To Asa Gray 25 April [1860]
Summary
Origin reviews. Is annoyed at Richard Owen’s malignity [Edinburgh Rev. 111 (1860): 487–532].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 25 Apr [1860] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (13) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2767 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Chronicle , [13 April 1860]. Bentham and Hooker 1862–83. See letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 …
To Asa Gray 31 October [1860]
Summary
Talks of getting copies of AG’s Atlantic Monthly articles for distribution in England.
Describes the pollinating mechanisms of Orchis pyramidalis and Spiranthes autumnalis.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 31 Oct [1860] |
Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (45 and 124a) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2969 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1862. Origin : On the origin of species by means …
letter | [X] |
Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
Gray, Asa | [X] |
Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
Gray, Asa | (2) |

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. …

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 …

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 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…
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 …

Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 5 hits
- … thus completing the work he had started on the genus in 1862. His varied botanical observations and …
- … act. In his ongoing quest to confirm the statement in his 1862 book on orchids that nature ‘abhors …
- … Scott, a gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in 1862 with a letter regarding the …
- … and Book of Joshua critically examined (Colenso 1862–79). After reading extracts from Colenso’s …
- … Correspondence vol. 10, letter to Asa Gray, 6 November [1862] ). A declaration that Erasmus …

Science: A Man’s World?
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 3715 - Claparède, J. L. R. A. E. to Darwin, [6 September 1862] Claparède acknowledges …

Insectivorous Plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Plants that consume insects Darwin began his work with insectivorous plants in the mid 1860s, though his findings would not be published until 1875. In his autobiography Darwin reflected on the delay that…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 3853 - Charles Darwin to John Scott, 11 December 1862 This is a lengthy letter …

Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad
Summary
At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…
Matches: 8 hits
- … with Owen when it became clear that Owen’s November 1862 description of the recently discovered …
- … work on mimicry in butterflies, which had been published in 1862 (see Correspondence vol. 10). …
- … to the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury in September 1862 ( see letter to Julius von Haast, 22 …
- … men, given at the Museum of Practical Geology at the end of 1862, and published as a book in early …
- … that had already occupied much of his time in 1861 and 1862. With the publication in 1862 of his …
- … a question he had been struggling with in 1861 and 1862; he wanted to determine experimentally …
- … Edinburgh, had initiated the correspondence in November 1862 with a letter correcting Darwin’s …
- … ( see letter to Asa Gray, 23 February [1863] , and Loring 1862). However, his tolerance of Gray’s …