letter to which Dana refers has …
- … In his letter to J. D. Dana, 5 April [1857] , CD had asked whether the Crustacea of the …
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: 8 hits
- … To Asa Gray 9 May [1857] …
- … Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (9) Charles Robert Darwin Down 9 May [1857] Asa Gray …
- … of A. Gray 1856–7 was published in the May 1857 issue of the American Journal of Science …
- … this paper. See letter from Asa Gray, 1 June 1857 . A. Gray 1848 . These notes are in DAR …
- … note (see letter from Asa Gray, 1 June 1857 ). CD explained why he expected species with …
- … to be found in small genera in letter to Asa Gray, 18 June [1857] . A. Gray 1856–7 , p. …
- … 400. See letter to Asa Gray, [after 15 March 1857] , and letter from …
- … Asa Gray, 1 June 1857 . In the event, Gray was not able to prepare …
From J. D. Hooker [27] June 1857
Summary
Embryology of plants of low systematic order. Comparative development begins only with first post-cotyledonary leaves.
Curt letter to JDH from George Henslow.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [27] June 1857 |
| Classmark: | DAR 100: 115 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2114 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … From J. D. Hooker [27] June 1857 …
- … DAR 100: 115 Joseph Dalton Hooker Great Yarmouth [27] June 1857 Charles Robert Darwin …
- … Hooker made a slip in writing the date: Saturday was 27 June in 1857. See letter to J. …
- … D. Hooker, 25 June [1857] . George Henslow , the youngest son of John Stevens Henslow , …
From H. C. Watson 20 December [1857]
Summary
Finds he cannot annotate CD’s list of subspecies and varieties as wanted. Mentions again his difficulties with "species"; he "cannot find the proof of species being definite and immutable whatever they may seem to be at any one time and spot".
| Author: | Hewett Cottrell Watson |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Dec [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: A13–14 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2190 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … From H. C. Watson 20 December [1857] …
- … DAR 98: A13–14 Hewett Cottrell Watson Thames Ditton 20 Dec [1857] Charles Robert Darwin …
- … relationship to the letter from H. C. Watson, 14 December [1857] . See letter from H. …
- … C. Watson, 14 December [1857] . The list, with Watson’s markings, is in DAR 45: 9–15. …
To A. R. Wallace 22 December 1857
Summary
Comments on agreement of their respective views on distribution.
Reference to differences on subsidence.
Reports on progress of his work and praises ARW’s investigations.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Date: | 22 Dec 1857 |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 46434) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2192 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … To A. R. Wallace 22 December 1857 …
- … Library (Add MS 46434) Charles Robert Darwin Down 22 Dec 1857 Alfred Russel Wallace …
- … September and completed it on 29 December 1857. Wallace returned to England from Singapore …
- … Letter from A. R. Wallace, [27 September 1857] . Wallace 1855 . See Correspondence vol. …
- … ser. 16: 184–96. Wallace, Alfred Russel. 1857. On the natural history of the Aru Islands. …
- … Blyth, 8 December 1855 , n. 1. Wallace 1857 . CD refers to a map showing the distribution …
- … intervening land having subsided ( Wallace 1857 , p. 479). To account for the similarity …
- … Britain and Sicily as examples. ( Wallace 1857 , pp. 478–9). See letters to Charles …
To J. D. Hooker 8 April [1857]
Summary
Independence of variation from climate shown by several plant genera; CD asks for confirmation.
Progressing with book [Natural selection].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 8 Apr [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 191 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2073 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … To J. D. Hooker 8 April [1857] …
- … DAR 114: 191 Charles Robert Darwin Down 8 Apr [1857] Joseph Dalton Hooker …
- … See letter to J. D. Hooker, [21 March 1857] . Polygala vulgaris is common milkwort. …
- … See letter from J. D. Hooker, [11 April 1857] . In Natural selection , p. 284, CD stated …
- … Brodie ( Emma Darwin’s diary). In March 1857 Henrietta’s condition worsened, and on 9 …
To J. D. Hooker 12 April [1857]
Summary
Thanks JDH for response on variation. Studying variations that seem correlated with environment, e.g., north vs south, ascending mountains.
CD’s weed garden: observations on slugs killing seedlings.
Seed-salting. One-seventh of the plants of any country could be transported 924 miles by sea and would germinate.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 12 Apr [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 192 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2075 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … To J. D. Hooker 12 April [1857] …
- … DAR 114: 192 Charles Robert Darwin Down 12 Apr [1857] Joseph Dalton Hooker …
- … the Hookers’ fourth child. Marie Elizabeth Hooker was born on 10 August 1857. There …
- … is an entry on 11 April 1857 in Emma Darwin’s diary, written during her stay in …
- … with the letter from J. D. Hooker, [11 April 1857] . See Natural selection , pp. 281–5. …
- … See letter to J. D. Hooker, [21 March 1857] . The notes on these experiments, begun on 3 …
| letter | (825) |
| people | (463) |
| bibliography | (135) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (534) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (47) |
| Gray, Asa | (15) |
| Blyth, Edward | (11) |
| Lyell, Charles | (11) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (268) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (102) |
| Huxley, T. H. | (31) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (30) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (29) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (802) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (149) |
| Gray, Asa | (40) |
| Lyell, Charles | (37) |
| Huxley, T. H. | (36) |
| 1836 | (2) |
| 1837 | (1) |
| 1838 | (1) |
| 1839 | (1) |
| 1842 | (5) |
| 1843 | (7) |
| 1844 | (2) |
| 1845 | (2) |
| 1846 | (1) |
| 1848 | (1) |
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| 1882 | (1) |
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 …
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: 11 hits
- … of information about his preoccupations during 1856 and 1857. They reveal little noticed aspects of …
- … as ever I can.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 8 February [1857] ). Darwin also attempted to test …
- … the alpine plants pretty effectually’ complained Darwin in 1857 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [2 May …
- … of calculation was wrong ( letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1857] ). Darwin thought his results …
- … experiments on plants through the summers of 1856 and 1857, particularly with garden vegetables like …
- … Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette in October 1857, to be followed by a second notice in 1858. …
- … find the work: am I not a kind Father?’ Darwin wrote in 1857, soon followed by the complaint ‘You …
- … to end!’ (letters to W. E. Darwin, [17 February 1857] and 21 [July 1857] ). The problem of …
- … of his manuscript ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 1 May 1857 ) seem innocuous and hardly the veiled …
- … are all vividly displayed in Darwin's letters. By the end of 1857, Darwin was well on the way …
- … long letter to Asa Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 5 September [1857] ). From this letter it is evident …
Darwin and Down
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin, with their first two children, settled at Down House in the village of Down (later ‘Downe’) in Kent, as a young family in 1842. The house came with eighteen acres of land, and a fifteen acre meadow. The village combined the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … was in Darwin’s day. To J. D. Hooker, 3 June [1857] : on the struggle for existence in …
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
- … 2070: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, C. R., [before 29 Sept 1857] Darwin’s brother-in-law, …
Abstract of Darwin’s theory
Summary
There are two extant versions of the abstract of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. One was sent to Asa Gray on 5 September 1857, enclosed with a letter of the same date (see Correspondence vol. 6, letter to Asa Gray, 5 September [1857] and enclosure).…
Matches: 3 hits
- … natural selection. One was sent to Asa Gray on 5 September 1857, enclosed with a letter of the same …
- … to Prof. Asa Gray, Boston, U.S., dated Down, September 5th, 1857.” (Darwin and Wallace 1858, p. 50). …
- … was sent to A. Gray 8 or 9 months ago, I think October 1857 [‘or perhaps’ del ]’. The printed …
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: 4 hits
- … the Origin of Species…’ FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH: 1857-1858 In which Gray and Hooker …
- … JUNE 1855 20 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 1 JANUARY 1857 21 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, …
- … MARCH 1862 35 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 1 JANUARY 1857 36 A GRAY TO C DARWIN …
- … OCTOBER 1858 59 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 12 OCTOBER 1857 60 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, …
The "wicked book": Origin at 157
Summary
Origin is 157 years old. (Probably) the most famous book in science was published on 24 November 1859. To celebrate we have uploaded hundreds of new images of letters, bringing the total number you can look at here to over 9000 representing more than…
Matches: 1 hits
- … ’s appearance, but there is a fascinating scrap from 1857 comparing his views on species to …
Darwin’s study of the Cirripedia
Summary
Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. Coming between his transmutation notebooks and the Origin of species, it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwin’s species work. Yet…
Matches: 3 hits
What is an experiment?
Summary
Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…
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
- … written in 1842 , and, as he told Asa Gray in September 1857 , he intended to call the ‘ big …
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: 7 hits
- … Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s …
- … 4 26 January 1857 Variation under nature (DAR 9; …
- … 5 3 March 1857 The struggle for existence as bearing on …
- … 6 31 March 1857 On natural selection (DAR 10.2; …
- … 7 29 September 1857 Laws of variation: varieties & …
- … 8 29 September 1857 Difficulties on the theory of …
- … 9 29 December 1857 Hybridism (DAR 12; Natural …
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: 1 hits
- … of other cells. (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 14 April 1857 .) In a later letter …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
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- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
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…
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,…
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…
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: 3 hits
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: 7 hits
- … ago’, he wrote to the American botanist Asa Gray in July 1857, it occurred to me that …
- … staggered about the permanence of species.— By 1857, Darwin had found the confidence to …
- … And this much acceleration I owe to you. ’ In February 1857, the rate of this acceleration was …
- … the way facts fall into groups ’, he told Fox in February 1857. Trials of strength …
- … in theory of the descent of species ’. In December 1857, Darwin had expressed his satisfaction that …
- … there is no good & original observation ’. In 1857, Darwin recorded in his journal that …
- … varieties differ from each other’, he told Wallace in May 1857, before stating ‘ I am now preparing …
The writing of "Origin"
Summary
From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…
Matches: 3 hits
- … completed his ninth chapter, on hybridism, on 29 December 1857, Darwin began in January 1858 to …
- … on variation under nature. Having learned in the summer of 1857 that his method for deriving …
- … with an abstract of his views sent to Asa Gray in September 1857. The correspondence between Darwin, …
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
- … 112 Jukes. “Students Manual of Geology” [Jukes 1857]— published a few years ago, good on …
- … Lucas l’Heredite Naturelle [Lucas 1847–50] 1857 Nov. 15. Andersson Lake Gnami …
- … Thackeray English Humourists [Thackeray 1853] 1857 Jan. Cockburn life of Selby [ …
- … 1856]: H. Coverdale [Smedley [1854–6]: Quits [Tautphoeus] 1857] 29 Lutfullah. Life of …
- … Marsh] 1858] Buckle History of Civilisation [Buckle 1857] Feb. 28 Sir J. Mackintosh …
- … Oct. 22. Olmstead Journey through Texas [Olmsted 1857] Dec. Motley’s History of Dutch …
- … 1853]— Aug.— Sherard Osborne’s Quedah [Osborn 1857] d[itt]o d[itt]o Arctic Journal …
- … Harris 1842] Jukes Student Manual of Geology [Jukes 1857] Azara’s Quadrupeds [Azara …
- … *119: 18v.; 119: 8a, 21a Buckle, Henry Thomas. 1857. History of civilization in …
- … 21v., 22; 119: 19a Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn. 1857. The life of Charlotte Brontë . …
- … [Abstract in DAR 205.3: 138.] 119: 20a ——. 1857. The student’s manual of geology. …
- … [Other eds.] *119: 15v. Livingstone, David. 1857. Missionary travels and researches …
- … 3 vols. Vivay. [Other eds.] *119: 22 Lutfullah. 1857. Autobiography of Lutfullah: a …
- … *119: 23; 128: 5 Napier, William Francis Patrick. 1857. The life and opinions of General …
- … of Elgin’s mission to China and Japan in the years 1857, 1858, 1859 . 2 vols. Edinburgh and …
- … on their economy . New York. 128: 25 ——. 1857. A journey through Texas; or, a winter …
- … an Arctic journal\. London. 128: 25 ——. 1857. Quedah; or, stray leaves from a journal …
- … Rouvroy, Louis de, Duke de Saint-Simon Vermandois. 1857. The memoirs of the Duke of Saint Simon on …
- … [Other eds.] *119: 1v.; 119: 12a Smiles, Samuel. 1857. The life of George Stephenson, …
- … New York. *128: 178 [Tautphoeus, Jemima von]. 1857. Quits; a novel . 3 vols. London. …
- … . Edited by J. C. Morris. Madras. 1833–51. Second series, 1857–. [Abstract in DAR 74: 177.] *119: …
