From ? [1872–4]
Summary
Notes some corrections for 2d ed. of Descent.
| Author: | Unidentified |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [1872–4] |
| Classmark: | DAR 88: 151–2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7424 |
To Arthur Hough 15 January [1872–4]
Summary
His thanks for the curious photograph. Since he has similar ones he will not "rob" AH of it.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Arthur Hough |
| Date: | 15 Jan [1872-4] |
| Classmark: | UCL Library Services, Special Collections (SRE 920 D1 (4)) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7442A |
To W. W. Baxter? 17 January [1872–4]
Summary
Requests a prescribed physic [not specified].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Walmisley Baxter |
| Date: | 17 Jan [1872-4] |
| Classmark: | Houghton Library, Harvard University (Autograph File, D) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8165 |
To ? 15 February [1872–4]
Summary
Seeks permission for his son to look for a paper for him.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 15 Feb [1872-4] |
| Classmark: | University of California Berkeley, Marian Koshland Bioscience, Natural Resources and Public Health Library Special Collections (Darwin Collection QH365.D251) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9292 |
To W. E. Darwin 23 [February 1872 – October 1874]
Summary
Asks for investment advice.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 23 [Feb 1872 - Oct 1874] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 132 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13800 |
Matches: 12 hits
- … To W. E. Darwin 23 [February 1872 – October 1874] …
- … 23 July 1873 23 Aug 1873 23 Sept 1873 23 Oct 1873 23 Nov 1873 23 Dec 1873 23 Jan 1874 23 …
- … Feb 1874 23 …
- … Mar 1874 23 …
- … Apr 1874 23 …
- … May 1874 23 …
- … June 1874 23 …
- … July 1874 23 …
- … Aug 1874 23 …
- … Sept 1874 23 …
- … Oct 1874 William Erasmus Darwin …
- … notepaper from January 1872 until 17 November 1874. It is unlikely to have been written in …
To August Weismann 29 February 1872
Summary
Glad AW’s eyesight is better.
Has received AW’s essay [Einfluss der Isolierung (1872)].
Glad he is turning attention to sexual selection. Hardly any naturalists agree with CD on subject.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Leopold Friedrich August (August) Weismann |
| Date: | 29 Feb 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 148: 342 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8228 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … improved, but only fully recovered in 1874 ( Petrunkevitch 1963 , pp. 21–2). Weismann’s …
From Alfred Espinas March 1872
Summary
AE, philosophy professor, is disposed to accept natural selection, but argues that it lacks direction. Suggests that direction would be given if one assumed the appearance of multiple advantageous traits in a single individual. Cites Herbert Spencer, Rudolf Virchow, Claude Bernard, and Carl Vogt.
| Author: | Alfred Victor (Alfred) Espinas |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | Mar 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 163: 33 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8231 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1870–2 and Espinas and Ribot trans. 1874–5). The passage Espinas refers to has not been …
To T. C. Eyton 4 March [1872]
Summary
Thanks for facts about ducks.
Thinks TCE will be converted to principle of evolution if he continues testing facts for and against it. Natural selection is another question.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Campbell Eyton |
| Date: | 4 Mar [1872] |
| Classmark: | Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections, University of Birmingham (EYT/1/43) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8235 |
From W. W. Reade 12 March 1872
Summary
Has just finished his work [? The martyrdom of man (1872)]. The new points are: (1) Negroes have whiskers; (2) their music is sometimes agreeable; (3) the Kaffirs are Negroes.
| Author: | William Winwood Reade |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Mar 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 55 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8241 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Darwin. 2d edition. London: John Murray. 1874. Descent : The descent of man, and selection …
From Gaston de Saporta 18 March 1872
Summary
CD insists too strongly, in Descent, on man’s origin from a simian ancestor, rather than some other primate.
| Author: | Louis Charles Joseph Gaston (Gaston) de Saporta, comte de Saporta |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 Mar 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 32 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8246 |
To ? 23 March [1872–4]
Summary
CD has lost his reference to cross between gold and silver pheasants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 23 Mar [1872-4] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.406) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8250 |
To James Murie 2 April 1872
Summary
Testimonial letter. JM would be well fitted for the Chair of General and Comparative Physiology of the Royal Veterinary College.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | James Murie |
| Date: | 2 Apr 1872 |
| Classmark: | Linnean Society (Murie Papers 281) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8267 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … House Lunatic Asylum, Cambridge Road, London, from 1871 to 1874 ( Medical directory ). …
To Chauncey Wright 6 April 1872
Summary
Delighted to have cloud of darkness removed by CW’s paper on phyllotaxy [Mem. Am. Acad. Arts & Sci. n.s. 9 (1867–73): 379–415].
Has heard that Mivart will answer CW’s pamphlet [Darwinism (1871)].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Chauncey Wright |
| Date: | 6 Apr 1872 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8277 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … a subeditor for Nature from 1870 until 1874 and also botanical reviewer for the Academy ( …
To John Scott 15 April [1872]
Summary
JS’s valuable observations on worms in India along with Asa Gray’s in the United States confirm CD’s opinion that worms work in the same way all over the world. Requests further information on the subject.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Scott |
| Date: | 15 Apr [1872] |
| Classmark: | Transactions of the Hawick Archæological Society (1908): 69 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8287F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India 2 (1870): 241–57, 257–96; 3 (1874): 1–82. …
To J. J. Weir 30 April [1872]
Summary
Not surprised incipient disease in female would make her unattractive to male.
Sorry JJW’s official duties are so heavy.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Jenner Weir |
| Date: | 30 Apr [1872] |
| Classmark: | DAR 148: 329 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8303 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … HM Customs, rising to the rank of accountant and controller-general in 1874 ( ML 1: 319). …
From G. H. Darwin 2 May 1872
Summary
Sends sentences from Hermann von Helmholtz about difference between minor and major chords.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 May 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 89: 131–2, 187 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8307 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Darwin. 2d edition. London: John Murray. 1874. Descent : The descent of man, and selection …
To G. H. Darwin 3 May [1872]
Summary
Thanks GHD for extracts, but says the subject of music is beyond him.
Suggests that GHD deliberate over one or two sentences of his paper on dress ["Developments in dress", Macmillan’s Mag. 22 (1872): 410–16].
Refers to prospective marriage of Amy [Ruck and CD’s son Francis].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George Howard Darwin |
| Date: | 3 May [1872] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.1: 7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8308 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … pp. 534–5). Amy and Francis were married on 23 July 1874 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)). …
From Paolo Mantegazza 4 May 1872
Summary
CD has been elected Honorary Member of Società Italiana di Antropologia e di Etnologia.
Cranial measurements connect man and apes.
He has shown differences between male and female skulls that bear on sexual selection.
| Author: | Paolo Mantegazza |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 May 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 38 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8311 |
To Hermann Müller [before 5 May 1872]
Summary
Comments on HM’s paper ["Anwendung der Darwin’schen Lehre auf Bienen", Verh. Naturhist. Ver. preuss. Rheinland 29 (1872): 1–96];
sexual selection in bees.
Encloses account on habits of Bombus.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Heinrich Ludwig Hermann (Hermann) Müller |
| Date: | [before 5 May 1872] |
| Classmark: | DAR 146: 433; DAR 194.1; Krause ed. 1885–6, 2: 84–8 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8312 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Darwin. 2d edition. London: John Murray. 1874. Freeman, Richard Broke. 1968. Charles …
From W. B. Tegetmeier 13 May 1872
Summary
Has found the skull of the horned cock.
With regard to CD’s suggestion about the possibility of producing a pigeon breed with differently coloured sexes, WBT reports the results of crossing blue and silver dragons; the silver offspring are almost always hens.
Would like the latest edition of the Origin.
Encloses notes on volume one [of Descent].
Encloses a photograph showing the bleaching effect of the sun’s rays on dun feathers in pigeons.
| Author: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 May 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 88: 175–6, DAR 90: 101, DAR 178: 83, DAR 193: 22 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8322 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Darwin. 2d edition. London: John Murray. 1874. Descent : The descent of man, and selection …
| letter | [X] |
| Darwin, C. R. | (30) |
| Galton, Francis | (2) |
| Agassiz, Alexander | (1) |
| Airy, Hubert | (1) |
| Carus, J. V. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (26) |
| Unidentified | (6) |
| Baxter, W. W. | (3) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (2) |
| John Murray | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (56) |
| Unidentified | (7) |
| Baxter, W. W. | (3) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (3) |
| John Murray | (3) |
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: 23 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the …
- … intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August 1874] ). The death of a Cambridge friend, …
- … and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ). Such reminiscences led Darwin to …
- … much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). I feel very old & …
- … old & helpless’ ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] ). Darwin mentioned his poor …
- … on the matter ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 26 October 1874 ). Séances, psychics, and …
- … Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] ). Later in the month, …
- … and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). Darwin agreed that it was ‘all …
- … perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874] ). This did not stop word getting …
- … at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). Back over old ground New …
- … Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 8 January 1874 , letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 …
- … of correction’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 21 [March 1874] ). The book came out in June with the …
- … Darwin on this point ( letter from J. D. Dana, 21 July 1874 ); however, he did not retract his …
- … dog breeders (letters from George Cupples, 21 February 1874 and 12 March 1874 ); the material …
- … Islands (Hawaii; letters from T. N. Staley, 12 February 1874 and 20 February 1874 ; letters …
- … islanders ( letter from William Dealtry, 16 January 1874 ). One of the most significant …
- … enemy into a jelly’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 14 April 1874 ). The technical nature of Huxley’s …
- … mind where it goes’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 16 April 1874 ). The second edition of …
- … would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Darwin's son George …
- … of your thought’ ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 20 April 1874 ). The Mivart affair …
- … mental and physical disorders (G. H. Darwin 1873b). In July 1874, an anonymous essay appeared in the …
- … libel’ on his son ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [27 July 1874] ). George, however, consulted with his …
- … [a] lying scoundrel’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ). He drafted a brief statement of …
Darwin's 1874 letters go online
Summary
The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1874 through his letters and see a full list of the letters. The 1874 letters…
Matches: 9 hits
- … of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. …
- … ( Letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ) The Mivart affair highlights …
- … are some other highlights from Darwin's correspondence in 1874: I feel as old as …
- … signifying so much. ( Letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ) At the age of 65, Darwin …
- … more quietly was severely tested by some of the events of 1874. He had a clear idea of the shape of …
- … must be enough for me ( Letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ) During the year he …
- … the positive ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 August [1874] ) – he mourned after several …
- … day’s work ( Letter to D. F. Nevill, 18 September [1874] ) Darwin’s family continued …
- … have to do— ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 November [1874] ) Darwin’s continuing …
St George Jackson Mivart
Summary
In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…
Matches: 16 hits
- … In 1874, the Catholic zoologist St George Jackson Mivart caused Darwin and his son …
- … appeared to have created very little stir, until, in July 1874, Mivart published an anonymous review …
- … of the Quarterly ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 29 July 1874 ). Darwin hastily advised against …
- … to wish to circulate ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ). Darwin provided a draft of the …
- … to endorse them ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 5 August 1874 ). He sent a second draft, which Darwin …
- … a fair copy of his letter with his letter of 6 [August] 1874 . George and Darwin were also …
- … George’s letter to Murray with his letter of 11 August 1874 , and was no doubt relieved to …
- … to all he asked ( letter from John Murray, 12 August 1874 ). In October, George’s letter …
- … a Pickwickian sense’ ( letter to John Murray, 18 October 1874 ). In other words, Mivart had used …
- … reaction was savage ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [6 December 1874] ). Hooker and Huxley between them …
- … the attack on George ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December 1874 ). Huxley met Mivart at an evening …
- … ( Enclosure to letter from J. D. Hooker, 21 December 1874 .) A reply soon came from Mivart . …
- … of a gentleman’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 23 December 1874 ). However, Huxley still wrote to …
- … this. 124 Gower St W.C. Dec. 24th 1874. Private & Confidential …
- … to John Tyndall ( letter from John Tyndall, 28 December 1874 , and letter from J. D. Hooker, 29 …
- … 16 January 1875, p. 66, signed, ‘The Quarterly Reviewer of 1874’. In it he reiterated his claim that …
Joseph Simms
Summary
The American doctor and author of works on physiognomy Joseph Simms wrote to Darwin on 14 September 1874, while he was staying in London. He enclosed a copy of his book Nature’s revelations of character (Simms 1873). He hoped it might 'prove…
Essay: Evolution & theology
Summary
—by Asa Gray EVOLUTION AND THEOLOGY The Nation, January 15, 1874 The attitude of theologians toward doctrines of evolution, from the nebular hypothesis down to ‘Darwinism,’ is no less worthy of consideration, and hardly less diverse, than that of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … EVOLUTION AND THEOLOGY The Nation, January 15, 1874 The attitude of theologians toward …
Essay: What is Darwinism?
Summary
—by Asa Gray WHAT IS DARWINISM? The Nation, May 28, 1874 The question which Dr. Hodge asks he promptly and decisively answers: ‘What is Darwinism? it is atheism.’ Leaving aside all subsidiary and incidental matters, let us consider–1. What the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Gray WHAT IS DARWINISM? The Nation, May 28, 1874 The question which Dr. Hodge …
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 7 hits
- … attack upon Darwin’s son George, in an anonymous review in 1874 (see Correspondence vol. 22, …
- … had also considered taking up the issue with Murray in 1874, even threatening to break off future …
- … laid to rest, another controversy was brewing. In December 1874, Darwin had been asked to sign a …
- … botanical research and had visited Down House in April 1874 (see Correspondence vol. 22, letters …
- … A scientific friendship had developed between the men in 1874, and this was enhanced by Romanes’s …
- … white’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [before 4 November 1874] ). Testing Pangenesis …
- … had learned of Lyell’s failing health from Hooker in 1874 and January 1875. On 22 February, he was …
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
- … 9426 - Story-Maskelyne , T. M. to Darwin, [23 April 1874] Thereza Story-Maskelyne …
- … Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to Darwin, [September 1874] Theodosia Marshall sends …
- … 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, [22 August 1874] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, sends a …
- … Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to Darwin, [September 1874] Theodosia Marshall details …
- … Letter 9485 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [8 June 1874] Mary Treat details her experiments …
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
Summary
George Eliot was the pen name of celebrated Victorian novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880). She was born on the outskirts of Nuneaton in Warwickshire and was educated at boarding schools from the age of five until she was 16. Her education ended when she…
Matches: 1 hits
- … started ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] ). Darwin took Emma to a Sunday afternoon at …
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
- … to Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen, 18 February 1874 ) Zouteveen’s editions of …
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: 1 hits
- … A GRAY 3 AUGUST 1871 201 TO A GRAY 3 JUNE [1874] 202 FROM A GRAY 16 …
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…
Darwin’s Photographic Portraits
Summary
Darwin was a photography enthusiast. This is evident not only in his use of photography for the study of Expression and Emotions in Man and Animal, but can be witnessed in his many photographic portraits and in the extensive portrait correspondence that…
Matches: 5 hits
- … later, would take his camera across the globe to observe the 1874 transit of Venus. Tommy, …
- … Perfilieff , a member of the Tolstoy family in March of 1874, Darwin included the line “I have the …
- … newly-produced carte . Image: Charles Darwin, 1874, Elliot and Fry, Dar 257:11, …
- … ©Cambridge University Library Between 1874 and 1878 Darwin was very busy – too busy, …
- … Darwin’s Pictures: Views of Evolutionary Theory, 1837-1874 . New Haven, USA: Yale University Press, …
Darwin and vivisection
Summary
Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…
Moral Nature
Summary
In Descent of Man, Darwin argued that human morality had evolved from the social instincts of animals, especially the bonds of sympathy and love. Darwin gathered observations over many decades on animal behavior: the heroic sacrifices of social insects,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 9377 : Darwin, C. R. to Abbott, F. E. A., 30 March 1874 Writing to the American …
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
- … 9633 - Nevill, D. F. to Darwin, [11 September 1874] Dorothy Nevill tells Darwin …
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…
Lydia Becker
Summary
Becker was a leading member of the suffrage movement, perhaps best known for publishing the Women’s Suffrage Journal. She was also a successful biologist, astronomer and botanist and, between 1863 and 1877, an occasional correspondent of Charles Darwin. …
Matches: 1 hits
- … Becker was a leading member of the suffrage movement, perhaps best known for publishing the …
Titus Coan
Summary
In 1874, when Darwin was preparing the second edition of Descent of Man, he received letters from all over the world in reply to his queries about human behaviour; one in particular would have stirred up unexpected memories of his own time among the native…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1874, when Darwin was preparing the second edition of Descent of Man , he …
Francis Darwin marries
Summary
The Darwins' son, Francis, marries Amy Ruck; Francis starts work as his father's assistant
Matches: 1 hits
- … The Darwins' son, Francis, marries Amy Ruck; Francis starts work as his father's assistant …
