To J. D. Hooker 17 March [1863]
Summary
Lyell’s Antiquity of man lacks originality.
Statements in Lyell provoke CD to determine exact publication date of Origin and JDH’s introductory essay [to Flora Tasmaniae].
CD now believes in repeated periods of global cooling and migration.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 17 Mar [1863] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 187 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4048 |
Matches: 12 hits
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Origin US ed. : On the origin of species by …
- … Wellington, NZ). Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1859. On the flora of Australia, its origin, …
- … concluded ( Origin US ed. , p. xi): In November, 1859, the first edition of this work was …
- … published. In December, 1859, Dr. Hooker published his Introduction to the Tasmanian …
- … of publication of his essay ( J. D. Hooker 1859 ) in the letter to J. D. Hooker, 31 [ …
- … was sold out at John Murray’s trade sale on 24 November 1859 (see Correspondence vol. …
- … 7, letter to John Murray, 24 November [1859] , and Appendix II). CD made an excursion …
- … Yorkshire, between 2 October and 9 December 1859 (see Correspondence vol. 7, Appendix …
- … his own copy of Origin early in November 1859, and his presentation copies were sent out …
- … see Correspondence vol. 7, letter to John Murray, [3 November 1859] ). The earliest …
- … presentation letters are dated 11 November 1859, and the earliest letter of acknowledgment …
- … letter from Charles Kingsley, 18 November 1859 ( Correspondence vol. 7). See letter to …
From J. D. Hooker [15 March 1863]
Summary
JDH battling with Lyell over treatment of species question in Antiquity of man. Distressed by Lyell’s raising false priority issue between JDH and CD. Falconer involved in a priority squabble.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [15 Mar 1863] |
Classmark: | DAR 101: 117–20 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4040 |
Matches: 12 hits
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Taxonomic literature : Taxonomic literature. …
- … History 13: 105–21. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1859. On the flora of Australia, its origin, …
- … 17. Hooker’s introductory essay to Flora Tasmaniæ ( J. D. Hooker 1859 ) was published …
- … on 29 December 1859 ( Taxonomic literature ); Origin was …
- … published on 24 November 1859 ( Freeman 1977 ). However, in C. Lyell 1863a , p. 417, …
- … in which he discussed J. D. Hooker 1859 . Hooker was mistaken in his recollection (see …
- … on the first page of J. D. Hooker 1859 , which stated that the essay was reprinted from …
- … s “Flora of Tasmania,” published in June, 1859’. Hooker’s Flora Tasmaniæ ( J. D. …
- … essay was not published until 29 December 1859 ( Taxonomic literature ); the introductory …
- … essay itself was dated 4 November 1859. In subsequent editions of Antiquity of …
- … of Hooker’s essay was given as December 1859. In C. Lyell 1863a , p. 417, Lyell referred …
- … to Hooker’s assertion in J. D. Hooker 1859 , p. viii, that ‘species which have remained …
To James Dwight Dana 7 January [1863]
Summary
Responds to JDD’s letter [3845].
Discusses his own poor health.
"Man is our great subject at present."
Lyell’s book [Antiquity of man (1863)] sold 4000 copies on day of sale.
"The fossil bird [Archaeopteryx] … is a grand case for me." Wishes a skeleton could be found in the "so-called red sandstone foot-step beds".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | James Dwight Dana |
Date: | 7 Jan [1863] |
Classmark: | Yale University Library: Manuscripts and Archives (Dana Family Papers (MS 164) Series 1, Box 2, folder 44) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3905 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … CUL; the reference may be to the part of Lesquereux 1859–63 preserved in the collection. …
- … Journal of Science and Arts 2d ser. 28 (1859): 21–37; 30 (1860): 63–74, 367–84; 32 (1861): …
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Variation : The variation of animals and …
- … and Arts 29: 307–40. Lesquereux, Leo. 1859–63. On some questions concerning the coal …
- … Dana a presentation copy of Origin in 1859 (see Correspondence vol. 7, letter to J. …
- … D. Dana, 11 November [1859] , and Correspondence vol. 8, Appendix III). In January 1860, …
From John James Aubertin 27 April 1863
Summary
Reminds CD of their acquaintance at Ilkley Wells; encloses portrait of self;
describes the topography, trade, commerce, produce, and population of São Paulo province.
Sends pieces of rock blasted for railway for CD to analyse.
Author: | John James Aubertin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 27 Apr 1863 |
Classmark: | DAR 159: 123 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4129 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … Yorkshire, from 3 October to 9 December 1859 (see Correspondence vol. 7). See also nn. …
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Pole, William, ed. 1877. The life of Sir …
- … when CD and Aubertin were there in 1859 ( Correspondence vol. 7). See Correspondence …
- … while CD was at Ilkley Wells in 1859, and he immediately began making corrections and …
- … joined CD at Ilkley Wells on 17 October 1859 (see Correspondence vol. 7, letter to W. …
- … D. Fox, [6 October 1859] , and letter to W. …
- … E. Darwin, [14 October 1859] ). In a letter …
- … Erasmus Darwin of [7 or 14 November 1859] , Emma reported (DAR 210.6: 51): The other day …
To George Maw 28 February [1863]
Summary
Thanks GM for a curious lily.
Recommends some papers on coal.
Gives his opinion on the importance of forming theories if one is to be a good and original observer.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | George Maw |
Date: | 28 Feb [1863] |
Classmark: | Royal Horticultural Society, Lindley Library (MAW/1/9) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4018 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … University Press. 1985–. Lesquereux, Leo. 1859–63. On some questions concerning the coal …
- … Journal of Science and Arts 2d ser. 28 (1859): 21–37; 30 (1860): 63–74, 367–84; 32 (1861): …
- … 1861] ). Lesquereux had argued ( Lesquereux 1859–63 , pt 3, pp. 380–1) that the coal …
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Variation : The variation of animals and …
- … and 25 February 1863 ). Lesquereux 1859–63 . The Swiss bryologist and palaeontologist Leo …
From Charles Lyell 11 March 1863
Summary
Defends position he takes on species [in Antiquity of man]. CD overestimates CL’s capacity to influence public. Will not dogmatise on descent of man; prepared to accept it, but it "takes away much of the charm from my speculations on the past". Cannot go to Huxley’s length with regard to natural selection. Responds to CD’s comments on Antiquity of man.
Author: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 11 Mar 1863 |
Classmark: | K. M. Lyell ed. 1881, 2: 362–4 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4035 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Cambridge University Press. 1985–. [Crawfurd, John. ] 1859. [Review of Origin. ] …
- … Examiner , 3 December 1859, pp. 772–3. DNB : Dictionary of national biography. Edited by …
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Woodward, Horace B. 1881. A memoir of Dr S. …
- … 7, letter from Adam Sedgwick, 24 November 1859 ). The orientalist John Crawfurd , to whom …
- … of the first negative reviews of the book ( [Crawfurd] 1859 ; see Correspondence vol. …
- … 7, letter to Charles Lyell, 2 December [1859] , and Correspondence vol. 8, Appendix III). …
From George Bentham 21 May 1863
Summary
Returns CD’s pamphlets.
Wishes CD would work out further what keeps certain species immutable for great periods.
Feels himself a convert, but cannot go all lengths with CD.
Feels some reviewers distort CD’s argument.
Author: | George Bentham |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 21 May 1863 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 157 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4172 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … the flora of Australia ( J. D. Hooker 1859 ; see n. 3, above), and to Asa Gray’s study …
- … Read 14 December 1858 and 11 January 1859. ] Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and …
- … n.s. 6: 377–452. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1859. On the flora of Australia, its origin, …
- … life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Pasteur, Louis. 1861. Mémoire sur les …
- … essay to the flora of Tasmania ( J. D. Hooker 1859 , pp. lxxxiv–lxxxv). Bentham had been …
- … Archimède Pouchet ( Pouchet 1858 and 1859), which purported to demonstrate the existence …
From W. F. Kirby 8 September [1863]
Summary
Describes some cases of geographical distribution of butterflies. Raises the perplexing question of the distribution of Pyrameis atalanta in Europe and P. calliroe in the Canaries.
Author: | William Forsell Kirby |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 8 Sept [1863] |
Classmark: | DAR 205.3 (Letters): 280 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4297 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … see Correspondence vol. 7, letter to T. H. Huxley, 16 December [1859] , and letter to …
- … John Murray, 22 December [1859] ); however, the only part of the projected work to appear …
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Variation : The variation of animals and …
- … variety in 1791 ( Index animalium ). Ménétriés 1859, pp. 43–4. Henry Walter Bates . Kirby …
From J. D. Dana 5 February 1863
Summary
Hopes CD has received a copy of his [Manual of] Geology [1862]; justifies his assertion that geology provides no evidence to support the view that life has evolved through a method of development from species to species.
Author: | James Dwight Dana |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 5 Feb 1863 |
Classmark: | Yale University Library: Manuscripts and Archives (Dana Family Papers (MS 164) Series 1, Box 2, folder 44) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3969 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Owen, Richard. 1860a. Palæontology or a …
- … a presentation copy of Origin in November 1859 (see Correspondence vol. 7, letter to J. …
- … D. Dana, 11 November [1859] , and Correspondence vol. 8, Appendix III). …
- … at Yale University, had suffered a nervous breakdown in 1859 (see Correspondence vol. …
- … 7, letter to Charles Lyell, 29 [December 1859] and n. 10). Dana had briefly stated his …
To Charles Lyell 6 March [1863]
Summary
Comments at length on CL’s book [Antiquity of man (1863)]. CD is "greatly disappointed that you have not given judgment and spoken fairly out what you think about the derivation of species".
Lists large number of queries concerning minor points.
Praises especially the chapters on language and glaciers.
Comments on the temperature of Africa during the glacial period, especially with regard to the views of Hooker.
Mentions Owen’s paper on the aye-aye [Rep. BAAS 32 (1862) pt 2: 114–16].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | 6 Mar [1863] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.289) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4028 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … History 13: 105–21. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1859. On the flora of Australia, its origin, …
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Origin US ed. : On the origin of species by …
- … endorse natural selection (see J. D. Hooker 1859 ), and Jean Baptiste de Lamarck , whose …
- … essay to Flora Tasmaniæ ( J. D. Hooker 1859 ), in which he endorsed CD’s theory of …
- … natural selection, was published on 29 December 1859 ( Taxonomic literature ); Origin was …
- … published on 24 November 1859 ( Freeman 1977 ). CD asked Hooker the date of publication of …
- … of Hooker’s essay was given as December 1859 ( C. Lyell 1863b , p. 417). See also letter …
From J. D. Hooker [13 May 1863]
Summary
Lyell is "half-hearted but whole-headed" for CD’s theory. George Bentham wholly converted.
Bates’s book delightful but has a Darwinistic bias.
Cameroon plants.
JDH defends Bates against J. E. Gray’s slanders.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [13 May 1863] |
Classmark: | DAR 101: 137–40 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4165 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. ‘Two forms in species of Linum ’: On the …
- … whereas he never knew aught of these till 1859— I express my meaning very clumsily— I am …
- … of Henry Walter Bates’s travels in the Amazon between April 1848 and July 1859; Origin was …
- … published in November 1859. See letter to J. D. Hooker, [9 May 1863] . The reference is …
- … Museum since returning to England in 1859 ( Woodcock 1969 , p. 240), and had complained …
To Richard Frean 22 February 1863
Summary
Glad RF approves of book [Origin].
Impossible in many cases to conjecture how structures acquired.
Comments on degeneration of civilised man.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Richard Frean |
Date: | 22 Feb 1863 |
Classmark: | DAR 144: 298 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4005 |
To George Bentham 19 June [1863]
Summary
GB’s address [Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. (1863): xi–xxix] pleased him as much as Lyell’s book [Antiquity of man] disappointed him on species question. GB has done a "real good turn to the right side".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | George Bentham |
Date: | 19 June [1863] |
Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Bentham Correspondence, Vol. 3, Daintree–Dyer, 1830–1884, GEB/1/3: f. 709–10) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4217 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … of London. 1888. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1859. On the flora of Australia, its origin, …
- … the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Ospovat, Dov. 1981. …
- … natural theology, and natural selection, 1838–1859. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. …
- … on CD’s theory, including J. D. Hooker 1859 and 1860b (see Bentham 1863 , p. xx). In …
From E. A. Darwin to Emma Darwin 11 November [1863]
Summary
CD’s Copley Medal. The numbers were ten to eight in CD’s favour but the Cambridge men mustered strongly for Sedgwick.
Author: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
Addressee: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
Date: | 11 Nov [1863] |
Classmark: | DAR 105: B116–17 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4671 |
From Edward Levett Darwin 7 September 1863
Summary
Glad to find they are cousins.
Sends his book [High Elms (pseud.), The game-preserver’s manual (1858)].
Author: | Edward Levett Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 7 Sept 1863 |
Classmark: | DAR 99: 17–18 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4295 |
From Armand de Quatrefages [28 March] – 11 April 1863
Summary
Continues to support, in debates at the Société d’Anthropologie, the view that variability of animals and anatomical modifications are produced by environment. Wishes to use CD’s niata cattle example from Journal of researches [2d ed., pp. 145–6].
Author: | Jean Louis Armand (Armand de Quatrefages) Quatrefages de Bréau |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [28 Mar] – 11 Apr 1863 |
Classmark: | DAR 175: 3 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4082 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Quatrefages, …
- … Armand de. 1859. Études sur les maladies actuelles du ver à soie. Paris: Victor Masson. …
- … Quatrefages completed his own research on silkworms between 1857 and 1859 (see DSB …
- … and Quatrefages 1859 ). Martins had agreed to send CD a collection of varieties of the …
To Charles Lyell 17 March [1863]
Summary
His better opinion [of work of Boucher de Perthes].
Explains his position on CL’s treatment of species.
Mentions positive response to his ideas on the part of a German professor [Ernst Haeckel], Alphonse de Candolle, and a botanical palaeontologist [Gaston de Saporta].
Notes negative reaction of entomologists.
Mentions Falconer’s objections [to Antiquity].
Mentions work of Hooker.
Comments on paper by Owen ["On the aye-aye", Rep. BAAS 32 (1862) pt 2: 114–16]
and CD’s review of Bates’s paper [Collected papers 2: 87–92].
Thinks Natural History Review is excellent.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | 17 Mar [1863] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.291) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4047 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Berlin: Georg Reimer. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1859. On the flora of Australia, its origin, …
- … D. Hooker, [15 March 1863] . J. D. Hooker 1859 . See letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [ …
- … following visits to the location in 1858 and 1859 by Falconer and Joseph Prestwich . See …
- … 7, letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 [June 1859] . In the late 1830s, the Swiss-born geologist …
From J. D. Hooker [24 March 1863]
Summary
Has been looking at separation of sexes in poplars.
Interested in reversion.
Does not understand all CD said on inheritance.
JDH now remembers that Origin was "published" some time before it was "distributed" and therefore appeared prior to his own essay [see also 2478].
Impossible to say whether some Dipterocarpaceae survived a cold period or have developed since.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [24 Mar 1863] |
Classmark: | DAR 100: 154, DAR 101: 123–5 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2027 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … of London. 1888. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1859. On the flora of Australia, its origin, …
- … Lyell had claimed that J. D. Hooker 1859 was published several months before Origin , …
- … last paragraph of which ( J. D. Hooker 1859 , p. cxxviii) read: I would further observe …
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. ‘Two forms in species of Linum ’: On the …
To J. D. Dana 20 February [1863]
Summary
Received JDD’s book [Manual of geology (1862)]
and pamphlet on man ["On the higher subdivisions in the classification of mammals", Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 35 (1863): 65–71].
Fully admits JDD’s objections are valid. But is convinced of the general truth of his own views (with much incidental error), because they embrace so many phenomena and explain them.
Discusses some mistakes Owen has made;
Falconer’s disagreement with Owen ["On the mammalian genus Plagiaulax", Q. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 18 (1862): 348–69].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | James Dwight Dana |
Date: | 20 Feb [1863] |
Classmark: | Yale University Library: Manuscripts and Archives (Dana Family Papers (MS 164) Series 1, Box 2, folder 44) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4000 |
From Armand de Quatrefages 25 March 1863
Summary
Charles Martins of Montpellier will collect the varieties of silkworm for CD.
QdeB is battling with the polygenists in the Société d’Anthropologie.
Author: | Jean Louis Armand (Armand de Quatrefages) Quatrefages de Bréau |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 25 Mar 1863 |
Classmark: | DAR 175: 2 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4066 |
letter | (145) |
Darwin, C. R. | (74) |
Hooker, J. D. | (13) |
Gray, Asa | (6) |
Lyell, Charles | (5) |
Scott, John | (5) |
Darwin, C. R. | (136) |
Hooker, J. D. | (25) |
Gray, Asa | (11) |
Scott, John | (11) |
Lyell, Charles | (7) |

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: 21 hits
- … hopes.— (letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ) The year 1858 opened with …
- … the writing of this ‘abstract’ continued until March 1859; the resulting volume was published in …
- … instinct the previous March. By the middle of March 1859, Darwin had finished the last …
- … upon Lyell for advice (letter to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] ). Lyell suggested the firm of …
- … plan of his book (see letter from Elwin to Murray, 3 May 1859 , and letter to John Murray, 6 …
- … the forthcoming book (letter to Charles Lyell, 30 March [1859] ). Darwin next considered calling …
- … and varieties’ (letters to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] , and to John Murray, 10 September …
- … Appendix II). Twice in 1858 and three times in 1859 he had gone to Moor Park in Surrey for a week’s …
- … than when I came’ (letter to W. D. Fox, [16 November 1859] ). It was during his stay at Ilkley …
- … rag is worth anything?’ (letter to T. H. Huxley, 2 June [1859] ). But as critical letters began …
- … of induction’ (letter from Adam Sedgwick, 24 November 1859 ). Equally painful was the news that …
- … (letter to Charles Lyell, [10 December 1859] ). To each of his critics, Darwin replied by resting …
- … to me to do.’ (letter to Adam Sedgwick, 26 November [1859] ). Even his strongest …
- … of Darwin’s theory (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 May 1859 ). Among the older scientists, only …
- … the origin of mankind. As he wrote to Darwin on 3 October 1859 , ‘the case of Man and his Races …
- … to their mercies’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 November 1859] ). Late in December, to Darwin’s …
- … were the man.’ (letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1859] ). Huxley admitted his authorship to …
- … without good cause.’ (letter to John Murray, 2 December [1859] ). At Murray’s trade sale …
- … had made’ (letter from Charles Kingsley, 18 November 1859 ). This and the two references to the …
- … try to make out truth’ (letter to W. D. Fox, 24 [March 1859] ). Yet he desperately wanted people …
- … on our side.—’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1859] ). …

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: 25 hits
- … The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet …
- … and prompted the composition and publication, in November 1859, of Darwin’s major treatise On the …
- … exceeded my wildest hopes By the end of 1859, Darwin’s work was being discussed in …
- … ‘When I was in spirits’, he told Lyell at the end of 1859, ‘I sometimes fancied that my book w d …
- … hopes.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). This transformation in Darwin’s personal …
- … the writing of this ‘abstract’ continued until March 1859; the resulting volume was published in …
- … Botanic Gardens at Kew (see Appendix VII). The year 1859 began auspiciously with Darwin …
- … 1854) ( Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 15 (1859): xxv). One of the most …
- … theory. As he wrote in his introductory essay (Hooker 1859, p. ii): 'In the present Essay I …
- … to test such a theory. His essay, published in December 1859, was the first serious study of the …
- … the other’s ideas (see letters to J. D. Hooker, 2 March [1859] , 11 March [1859] , and 7 …
- … upon Lyell for advice ( letter to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] ). Lyell suggested the firm of …
- … plan of his book (see letter from Elwin to Murray, 3 May 1859 , and letter to John Murray, 6 …
- … the forthcoming book ( letter to Charles Lyell, 30 March [1859] ). Darwin next considered calling …
- … and varieties’ (letters to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] , and to John Murray, 10 September …
- … Appendix II). Twice in 1858 and three times in 1859 he had gone to Moor Park in Surrey for a week’s …
- … than when I came’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, [16 November 1859] ). It was during his stay at Ilkley …
- … rag is worth anything?’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 2 June [1859] ). But as critical letters began …
- … of induction’ ( letter from Adam Sedgwick, 24 November 1859 ). Equally painful was the news that …
- … ( letter to Charles Lyell, [10 December 1859] ). To each of his critics, Darwin replied by resting …
- … to me to do.’ ( letter to Adam Sedgwick, 26 November [1859] ). Even his strongest …
- … of Darwin’s theory ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 May 1859 ). Among the older scientists, only …
- … the origin of mankind. As he wrote to Darwin on 3 October 1859, ‘the case of Man and his Races & …
- … to their mercies’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 November 1859] ). Late in December, to Darwin’s …
- … were the man.’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1859] ). Huxley admitted his authorship to …

Rewriting Origin - the later editions
Summary
For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions. Many of his changes were made in…

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: 6 hits
- … Letter 2525 — Darwin, C. R. to Sedgwick, Adam, 11 Nov 1859 Darwin writes to Sedgwick to tell …
- … Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, C. R., 24 Nov 1859 Adam Sedgwick thanks Darwin for …
- … Letter 2555 — Darwin, C. R. to Sedgwick, Adam, 26 Nov [1859] Darwin says Sedgwick could not …
- … Letter 2526 — Owen, Richard to Darwin, C. R., 12 Nov 1859 Owen says to Darwin he will welcome …
- … Letter 2575 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [10 Dec 1859] Darwin discusses with King' …
- … Letter 2580 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, 13 Dec [1859] Darwin responds to Owen’s remarks …

On the Origin of Species
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…

Francis Galton
Summary
Galton was a naturalist, statistician, and evolutionary theorist. He was a second cousin of Darwin’s, having descended from his grandfather, Erasmus. Born in Birmingham in 1822, Galton studied medicine at King’s College, London, and also read mathematics…
Matches: 1 hits
- … into an entirely new province of knowledge’ ( 9 December 1859 ). He soon became interested in …

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: 3 hits
Women as a scientific audience
Summary
Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…

John Lubbock
Summary
John Lubbock was eight years old when the Darwins moved into the neighbouring property of Down House, Down, Kent; the total of one hundred and seventy surviving letters he went on to exchange with Darwin is a large number considering that the two men lived…
Matches: 1 hits
- … or against me. ( to John Lubbock, 14 December [1859] ) When Origin was …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 11 April 1833 Letter to C. R. Lyell, 11 October [1859] Letter to Charles …

The Lyell–Lubbock dispute
Summary
In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…
Matches: 10 hits
- … but his views were generally derided. 1 In 1859, Lyell visited several sites in …
- … that these were indeed implements of early humans (C. Lyell 1859). In September 1860 he visited …
- … in French, earlier reports written in Danish (Morlot 1859, Forchhammer et al. 1851–5); Lubbock …
- … for their work in the Brixham cave explorations of 1858 and 1859. 5 Another controversy arose …
- … its appearance in print; first in French, dated Berne, Sept. 1859, in the ‘Mémoires de la Société …
- … zoologist M. Claparède had also conversed with me in 1859 on the researches of the best Danish …
- … gave me an abstract for my use, in a letter dated December 1859. He referred me chiefly to ‘Oversigt …
- … and Edinburgh: Williams & Norgate. Lyell, Charles. 1859. On the occurrence of works of …
- … vols. London: John Murray. Morlot, Charles Adolphe. 1859. Etudes géologico-archéologiques en …
- … struggle for life . By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Owen, Richard. 1863. Ape …

Instinct and the Evolution of Mind
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Slave-making ants For Darwin, slave-making ants were a powerful example of the force of instinct. He used the case of the ant Formica sanguinea in the On the Origin of Species to show how instinct operates—how…
Matches: 3 hits

Darwin & Glen Roy
Summary
Although Darwin was best known for his geological work in South America and other remote Beagle destinations, he made one noteworthy attempt to explain a puzzling feature of British geology. In 1838, two years after returning from the voyage, he travelled…
Matches: 1 hits
- … [after September 20 1847] To A.C. Ramsay, 1 July [1859] From Thomas Jamieson, …
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: 4 hits
- … Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] Darwin asks his publisher, John …
- … Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [11 May 1859] Darwin expresses anxiety over …
- … Letter 2475 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [2 July 1859] Darwin returns the manuscript of …
- … Letter 2501 - Lyell, C. to Darwin, [3 October 1859] Lyell offers praise and …

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: 8 hits
- … across tropics ’. When Hooker’s essay was published in 1859, it was one of the first publications …
- … as by far the most capable judge in Europe. ’ By April 1859, he was able to tell Wallace that ‘ …
- … Abstract ’ would not be finished until around April 1859. But this was an optimistic estimate. …
- … of favoured races” ’, he told Lyell. On 31 March 1859, Darwin wrote to Murray describing his work …
- … the work of correcting proofs continued over the summer of 1859, Darwin had to take the water cure …
- … never shirked a difficulty’, he told Lyell on 20 September 1859, ‘ I am foolishly anxious for your …
- … of Science meeting held in Aberdeen from 14 to 21 September 1859. Darwin was confident that in time …
- … and negative, to his work flowed in. By early December 1859, he admitted that he needed to ‘ think …
Religion
Summary
Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…
Darwin in public and private
Summary
Extracts from Darwin's published works, in particular Descent of man, and selected letters, explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual selection in humans, and both his publicly and privately expressed views on its practical implications…

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: 18 hits
- … Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] (Innes) Hairy …
- … The Dog in health & Disease by Stonehenge—Longman 1859 [Stonehenge 1859].— on Toy–Dogs …
- … [Combe 1828] Macclintocks Arctic Voyage [Macclintock 1859] [DAR *128: 153] …
- … [G. Bennett 1860] Read 114 Village Bells [Manning] 1859] } Fanny The Woman in White …
- … Republic [Motley 1855] [DAR 128: 24] 1859 Pagets Lectures on Pathology …
- … 1803] (nothing) [DAR 128: 25] 1859 Feb. 28 Olmstead S. States [Olmsted …
- … Mast [R. H. Dana [1840] (good) Bertrams [Trollope 1859] & Adam Bede [Eliot 1859] …
- … (many novels) Dec: Dana to Cuba & back [R. H. Dana 1859] —— Cruize in Japanese …
- … on Maladies of Silk-worm [Quatrefages de Bréau 1859] Owen Lecture on Classification [R. Owen …
- … March. 8 Houdins the conjurer Life [Robert-Houdin [1859] 19 MacClintocks Narrative …
- … Gesellschaft für die gesammten Naturwissenschaften . In 1859 he was the coauthor, with E. Desor, …
- … des progrès de la géologie de 1834 à 1845(–1859) . 8 vols. Paris. [Vol. 1 (1847) in Darwin …
- … at sea . New York. [Other eds.] 128: 25 ——. 1859. To Cuba and back. A vacation voyage …
- … Eliot, George, pseud . (Marian Evans Cross). 1859. Adam Bede . 3 vols. Edinburgh. [Other …
- … (1849): 381–420. [Separately printed in 2 vols. (Paris, 1859) in Darwin Library.] *128: 177 …
- … 119: 16a Hodson, William Stephen Raikes. 1859. Twelve years of a soldier’s life in …
- … 1–46. 119: 9b [Jenkin, Henrietta Camilla]. 1859. Cousin Stella; or, conflict . 3 …
- … Library.] 119: 9a Macclintock, Francis Leopold. 1859. The voyage of the “Fox” in …

John Murray
Summary
Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…
Matches: 4 hits
- … natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who …
- … cousin and business partner, the earliest letters date from 1859, the year of the publication of …
- … you may not repent of having undertaken it’ (15 October [1859] Letter 2506 ). Murray decided on a …
- … & proud at the appearance of my child’ ([3 November 1859] Letter 2514 ). In the event, all …