From J. D. Hooker [17 February 1865]
Summary
Why botanists will not subscribe to Falconer’s bust with enthusiasm.
Scott has been offered curatorship at Calcutta Botanic Garden.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [17 Feb 1865] |
Classmark: | DAR 102: 10–11 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4773 |
From Francis Trevelyan Buckland 18 March 1865
Summary
Introduces Cholmondely Pennell of the Admiralty, who wants to speak to CD about a literary matter.
Author: | Francis Trevelyan (Frank) Buckland |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 18 Mar 1865 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 359 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4789 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1865. 7th edition, 1868. 8th edition, 1872. 9th edition, 1875. 10th edition, 1879. 11th …
To Jeffries Wyman 8 October [1865]
Summary
Experiments with string and elastic paper answered well.
Does JW know Ferdinand Cohn’s paper on contraction of stamens of certain Compositae [Edinburgh New Philos. J. n.s. 18 (1863): 190–4]?
Formerly made observations on movement in plants, but weak health has made it impossible to publish.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Jeffries Wyman |
Date: | 8 Oct [1865] |
Classmark: | Harvard Medical Library in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine (Jeffries Wyman papers H MS c 12) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4912 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … to his work on insectivorous plants in 1872 ( LL 3: 322), and published his findings in …
From Edward Perceval Wright 24 March 1865
Summary
Thanks CD for subscribing to the Cybele Hibernica.
Reports some observations made on the common buffaloes of India seen swimming and diving in 12ft of floodwater in order to crop the herbage beneath.
Author: | Edward Perceval Wright |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 24 Mar 1865 |
Classmark: | DAR 181: 174 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4793 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872. Origin : On the origin of species by means …
From Charles Shaw 3 October 1865
Summary
Admiral FitzRoy’s daughters by his first marriage have been left without means. The largest subscription to the fund has been £100.
Author: | Charles Shaw |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 3 Oct 1865 |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 147 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4908 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … navy in 1853, and became a captain in 1872 ( Modern English biography ). FitzRoy married …
From Bartholomew James Sulivan 8 May [1865]
Summary
Reports on the funeral of Robert FitzRoy.
His own health has deteriorated and he must give up his work.
Author: | Bartholomew James Sulivan |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 8 May [1865] |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 284 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4831 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bournemouth in Hampshire ( County families 1872–90; see also letter from B. J. Sulivan, …
To J. D. Hooker 22 and 28 [October 1865]
Summary
Thinks Royal Society’s failure to honour W. J. Hooker may be due to small number of botanists on Council.
Interest in H. J. Carter’s papers in Annals and Magazine of Natural History on lower organisms.
On Wallace; anthropology.
H. H. Travers’ paper on Chatham Islands [J. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. 9 (1865): 135–44].
W. C. Wells’s paper of 1813 ["Essay on dew", Two Essays (1818)] anticipates discovery of natural selection.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 22 and 28 Oct 1865 |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 277 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4921 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 4): 355–6). Carter received the medal in 1872 for his work on Infusoria, Rhizopoda, and …
letter | (7) |
Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
Buckland, Frank | (1) |
Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
Shaw, Charles | (1) |
Sulivan, B. J. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (5) |
Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
Wyman, Jeffries | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (7) |
Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
Buckland, Frank | (1) |
Shaw, Charles | (1) |
Sulivan, B. J. | (1) |

Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?
Summary
'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…
Matches: 29 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can …
- … as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 27 July [1872] ). By the end of the year Darwin …
- … s. 6 d. ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 February 1872 ). Always closely involved in …
- … translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September 1872 ). He recapped the history of the French …
- … of the year ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 23 November 1872 ). To persuade his US publisher, …
- … Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). A worsening breach The …
- … beautiful’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 3 March 1872 ). I consider that you have …
- … Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). Piqued, Mivart flung back by return of post …
- … errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January 1872 ). Darwin likened the affair to the …
- … towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872] ). Despite Darwin’s request that he …
- … world’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 10 January 1872 ). Darwin, determined to have the last …
- … acknowledge it ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). 'I hate controversy,’ Darwin …
- … I do it badly’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 3 August [1872] ). Darwin's theories under …
- … the world moves!’ ( letter from Mary Treat, 13 December 1872 ). 'Here is a bee' …
- … it at least in part ( letter to August Weismann, 5 April 1872 ). ‘I wanted some encouragement’, he …
- … to believe it’ ( letter to Herman Müller, [before 5 May 1872] ). Müller had sent him a …
- … of natural and sexual selection to bees (H. Müller 1872), and with his reply Darwin enclosed an …
- … standing’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, [before 5 May 1872] ). Finishing Expression …
- … doing nothing’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was far from idle during their …
- … to be more erect’ ( letter to Briton Riviere, 19 May [1872] ). Riviere had been suggested to …
- … clever book’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 21 November 1872 ) and invited Butler to dinner the …
- … from Samuel Butler to Francis Darwin, [before 30 May 1872] , and letter from Samuel Butler, 30 …
- … feels no doubts’ ( letter to F. C. Donders, 17 June 1872 ). Right up to the beginning of June, …
- … Buckley Litchfield ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 13 May 1872 ). Delivery to the press brought only …
- … myself’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 25 July 1872 ). A battle for the independence of …
- … partisan reply ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 May 1872 ). On 13 June, a messenger arrived in …
- … to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, 20 June 1872 ). Darwin was quietly using his …
- … an old honest Tory’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 July [1872] ). Darwin and Wallace: …
- … Wallace’s defence ( letter to Nature , 3 August [1872] ). Although the two men were …

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,…

New features for Charles Darwin's 208th birthday
Summary
The website has been updated with an interactive timeline (try it!) and enhanced secondary school resources for ages 11-14. What's more, the full texts of the letters for 1872 are now online for the first time, and a selection of Darwin's…

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…
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…
Matches: 7 hits
- … Letter 8321 - Darwin to Litchfield, H. E., [13 May 1872] Darwin consults his …
- … Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, reports …
- … Letter 8427 - Darwin to Litchfield H. E., [25 July 1872] Darwin thanks Henrietta for …
- … 8168 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] Amy Ruck reports the results …
- … 8193 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H., [1 February 1872] Amy Ruck sends a second …
- … Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin asks his …
- … Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, reports …
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: 9 hits
- … Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [13 December 1872] Mary Treat details her …
- … Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to Darwin, [17 December 1872] Dora Roberts reports an …
- … 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] Darwin asks his niece, Lucy, …
- … 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] Amy Ruck reports the results …
- … Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin asks his …
- … Letter 8169 - Wedgwood, L. to Darwin, [20 January, 1872] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, gives the …
- … 8427 - Darwin to Litc hfield, H. E., [25 July 1872] Darwin thanks Henrietta for …
- … 8153 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [9 January 1872] Darwin thanks his son William …
- … Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [13 December 1872] Mary Treat details her …

Capturing Darwin’s voice: audio of selected letters
Summary
On a sunny Wednesday in June 2011 in a makeshift recording studio somewhere in Cambridge, we were very pleased to welcome Terry Molloy back to the Darwin Correspondence Project for a special recording session. Terry, known for his portrayal of Davros in Dr…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Lydia Becker, 2 August 1863 ; to Mary Treat, 5 January 1872 ). Click on the play …

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),…

Survival of the fittest: the trouble with terminology Part II
Summary
The most forceful and persistent critic of the term ‘natural selection’ was the co-discoverer of the process itself, Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace seized on Herbert Spencer’s term ‘survival of the fittest’, explicitly introduced as an alternative way of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the fittest’ as ‘survival of the better’ (see Spencer 1872, and the letter to Herbert Spencer, 10 …
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…
Darwin as mentor
Summary
Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…

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 …
4.13 'Fun' cartoon by Griset, 'Emotional'
Summary
< Back to Introduction Ernest Griset’s drawing titled ‘Emotional!’ was published in Fun magazine on 23 November 1872, and is another skit referring to Darwin’s recently published Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. A hippopotamus had been…

Thomas Rivers
Summary
Rivers and Darwin exchanged around 30 letters, most in 1863 when Darwin was hard at work on the manuscript of Variation of plants and animals under domestication, the lengthy and detailed sequel to Origin of species. Rivers, an experienced plant breeder…
Matches: 1 hits
- … for the prosperity I have long enjoyed” ( 29 March 1872 ). …
4.5 William Beard, comic painting
Summary
< Back to Introduction In June 1872, Darwin’s friend Asa Gray, the Harvard Professor of Botany, sent him a print or photograph of a comic painting by the American artist William Holbrook Beard. Titled The Youthful Darwin Expounding His Theories, it…
Matches: 3 hits

Climbing Plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A monograph by which to work After the publication of On the Origin of Species, Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, The Descent of Man, and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals in…

Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…

Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year
Summary
The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…
Matches: 3 hits
3.16 Oscar Rejlander, photos
Summary
< Back to Introduction Darwin’s plans for the illustration of his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) led him to the Swedish-born painter and photographer, Oscar Gustaf Rejlander. Rejlander gave Darwin the notes that he had…
Matches: 4 hits
- … book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) led him to the Swedish-born …
- … him in May, August and October 1871, and in March and August 1872, but some of these payments, and …
- … April 1871, and reproduced in the London Journal in June 1872. Darwin also sent it to various …
- … one of Huxley, in The London Journal , 55:1426 (8 June 1872), p. 357, illustrating an article …
4.20 Frederick Waddy, caricature
Summary
< Back to Introduction A series of portrait caricatures drawn by Frederick Waddy appeared in the journal Once a Week through 1872. It clearly emulated the more famous series in Vanity Fair, and indeed, Waddy’s drawing of Darwin has the same title or…