To ? 10 July [1872–3]
Summary
Sends publication details of Coral reefs, which he thinks is now only available in Geology of the ‘Beagle’: Geological observations on coral reefs, volcanic islands, and on South America.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 10 July [1872-3] |
| Classmark: | Stuart Lutz Historic Documents (dealer) (January 2020) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8404F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … dealer) (January 2020) Charles Robert Darwin Down 10 July 1872 10 July 1873 Unidentified …
To ? 12 July [1872–4]
Summary
Has not strength or time to hunt for Herminium monorchis; has failed to make orchid seeds germinate.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 12 July [1872-4] |
| Classmark: | National Library of Russia (Collection of P. Waxell (F. 965): no 637) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8406F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … no 637) Charles Robert Darwin Down 12 July 1872 12 July 1873 12 July 1874 Unidentified …
From F. C. Donders 14 July 1872
Summary
Thanks CD for invitation but declines because of his need for a rest instead of coming to England in July.
Repeats his offer to help CD at any time. "I am always learning by trying to answer your questions."
| Author: | Frans Cornelis (Franciscus Cornelius) Donders |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 July 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 233 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8411 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … international ophthalmological congress (1873). CD expected that Donders might visit on …
From Hubert Airy [before 15] July 1872
Summary
Outlines his theory on the origin of existing orders of leaf arrangement. Believes spiral and whorled orders have evolved from a primitive distichous arrangement. These arrangements permit a compact bud form of small surface area that can withstand external changes in temperature, and in particular can tolerate frost.
| Author: | Hubert Airy |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 15] July 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: 16 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8412 |
From Hubert Airy 16 July 1872
Summary
Thanks CD for reading his MS [8412] and for his suggestions.
Clarifies his statement on the contraction of the bud-axis: did not mean to imply that this contraction occurred in an individual’s life-time, rather that it was the effect, after the course of ages, of successive favourable modifications.
Believes the true theory of phyllotaxy will give a convincing illustration and proof of the theory of evolution.
| Author: | Hubert Airy |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 July 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: 17 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8414 |
From Hubert Airy 21 July 1872
Summary
Corrects a factual error in his previous letter [8418].
Sends specimens illustrative of the "nodal" question.
| Author: | Hubert Airy |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 21 July 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: 19 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8422 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Read 30 April 1874. ] Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 22 (1873–4): 298–307. …
From Hubert Airy 24 July 1872
Summary
Responds to CD’s comments on his MS on phyllotaxy.
The initial variation required by his theory would be a slight twist of the bud-axis; believes the frequent twisting of stems and branches renders such a variation possible.
Admits he placed too much emphasis on the importance of frost. He should have spoken more generally of "vicissitudes of climate".
| Author: | Hubert Airy |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 July 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: 20 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8426 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … angles to one another), which in turn produced whorled orders ( Airy 1873 , p. 179). …
- … Bibliography Airy, Hubert. 1873. On leaf-arrangement. Abstract. …
- … by Charles Darwin. [Read 27 February 1873. ] Proceedings of the Royal Society of London …
- … also necessarily excluded others (see Airy 1873 , p. 178). See letter from Hubert Airy, …
- … before 15] July 1872 . See also Airy 1873 , pp. 177–8. In his published paper, Airy …
To H. E. Litchfield 25 July 1872
Summary
Thanks for her pains over corrections [for Expression].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henrietta Emma Darwin; Henrietta Emma Litchfield |
| Date: | 25 July 1872 |
| Classmark: | John Wilson (dealer) (no date) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8427 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … invited the group to tea at Down House from 1873 onwards ( Emma Darwin (1904) 2: 262). …
From J. T. Gulick 27 July 1872
Summary
Mentions work he did in the Sandwich Islands. Asks to visit and bring shells.
| Author: | John Thomas Gulick |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 July 1872 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.421) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8428 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … work in China and Mongolia in March 1873, after visiting his parents in Honolulu ( A. …
From H. H. Howorth 30 July 1872
Summary
Sends paper read before Anthropological Institute ["Strictures on Darwinism, pt 1", J. Anthropol. Inst. 2 (1873): 21–40]. CD is his master, though they disagree.
Criticises Wallace’s "contemptuous phrases".
Is studying elevation and subsidence.
| Author: | Henry Hoyle Howorth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 July 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 277 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8437 |
To ? 30 July [1872–4]
Summary
Thanks recipient for information about eye colour of his shepherd dogs.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 30 July [1872-4] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8438 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Charles Robert Darwin Down 30 July 1872 30 July 1873 30 July 1874 Unidentified …
| letter | (11) |
| Airy, Hubert | (4) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (4) |
| Donders, F. C. | (1) |
| Gulick, J. T. | (1) |
| Howorth, H. H. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (7) |
| Unidentified | (3) |
| Darwin, H. E. | (1) |
| Litchfield, H. E. | (1) |
| Airy, Hubert | (4) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (11) |
| Darwin, H. E. | (1) |
| Donders, F. C. | (1) |
| Gulick, J. T. | (1) |
| Howorth, H. H. | (1) |
| Litchfield, H. E. | (1) |
| Unidentified | (3) |
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 31 hits
- … and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved …
- … A large portion of the letters Darwin received in 1873 were in response to The expression of the …
- … to have observed” ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] ). Drosera was the main focus of …
- … leaf & branch!” ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 January 1873 ). Darwin found that the …
- … copy of the Handbook for the physiological laboratory (1873), a detailed guide to animal …
- … Darwin’s other main focus of botanical investigation in 1873 was cross- and self-fertilisation, work …
- … & correlated” ( letter to T. H. Farrer, 14 August 1873 ). Darwin worried, however, that …
- … when it will be ready” ( letter to John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). Keeping it in the family …
- … their burrows” ( letter from Francis Darwin, 14 August [1873] ). In September, Darwin …
- … will be created” ( letter to E. A. Darwin, 20 September 1873 ). Erasmus, who had studied medicine …
- … work” ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 25 September [1873] ). Shortly afterwards, it was arranged for …
- … 1872 and sold quickly. He wrote to Hooker on 12 January [1873] , “Did I ever boast to you on the …
- … anonymously in the Edinburgh Review in April ([Baynes] 1873). Darwin asked one of his Scottish …
- … before hand” ( letter to George Cupples, 28 April [1873] ). Readers' lives …
- … letter from L. M. Forster to H. E. Litchfield, 20 February 1873 ). The surgeon Francis Stephen …
- … ( letter to F. S. B. F. de Chaumont, 3 February [1873] ). Some readers proposed alternative …
- … that accompanied sexual intercourse? (letter from ?, [1873?]). The Scottish physician William Main …
- … with the reverse—” ( letter from William Main, 2 April 1873 ). The zoologist Henry Reeks suspected …
- … and good breeding ( letter from Henry Reeks, 3 March 1873 ). Robert Swinhoe wrote from Ning …
- … a second dose” ( letter from Robert Swinhoe, 26 March 1873 ). One of the leading …
- … the jaws” ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 16 April 1873 ). Crichton-Browne was trying …
- … the disease ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 30 December 1873 ). Instinct In …
- … to its offspring ( letter from J. T. Moggridge, 1 February 1873 ). Darwin soon became …
- … shops ( letter to Nature , [before 13 February 1873] ). Huggins’s letter prompted replies from …
- … to Nature ( letter to Nature , [before 13 March 1873] ) about a horse who had pulled a mail …
- … with his finger ( letter to Nature , [before 3 April 1873] ). Moggridge suggested the …
- … fellow species” ( letter to Nature , [before 24 July 1873] ). Character and genius …
- … as “utopian” ( letter to Francis Galton, 4 January [1873] ). Continuing the line of research he …
- … money very well” ( letter to Francis Galton, 28 May 1873 ). Among character traits, he listed …
- … honest & industrious” ( letter to Francis Galton, 28 May 1873 ). Supporting science, …
- … father ( enclosure to letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 December 1873 ). In April, Darwin also …
All Darwin's letters from 1873 go online for the anniversary of Origin
Summary
To celebrate the 158th anniversary of the publication of Origin of species on 24 November, the full transcripts and footnotes of over 500 letters from and to Charles Darwin in 1873 are now available online. Read about Darwin's life in 1873 through his…
Matches: 7 hits
- … of over 500 letters from and to Charles Darwin in 1873 are now available online. We have also …
- … Here are some highlights from Darwin's correspondence in 1873: I do not think any …
- … in Drosera. ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 October [1873] ) In 1873, Darwin continued …
- … work to do ( Letter to E. A. Darwin, 20 September 1873 ) As well as working on …
- … of them sold! ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] ) Expression of the …
- … brother. ( Letter to T. H. Huxley, 23 April 1873 ) Darwin wrote this to Thomas …
- … and marvellous ( Letter to Francis Galton, 28 May 1873 ) Darwin was invited to …
Charles Harrison Blackley
Summary
You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 million people in the UK who suffer from hay fever, you are indebted to him. For it was he who identified pollen as the cause of the allergy. Darwin was…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Darwin was very interested in hay fever. On 14 June [1873] he wrote to Blackley to thank him for …
- … Aestivus (hay-fever or hay-asthma). And on 5 July 1873 Darwin wrote again, saying: ‘The …
- … in every direction. (Letter to C. H. Blackley, 5 July [1873] ) Blackley wrote back …
- … regions of the atmosphere. Blackley wrote on 7 July 1873 that his high altitude experiments had …
- … remained elusive. He wrote to Darwin on 11 July 1873 : The problem of cure has still …
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: 14 hits
- … 5 December 1871 ). When Darwin began writing in February 1873, he asked Hooker for names of …
- … system to follow ( To J. D. Hooker, 17 February 1873 ). Despite also working on experiments with …
- … with this & get it published’ ( To Asa Gray, 11 March [1873] ). In April 1873, the …
- … Translators, Reviewers, &c.’ ( To John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). In reply to his German …
- … when it will be published’ ( To J. V. Carus, 8 May [1873] ). Hermann Müller also wrote from …
- … my further working’ ( From Hermann Müller, 10 June 1873 ). Darwin, in turn, had found Müller’s …
- … them by different routes’ ( To Hermann Müller, 30 May 1873 ). Although Darwin had completed a …
- … must turn to the vegetable kingdom’ In June 1873, Delpino informed Darwin that …
- … to avoid crossing ( From Federico Delpino, 18 June 1873 ). Darwin was intrigued. ‘I am very glad …
- … Bees’, he told Delpino ( To Federico Delpino, 25 June [1873] ). Darwin’s suspicion that sweet peas …
- … his crossing experiments through the early summer, by August 1873, Darwin decided to shift focus …
- … effects of Interbreeding’ ( To J. V. Carus, 2 August [1873] ). In September, Darwin wrote a …
- … conditions of life’ ( To Nature , 20 September [1873] ). Just as the free-swimming barnacle …
- … of their parents’ ( To Fritz Müller, 25 September 1873 ). But by March 1874, some doubts seemed to …
Your letter eternalized before us: From N. D. Doedes, 27 March 1873
Summary
Geoff Belknap looks at his favourite set of letters between two Dutch student fans of Darwin and the photographs they exchanged with each other.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Geoff Belknap looks at his favourite set of letters between two Dutch …
Frank Chance
Summary
The Darwin archive not only contains letters, manuscript material, photographs, books and articles but also all sorts of small, dry specimens, mostly enclosed with letters. Many of these enclosures have become separated from the letters or lost altogether,…
Matches: 3 hits
Darwin and religion: a definitive web resource
Summary
I am aware that if we admit a first cause, the mind still craves to know whence it came and how it arose. Charles Darwin to N. D. Doedes, 2 April 1873 Darwin is more famous, and more notorious than ever. Nowhere is this more evident than in the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Charles Darwin to N. D. Doedes, 2 April 1873 Darwin is more famous, and more …
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: 3 hits
- … including photography, anthropometry, and fingerprinting. In 1873, he proposed founding a society to …
- … difficult to judge on these latter heads” ( 4 January [1873] ). Like most of his contemporaries, …
- … particular inherited talents, except for business ( 28 May 1873 ). Galton grew increasingly …
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: 9 hits
- … Andrew Clark, whom he had been consulting since August 1873. Darwin had originally thought that …
- … had suggested a new edition of the coral book in December 1873, when he realised the difficulty a …
- … vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17 December [1873] ). Darwin himself had some trouble …
- … of human evolution and inheritance himself. In August 1873, he had published in the Contemporary …
- … the use of the Down schoolroom as a winter reading room in 1873 (see Correspondence , vol. 21, …
- … ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 20 July [1874] ). In 1873, Hooker had begun a series of …
- … vol. 21, letter from Francis Darwin, [11 October 1873] ). Darwin wasted several weeks in …
- … Moulinié, who had died after a period of ill health in 1873. Edmond Barbier corrected defects in …
- … was a copy of Joseph Simms’s book on physiognomy (Simms 1873), which contained Darwin’s portrait to …
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: 7 hits
- … Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, [1873] Ellen Lubbock, wife of naturalist …
- … Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 July 1873] Mary Treat reports in detail on her …
- … Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 July 1873] Mary Treat provides a detailed …
- … 9156 - Wallace, A. R . to Darwin, [19 November 1873] Wallace reassures Darwin that …
- … 9157 - Darwin to Da rwin, G. H., [20 November 1873] Darwin offers the work of …
- … Letter 8719 - Darwin to Treat, M., [1 January 1873] Darwin gives Mary Treat close …
- … 9157 - Darwin to Da rwin, G. H., [20 November 1873] Darwin offers the work of …
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),…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 8962: Darwin, C. R. to Max Müller, Friedrich, 3 July 1873 In the 1870s, Darwin corresponded …
Francis Darwin
Summary
Known to his family as ‘Frank’, Charles Darwin’s seventh child himself became a distinguished scientist. He was an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, initially studying mathematics, but then transferring to natural sciences. Francis completed…
Matches: 1 hits
- … work” (letter from E. A. Darwin, 25 September [1873] ). Shortly afterwards, it was arranged for …
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
- … in different species of Gasteria , 7 December 1873 F. F. Hallett's rough sketch …
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…
4.23 Gegeef, 'Battle Field of Science'
Summary
< Back to Introduction Another satirical print by ‘Gegeëf’, The Battle Field of Science and the Churches, is signed and dated 30 November 1873. It survives as a foldout plate in a twopenny journal, The Gauntlet, which, like Our National Church and…
Matches: 4 hits
- … Science and the Churches , is signed and dated 30 November 1873. It survives as a foldout plate …
- … not to have progressed beyond its first issue of December 1873. A detached and damaged copy of The …
- … (pseudonym) date of creation 30 November 1873 computer-readable date 1873-11 …
- … references and bibliography The Gauntlet 1 (Dec. 1873). Warren R. Dawson, The Huxley Papers: …
2.6 Adolf von Hildebrand bust
Summary
< Back to Introduction In 1873, the German biologist Anton Dohrn commissioned a plaster bust of Darwin for the ‘fresco room’ of his new research centre, the Stazione Zoologica in Naples. It was a fitting memorial of a long association between the two…
Matches: 5 hits
- … < Back to Introduction In 1873, the German biologist Anton Dohrn commissioned a …
- … on at least two occasions during the construction (1872–1873). Most of the money for the building …
- … saloon where Darwin’s bust was to be placed in 1873, together with a bust of Karl Ernst von Baer, …
- … image Adolf von Hildebrand date of creation 1873 computer-readable date …
- … ‘The Zoological Station at Naples’, Nature 8 (29 May 1873), p. 81. Thomas Huxley’s letter to …
Exercise: Caricatures of Science
Summary
Caricatures provide intriguing insights into both ideals and transgressions of gender. The following six images show caricatured representations of nineteenth-century men and women of science. They provide insight into the boundaries of what was deemed …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
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: 1 hits
- … Weale, J.P.M. [Jan 1873] Bedford, Cape of Good Hope, …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 9005b - Darwin to Treat, M., [12 August 1873] Darwin thanks Treat for sending over …
