From John Murray 25 September [1873]
Summary
Acknowledges CD’s cheque.
Sends CD cheque for profits on Orchids and a statement of stock on hand of CD’s works [missing].
Origin and Expression sales are stagnant.
Author: | John Murray |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 25 Sept [1873] |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 437, DAR 210.11: 1 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9071 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1862. Origin 6th ed. : The origin of species by …
- … prepared for your new works notwithstanding Chas Darwin Esq Dr Darwin on Orchids Cr 1862 …
- … 1862 June To Printing 1500 No 89 1 9 June By 1500 Copies " 48 1 4 Reams paper 51 17 4 5 …
- … Cooper do 53 2 – 732 685 on Hand June 1862 " Advertising 27 4 – 768 Sold viz " Com n to …
- … Trade 25 as 24 6/ 103 4 – 410 do " " 6/5 126 8 2 1862 768 June By Balance deficiency 45 5 …
- … 1 274 17 3 274 17 3 1862 June To Balance deficiency 45 5 1 June By 685 on hand Sep " …
From E. A. Darwin [1873–81]
Author: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [1873–81] |
Classmark: | DAR 69: 47–8 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13790 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Notes on the shoveller, taken from John Gould’s Birds of Great Britain [1862–73]. …
From W. H. Hall 5 March 1873
Author: | William Honnywill Hall |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 5 Mar 1873 |
Classmark: | DAR 53.2: 123 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8800 |
From Gerard Krefft 3 May 1873
Summary
Suggests hopping lizards may show the connection between reptiles and birds as proposed by Huxley.
Author: | Johann Louis Gerard (Gerard) Krefft |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 3 May 1873 |
Classmark: | DAR 169: 118 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8895 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … nearly every part of Australia ( Krefft 1862 , p. 30). For more on bipedalism in agamid …
- … Italiana. 1960–2020. Krefft, Gerard. 1862. On the vertebrated animals of the Lower Murray …
- … habits, economy, and geographical distribution. [Read 10 September 1862. ] Transactions of …
- … Philosophical Society of New South Wales (1862–5): 1–33. Maiden, J. H. 1908. Records of …
From A. W. Bennett 12 July 1873
Summary
Believes some flowers fail to produce seed because of the access of too great a quantity of pollen. Asks for CD’s opinion and references.
Author: | Alfred William Bennett |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 12 July 1873 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 141 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8976 |
To Edward Frankland 12 July 1873
Summary
Seeks the assistance of a professional chemist in securing a qualitative analysis of the fluid secreted by the glands of Drosera which have the power of dissolving animal matter out of the bodies of insects. [See 8979.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Edward Frankland |
Date: | 12 July 1873 |
Classmark: | The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8977A |
To J. S. Burdon Sanderson 19 November [1873]
Summary
Sends the very little globulin and haemoglobin he has to be tested with artificial gastric juice. He could get more from Samuel William Moore. Perhaps T. L. Brunton knows about the digestion of chlorophyll by animals.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Scott Burdon Sanderson, 1st baronet |
Date: | 19 Nov [1873] |
Classmark: | University of British Columbia Library, Rare Books and Special Collections (Darwin - Burdon Sanderson letters RBSC-ARC-1731-1-6) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9155 |
To T. L. Brunton 3 December 1873
Summary
Is interested in comparative nutritive values of chondrin and gelatin. The former seems to excite Drosera more, though albumen does so to a higher degree than either. Also asks if chlorophyll is digested by animals; Drosera digests it hardly at all.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st baronet |
Date: | 3 Dec 1873 |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9168 |
To J. S. Burdon Sanderson 14 September [1873]
Summary
Very pleased at JSBS’s discovery ["On the electrical phenomena which accompany the contractions of the leaf of Dionaea muscipula", Rep. BAAS 43 (1873): 133].
Asks for pure animal substances [proteins] for Drosera experiments. His other sources have been T. L. Brunton, Edward Frankland, W. A. Miller (now dead), and Hoffmann of Berlin [A. W. von Hofmann?].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Scott Burdon Sanderson, 1st baronet |
Date: | 14 Sept [1873] |
Classmark: | University of British Columbia Library, Rare Books and Special Collections (Darwin - Burdon Sanderson letters RBSC-ARC-1731-1-9) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9056 |
From Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen [before 18 January 1873]
Author: | Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [before 28 Jan 1873] |
Classmark: | DAR 53.1: B44–9 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8712 |
To Francis Darwin 10 October 1873
Summary
Asks for details about microscope parts.
Wants FD to ask Hooker for species of Desmodium; CD believes he has found new movements.
Also ask whether Hooker has Drosophyllum.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
Date: | 10 Oct 1873 |
Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (JDH/3/6 Insectivorous plants 1873-8 f.1) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9095 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … had received specimens from Kew in October 1862 and July 1877, but there is no record of …
From W. W. Keen 26 September 1873
Summary
Sends corrections of Descent and Expression.
Author: | William Williams Keen |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 26 Sept 1873 |
Classmark: | DAR 89: 24–5, DAR 169: 2, and Expression 2d ed., p. 169 n. 19 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9072 |
From C. H. Blackley 7 July 1873
Summary
Thanks for copy of Wyman’s book.
His own recent researches [on pollen] at high altitudes were inspired by CD’s account in Journal of researches of distances dust may travel.
Author: | Charles Harrison Blackley |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 7 July 1873 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 192 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8967 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Phoebus wrote a study of hay fever (Phoebus 1862). CD had discussed collecting atmospheric …
From Anton Dohrn 7 June 1873
Summary
News of Naples Zoological Station developments.
His remarks on physiology in the Academy were aimed at Prof. Ludwig and his school.
The usual "exact" methods in experimental physiology want only a little pushing to put an end to superstition.
Recounts how he had worked out the explanation of Rhizocephala morphology via the Anelasma – an example of both the power of inheritance and the power of genealogical investigation. R. Kossman’s work has now confirmed AD’s explanation.
Author: | Felix Anton (Anton) Dohrn |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 7 June 1873 |
Classmark: | DAR 162: 213 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8937 |
To Francis Darwin [4 September 1873]
Summary
Asks FD to bring any book that gives the affinities of the various earths, alkalis and metals.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
Date: | [4 Sept 1873] |
Classmark: | DAR 271.9: 2 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9040F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … an 1871 reprint of the first edition (Watts 1862–8), and a supplement to the first edition …
To Mary Treat 1 January 1873
Summary
Asks for certain observations to be made on Drosera and Dionaea.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Mary Lua Adelia (Mary) Davis; Mary Lua Adelia (Mary) Treat |
Date: | 1 Jan 1873 |
Classmark: | Amy Nagashima (private collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8719 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … had worked on Drosera between 1860 and 1862 (see Correspondence vols. 8–10); he resumed …
From C. H. Schaible 17 February 1873
Summary
Sends copy of Vinzenz Czerny [Beziehungen der Chirurgie (1872)], which applies Darwinian principles to pathology.
Recommends illustrations dealing with expression in the Atlas of K. H. Baumgärtner’s Kranken-Physiognomik [1839].
Author: | Carl Heinrich Schaible |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 17 Feb 1873 |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 48 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8771 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … had been professor of pathology in Freiburg until 1862. In his study of the physiognomy of …
From J. D. Hooker 12 January 1873
Summary
Drosophyllum is coming from Dublin. Will ship it to Down when it arrives.
The awful honour of Presidency of Royal Society; his aversion to dignities and honours.
R. Strachey [Proc. R. Geogr. Soc. (1873): 450] has paid him and CD a compliment.
Letter from Gladstone.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 12 Jan 1873 |
Classmark: | DAR 103: 146–7 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8732 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Genera plantarum (Bentham and Hooker 1862 –83). Richard Strachey’s paper was read before …
From C.-F. Reinwald 4 March 1873
Summary
Recounts the difficulties in preparing the French translation of Origin: the 1870 war, the illness and death of J. J. Moulinié, the alterations and additions from the 6th English edition. Despite competition from Royer’s three editions, Reinwald is contemplating a new edition.
Descent, vol. 1, has almost sold out. Offers CD £40 for rights to reprint a corrected version of Descent.
Author: | Charles-Ferdinand Reinwald |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 4 Mar 1873 |
Classmark: | DAR 176: 99 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8797 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … English edition of Origin (Royer trans. 1862, Royer trans. 1866, and Royer trans. …
From Robert Swinhoe 26 March 1873
Summary
Discusses expression among the Chinese. Reports certain physical characters and the practice of certain unusual customs.
Author: | Robert Swinhoe |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 26 Mar 1873 |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 336 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8824 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter from Robert Swinhoe, 12 November 1862 , and Variation 1: 148). CD cited Swinhoe for …
letter | (24) |
Darwin, C. R. | (8) |
Bennett, A. W. | (1) |
Blackley, C. H. | (1) |
Cheeseman, T. F. | (1) |
Darwin, E. A. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (16) |
Burdon Sanderson, J. S. | (2) |
Darwin, Francis | (2) |
Brunton, T. L. | (1) |
Cheeseman, T. F. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (24) |
Burdon Sanderson, J. S. | (2) |
Cheeseman, T. F. | (2) |
Darwin, Francis | (2) |
Bennett, A. W. | (1) |

Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments
Summary
1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…
Matches: 28 hits
- … As the sheer volume of his correspondence indicates, 1862 was a particularly productive year for …
- … be so’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 and] 20 November [1862] ). I have not the least …
- … him from this view ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 [January 1862] ): 'no doubt you are right …
- … Huxley replied ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 January 1862 ): 'I entertain no doubt that …
- … but continued ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 18 December [1862] ): 'you say the answer to …
- … but complained ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1862] ): 'To get the degree of …
- … him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ). Darwin was altogether taken …
- … is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). Two sexual forms: …
- … with his study of Primula and escalated throughout 1862 as he searched for other cases of …
- … 1861, and was published in the society’s journal in March 1862. The paper described the two …
- … in almost daily’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). In a postscript, he mentioned his work …
- … telling Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 March [1862] ): ‘I am nearly sure that daylight is …
- … great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ), ‘I have lately counted one by one …
- … labour over them’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [October 1862] ; see ML 2: 292–3). Other …
- … of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), and experimenting to test his …
- … sets of experiments’ ( letter to M. T. Masters, 24 July [1862] ). The materials that Darwin …
- … case he determined to experiment on Linum in 1862. Soon he was enthralled, especially by the …
- … be generically distinct’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 14 July [1862] ). The case was so good that he …
- … Linum ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), writing up his experiments in …
- … complex case—’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 29 [July 1862] ). The three forms had different lengths …
- … who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 9 August [1862] ), ‘I am almost stark staring mad over …
- … the Linnean Society ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 October [1862] ). However, it was not until 1864 …
- … pleasure to ride’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). But he worried about the resulting …
- … the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] ). To his son, William, his …
- … every flower’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 8 June [1862] ). I never before felt half so …
- … he told Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 [May 1862] ). But he did not have long to wait. ‘It is …
- … it ‘most valuable’ (letter from George Bentham, 15 May 1862). Orchids was published on 15 May, …
- … all, ‘a success’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 [June 1862] ). a flank-movement on the …

Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
Matches: 5 hits
- … In March 1862, Heinrich Georg Bronn wrote to Darwin stating his intention to prepare a …
- … edition (see letter from H. G. Bronn, [before 11 March 1862] ). Since the publication of the …
- … of importance’ (see letter to H. G. Bronn, 11 March [1862] ). Darwin had sent Bronn some of these …
- … in the new edition; in his letter to Bronn of 25 April [1862 ], he mentioned that he was sending …
- … from E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 11 July 1862 ). (No American edition incorporating …
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: 8 hits
- … in the mud. BEGINNING OF WAR IN AMERICA: 1861-1862 In which the start of the American …
- … cause. Tension. THE DARWIN BOYS: 1862 In which Darwin reports one …
- … 1856 33 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, 14 MARCH 1862 34 JD HOOKER TO C DARWIN, …
- … 1861 115 A GRAY TO CHARLES WRIGHT, 17 APRIL 1862 116 A GRAY TO RW CHURCH 7 MAY …
- … 10 JUNE 1861 121 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, 31 MARCH 1862 122 JD HOOKER TO C …
- … 16 DEC 1861 124 A GRAY TO ENGELMANN, 20 FEB 1862 125 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, 31 …
- … 7 JULY 1863 152 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, DECEMBER 1862 153 JD HOOKER TO C …
- … 1861 163 C Darwin TO A Gray, 16 OCTOBER 1862 164 C Darwin TO ASA GRAY, …

Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants
Summary
Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…
Matches: 6 hits
- … Towards the end of 1862, Darwin resolved to build a small hothouse at Down House, for …
- … vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1862] , and volume 10, letter to Thomas Rivers, …
- … a construction suitable for tropical plants. In 1861 and 1862, while preparing Orchids , he was …
- … vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] and n. 13). Initially, Darwin purchased for …
- … over the previous two years. In a letter of 24 December [1862] ( Correspondence vol. 10) …
- … Kent ( Post Office directory of the six home counties 1862). 3. Asclepias curassavica. …
I beg a million pardons: To John Lubbock, [3 September 1862]
Summary
Alison Pearn looks at a letter Darwin wrote to his neighbour and friend, John Lubbock, after making a mistake in his research on bees in 1862.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Lubbock, after making a mistake in his research on bees in 1862. …

Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…

Clémence Auguste Royer
Summary
Getting Origin translated into French was harder than Darwin had expected. The first translator he approached, Madame Belloc, turned him down on the grounds that the content was ‘too scientific‘, and then in 1860 the French political exile Pierre…
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: 5 hits
- … Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to Darwin, [29 October 1862] Henrietta Darwin provides …
- … Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 July 1862] Darwin tells American naturalist Asa …
- … 3681 - Wedgwood, M. S. to Darwin, [before 4 August 1862] Darwin’s niece, Margaret, …
- … lady”. Darwin, E. to Darwin, W. E. , (March, 1862 - DAR 219.1:49) Emma Darwin …
- … - Darwin to Wedgwood, K. E. S, M. S. & L. C., [4 August 1862] Darwin thanks his “angel …

Floral Dimorphism
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a series of smaller studies on botanical subjects. Titled The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, it consisted primarily of…

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
- … 1 October [1861] To Charles Lyell, 1 April [1862] To Charles Lyell, 14 October …

Have you read the one about....
Summary
... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …

Orchids
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A project to follow On the Origin of Species Darwin began to observe English orchids and collect specimens from abroad in the years immediately following the publication of On the Origin of Species. Examining…
Matches: 4 hits
- … SOURCES Books Darwin, Charles 1862. On the various contrivances by which …
- … 3421 —Charles Darwin to Joseph Dalton Hooker 30 January 1862 Darwin tells Hooker about a …
- … Letter 3662 —Charles Darwin to Asa Gray 23-4 July 1862 Darwin tells Asa Gray, a professor …
- … Darwin’s work with orchids and Chapter 1 of Darwin’s 1862 book On the various …

Forms of flowers
Summary
Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…
Matches: 6 hits
- … briefly mentioned in his Primula paper. In July 1862, Darwin explained to Gray, ‘ I have …
- … of the genus Linum ’, between 11 and 21 December 1862. The paper was read at a meeting of the …
- … to Lythrum , a genus that he had begun researching in 1862 after Hooker had supplied him with …
- … of Lythrum he had been working on since late July 1862. He told Oliver that, ‘ as each form has …
- … of the crossing experiments immediately, but by October 1862, he admitted to Hooker, ‘ I am rather …
- … 117: 50). Darwin released William from counting in November 1862, telling him, ‘ Next year I shall …

Dining at Down House
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's Domestic Life While Darwin is best remembered for his scientific accomplishments, he greatly valued and was strongly influenced by his domestic life. Darwin's…

Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments
Summary
The year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend and supporter; Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and father of Darwin’s friend…
Matches: 4 hits
- … on Verbascum. Darwin had suggested to Scott in 1862, when Scott was working at the Royal Botanic …
- … vol. 10, letter to John Scott, 19 November [1862] ). Darwin had already written to Hooker of …
- … disturbing the serenity of the Christian world’ (Brewster 1862, p. 3). John Hutton Balfour, though …
- … vol. 10, letter from J. H. Balfour, 14 January 1862 ). According to Hooker, Balfour’s prejudice …
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
- … [1859] Letter to Charles Kingsley, 6 February [1862] Letter from F. W. Farrar, …

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…

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…
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … lady”. Darwin, E. to Darwin, W. E. , (March 1862 - DAR 219.1:49) Emma Darwin …

Sexual selection
Summary
Although natural selection could explain the differences between species, Darwin realised that (other than in the reproductive organs themselves) it could not explain the often marked differences between the males and females of the same species. So what…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the Lords' ( to J. D. Hooker, 25 [and 26] January [1862] ) In 1869, Darwin …