From H. W. Bates [1 December] 1861
Summary
Furnishes CD with more information on Volucella and gives him references relating to this and butterfly colourings. States that colours are not necessarily related to resting-places but rather an endowment to enable them to withstand adverse conditions.
| Author: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [1 Dec] 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.10: 93 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3336 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Monatschrift 5: 163–6. Weir, John Jenner. 1869–70. On insects and insectivorous birds; and …
- … and the edibility of Lepidoptera and their larvæ. [Read 1 March 1869 and 4 July 1870. ] …
- … of the Entomological Society of London (1869): 21–6; (1870): 337–9. Zeller, Philipp …
- … upperwings of certain Lepidoptera in Weir 1869–70 , p. 22. CD cited Weir’s article in …
To Joseph Leidy 4 March [1861]
Summary
JL’s approval of CD’s work is gratifying. Most palaeontologists despise it. Delighted that JL has some interesting facts "in support of … selection". Is sure his views will be partially accepted. Has never doubted that "much in my Book will be proved erroneous".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Leidy |
| Date: | 4 Mar [1861] |
| Classmark: | Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3081 |
To ? 31 December [1861–8]
Summary
"As I have never especially attended to Conchology I am sorry to say I cannot tell you the name of the enclosed shell which I now return–"
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 31 Dec [1861-8] |
| Classmark: | J. David Archibald (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13881A |
Matches: 1 hit
- … by the printed stationery, which is a type that CD used between May 1861 and April 1869. …
To ? 11 June [1861–8]
Summary
CD regrets he has to turn down an invitation because of his ill health.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 11 June [1861-8] |
| Classmark: | Christie’s, London (dealers) (online 31 October – 8 November 2018, lot 6) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3179F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … by the headed notepaper, which is of a sort that CD used between May 1861 and April 1869. …
To ? 7 May [1861–8?]
Summary
CD is obliged for the offer, but he is "too much occupied to contribute to any periodicals".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 7 May [1861-8] |
| Classmark: | DAR 249: 122 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3141 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … CD used regularly from May 1861 until April 1869. The review has not been identified. …
To ? 8 December [1861–8]
Summary
Thanks for information on inheritance of mental peculiarities in cats.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 8 Dec [1861-8] |
| Classmark: | Dr Jeremy J. C. Mallinson (private collection): sold at Sotheby’s (dealers), 11 December 2017, lot 50 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13770J |
Matches: 1 hit
- … that CD used between May 1861 and April 1869. CD had discussed the instinctive behaviours …
To ? 24 August [1861–8]
Summary
Thanks correspondent for a remarkable instance of inheritance [not specified].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 24 Aug [1861-8] |
| Classmark: | Wellcome Collection (MS.7781/1–32 item 28) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13880 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … that was used by CD between May 1861 and April 1869. While CD was working on Variation and …
From Alfred Russel Wallace 30 November 1861
| Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Nov 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3334 |
To ? 25 November [1861–8]
Summary
Has read correspondent’s notice on bent cleavage. Refers him to observations on the same fact in South America, p. 160. CD has also suggested a conjectural explanation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 25 Nov [1861-8] |
| Classmark: | Royal Institution of Great Britain (RI MS F/1/M) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13881 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … that CD used between May 1861 and April 1869. The month is ambiguous; it looks as if the …
To Robert Scot Skirving 16 November [1861–8]
Summary
Knows nothing of the habits of earwigs. Thinks Edward Newman may be trusted on the point [as to whether or not earwigs can fly].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Scot Skirving |
| Date: | 16 Nov [1861-8] |
| Classmark: | DAR 147: 481 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4673 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … that CD used between May 1861 and April 1869. No letter from Skirving on this subject has …
To Oswald Heer? 20 April [1861?]
Summary
Thanks for correspondent’s Untersuchungen [? Über das Klima und die Vegetationsverhältnisse des Tertiärlandes (1860)]. CD has always considered subject interesting and important.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Oswald Heer |
| Date: | 20 Apr [1861?] |
| Classmark: | Catherine Barnes (dealer) (2002) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2765 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1861] ). CD used this stationery until 1869, although he sometimes wrote on plain paper …
To ? 20 June [1861–8]
Summary
Sends a copy of the paper [with A. R. Wallace, "On the tendency of species to form varieties" (1858), Collected papers 2: 3–19] about which his correspondent asked; CD’s parts were written years ago and not intended for publication; he gave permission for publication of the extracts. Wallace’s paper seems to him excellent.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 20 June [1861-8] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13879 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … that CD used between May 1861 and April 1869. The paper referred to is probably CD’s part …
To J. D. Hooker 22 June [1861]
Summary
Many mutual acquaintances are ill.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 22 June [1861] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 84 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3192 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … he never entirely recovered. ’ (Anon. 1869, p. 340). Andrew Sinclair , formerly colonial …
| Darwin, C. R. | (11) |
| Bates, H. W. | (1) |
| Wallace, A. R. | (1) |
| Unidentified | (7) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
| Heer, Oswald | (1) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
| Leidy, Joseph | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (13) |
| Unidentified | (7) |
| Bates, H. W. | (1) |
| Heer, Oswald | (1) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts
Summary
At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…
Matches: 27 hits
- … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition …
- … that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). Much of the remainder of …
- … to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). Hooker went straight to a crucial …
- … probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , and letter from A. R. Wallace, …
- … in distribution’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Darwin had argued ( Origin , pp. …
- … formation’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Croll could not supply Darwin with an …
- … have got that yet’ ( letter from James Croll, 4 February 1869 ). Darwin did not directly …
- … towards [Thomson]’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 19 March [1869] ). Towards Descent …
- … ‘everlasting old Origin’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 1 June [1869] ), he was able to return to work on …
- … ( letter from Robert Elliot to George Cupples, 21 June 1869 ). Details on mating behaviour …
- … in the garden ( letter from Frederick Smith, 8 October 1869 ). Albert Günther, assistant in the …
- … varieties ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 25 February [1869] ). The data contined to …
- … cocks & hens.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 November [1869] ). Yet completion of the work was …
- … for Descent . Researching emotion In 1869, Darwin still expected that Descent …
- … hatred—’ ( from Asa Gray and J. L. Gray, 8 and 9 May [1869] ). James Crichton-Browne and …
- … ( enclosure to letter from Henry Maudsley, 20 May 1869 ). Darwin had often complained of the …
- … in regard to Man’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). More remarkable still were Wallace …
- … seem to you like some mental hallucination’ ( 18 April 1869 ). Since his marriage to Annie …
- … (Wallace 1869a; letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 March [1869] ), and scolded him for again being too …
- … demands justice’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). Proceeding on all fronts …
- … South American cordillera ( letter to Charles Lyell, 20 May 1869 ), and fossil discoveries in …
- … investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February 1869 ). In a letter to the Gardeners …
- … of the soil ( letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle , 9 May [1869] ). In March, Darwin received …
- … in the early 1860s ( letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March 1869 ). This research contributed to …
- … editions ( see letter from Victor Masson, 29 September 1869 ). The work had been undertaken, like …
- … Animals”’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 November [1869] ). Angered by these proceedings, Darwin …
- … of Fritz Müller’s Für Darwin (Dallas trans. 1869). The book, an explication of Darwinian …
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
Matches: 11 hits
- … Crichton-Browne, James 20 May 1869 32 Queen Anne St. …
- … Crichton-Browne, James 19 May 1869 West Riding …
- … Gray, Asa 9 May [1869] [Alexandria, Egypt] …
- … Gray, Jane 9 May [1869] [Alexandria, Egypt] …
- … Gray, Asa 8 & 9 May 1869 Florence, Italy (about …
- … King, P.G. 25 Feb 1869 Sydney, Australia …
- … Maudsley, Henry 20 May 1869 32 Queen Anne St. …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 17 Jan 1869 Sierra Leone, Africa …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 28 June [1869] Sierra Leone, …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 26 Dec 1869 Sierra Leone, Africa …
- … Scott, John 2 July 1869 Royal Botanic Gardens, …
Perfect copper-plate hand: From Adolf Reuter, 30 May 1869
Summary
My favourite correspondent was chosen not because he is a brilliant conversationalist or a significant scientific thinker – but after a decade of reading a series of challenging hand writings, my favourite is the one who wrote in a perfect copper-plate…
Matches: 1 hits
- … My favourite correspondent was chosen not because he is a brilliant conversationalist or a …
A beginning, & that is something: To J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869]
Summary
Alison Pearn talks about a letter Darwin wrote to his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker after finishing corrections to the fifth edition of Origin of Species in 1869.
Matches: 1 hits
- … corrections to the fifth edition of Origin of Species in 1869. …
Cross and self fertilisation
Summary
The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom, published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells us, in the most emphatic manner, that she abhors…
Matches: 5 hits
- … of self-fertility over subsequent generations. In June 1869, Müller remarked, on receiving a new …
- … sometimes depends’ ( From Fritz Müller, 15 June 1869 ). By May 1870, Darwin reported that he was …
- … Müller ( To Fritz Müller, 28 November 1868 ). In March 1869, Müller reported results of …
- … pod were mutually sterile ( From Fritz Müller, 14 March 1869 ). ‘The case of the Abutilon sterile …
- … of this plant sent by Müller ( To Fritz Müller, 18 July [1869] ). Darwin sent specimens of plants …
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 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L to Darwin, [8 & 9 May 1869] Jane Loring Gray, …
- … Williams , M. S. to Darwin, H. E., [after 14 October 1869] Darwin’s niece, Margaret, …
- … Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John Scott responds to Darwin’s …
- … - Darwin to Gunther, A. C. L. G., [21 September 1869] Darwin asks Gunther for “a great …
Diagrams and drawings in letters
Summary
Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of Robinia rubra and Pirus malus , 23 September 1869 Alexander Agassiz's …
Jane Gray
Summary
Jane Loring Gray, the daughter of a Boston lawyer, married the Harvard botanist Asa Gray in 1848 and evidence suggests that she took an active interest in the scientific pursuits of her husband and his friends. Although she is only known to have…
Matches: 3 hits
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…
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…
3.18 Elliott and Fry photos, c.1869-1871
Summary
< Back to Introduction The leading photographic firm of Elliott and Fry seems to have portrayed Darwin at Down House on several occasions. In November 1869 Darwin told A. B. Meyer, who wanted photographs of both him and Wallace for a German…
Matches: 9 hits
- … Darwin at Down House on several occasions. In November 1869 Darwin told A. B. Meyer, who wanted …
- … down here on purpose’. Payments to the firm on 25 July 1869 and 5 April 1870 in Darwin’s banking …
- … widely disseminated images of Darwin were taken in summer 1869, and which in summer 1871: the …
- … were dated by Darwin’s daughter Henrietta on the backs to 1869. By 1871-2 some of Elliott and Fry’s …
- … it ‘abt. 1870’, then crossed this date out in favour of 1869 – the date which John van Wyhe assigns …
- … some of the Elliott and Fry group as having been taken in 1869 and 1871, but dates others (still …
- … to this source. It is significant that none of these 1869–71 Elliott and Fry photographs were …
- … as belonging to groups of photographs taken in summer 1869 and summer 1871, possible also in 1874. …
- … letters from Darwin to A.B. Meyer, 27 November [1869], (DCP-LETT-7014), and to Wallace, 5 December …
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…
Photograph album of Dutch admirers
Summary
Darwin received the photograph album for his birthday on 12 February 1877 from his scientific admirers in the Netherlands. He wrote to the Dutch zoologist Pieter Harting, An account of your countrymen’s generous sympathy in having sent me on my…
Matches: 1 hits
- … work on human expression. Donders visited Darwin in 1869 , and a year later Darwin consoled him …
Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution
Summary
The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…
Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Matches: 5 hits
- … he attracted many admirers in German-speaking countries. In 1869, his birthday was celebrated by an …
- … vol. 17, letter from F. M. Malven, 12 February [1869] ). An extract from Darwin’s reply to Malven …
- … with his’ ( letter to F. M. Malven, [after 12 February 1869] ). Accompanying this extract was the …
- … some of whom drew substantially on his theory. In 1869, Hermann Müller (brother to Fritz) sent …
- … theory to flowers and flower-visiting insects; H. Müller 1869)). Darwin was full of admiration and …
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
- … Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. B., [8 November 1869] Darwin thanks Antoinette …
3.12 Edwards, second group of photos
Summary
< Back to Introduction Despite the prior difficulties experienced by both photographer and sitter, it is evident that Ernest Edwards portrayed Darwin again in the late 1860s; but exactly when and in what circumstances is not known. There are strong…
Matches: 3 hits
Race, Civilization, and Progress
Summary
Darwin's first reflections on human progress were prompted by his experiences in the slave-owning colony of Brazil, and by his encounters with the Yahgan peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh conditions, privation, poor climate, bondage and servitude,…
John Beddoe
Summary
In 1869, when gathering data on sexual selection in humans, Darwin exchanged a short series of letters with John Beddoe, a doctor in Bristol. He was looking for evidence that racial differences that appear to have no benefit in terms of survival - and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1869 Darwin exchanged a short series of letters with a John Beddoe, a doctor in …
3.15 George Charles Wallich, photo
Summary
< Back to Introduction In the years around 1868–1871, when professional photographers competed for sittings with Darwin, a doctor called George Charles Wallich approached him with a similar request. Wallich was planning to publish a set of his own…
