From David Taylor Fish to Gardeners’ Chronicle 8 May 1869
Summary
Discusses CD’s paper ‘Formation of mould’ and CD’s views on earthworms.
Author: | David Taylor Fish |
Addressee: | Gardeners’ Chronicle |
Date: | 8 May 1869 |
Classmark: | Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette (1869): 501 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6736F |
Matches: 9 hits
- … Discusses CD’s paper ‘Formation of mould’ and CD’s views on earthworms. …
- … 1977. Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881. ‘Formation of mould’: On the …
- … formation of mould. [Read 1 November 1837. ] Transactions of the Geological Society of …
- … issues. Fish refers to ‘Formation of mould’ . CD cited Fish’s article in Earthworms , p. …
- … Chronicle , 9 May [1869]. See ‘Formation of mould’ , p. 508 ( Collected papers 1: 52). …
- … more properly called animal than vegetable mould. I, however, would accept the fact of the …
- … persistency to cover the earth with vegetable mould without the assistance of manure. The …
- … surface of the earth in the form of vegetable mould. And doubtless in this emptying of the …
From W. E. Darwin 3 December [1880]
Summary
Description of remains of a Roman villa and the worm activity at the site.
Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 3 Dec [1880] |
Classmark: | DAR 162: 111 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12885 |
Matches: 15 hits
- … often taken deep down into burrows & then may be reswallowed. ’ pencil 9.2 the … mould. …
- … 9.4] scored red crayon 9.2 mould and worm holes, 9.3] underl pencil and red crayon 9.4 …
- … since the Romans; I tried the depth of mould in two places about 4 yards from each other, …
- … 5 feet deep] double underl blue crayon 2.5 mould … a hard] underl blue crayon 3.3 tops … …
- … think it is over 5 feet deep in parts. The mould rests on a hard deep red compact sand, so …
- … spot of 15 inches in dept, and he said there was pure mould to within about 4 or 5 inches …
- … to top of walls, & then there was mixed mould and stones mortar and loose rubbish from the …
- … to be loose rubbish on top of them, but the mould on top did not appear to be so pure. Not …
- … saw by holes that had been dug that the mould was of a considerable depth therefore though …
- … all the castings I saw looked like pure mould. The proprietor of the part I was able to …
- … lumps of mortar; the interstices were full of mould and worm holes, and here & there was a …
- … mortar had to some extent been replaced by mould. Unfortunately I had no chance of seeing …
- … the castings appeared all to be of pure mould, and as the floors has so fairly kept their …
- … that the worms might be continually bringing up mould through the pavement, and that any …
- … by worms working from outside, so that the mould would rise on the pavement without much …
‘Formation of mould’: On the formation of mould. [Read 1 November 1837.] Transactions of the Geological Society of London 2d ser. 5 (1840): 505–9. [Shorter publications, pp. 124–7.]
Vegetable mould and worms: The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881.
To J. H. Gilbert 5 February 1881
Summary
Asks whether vegetable mould has an acid reaction. The contents of intestines of earthworms and castings are acid, which leads him to inquire about mould.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Henry Gilbert |
Date: | 5 Feb 1881 |
Classmark: | Rothamsted Research (GIL13) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13038 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Asks whether vegetable mould has an acid reaction. The contents of …
- … intestines of earthworms and castings are acid, which leads him to inquire about mould. …
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … with a question. It is, whether vegetable mould, such as occurs close beneath the roots of …
- … well drained place on my Lawn, where the mould was distinctly acid. — I ask because I have …
- … chalk) & this leads me to wish to know about mould. I have read that the humus acids, (to …
From L. C. Wedgwood [8 February 1872]
Summary
Describes earthworm experiments. She has measured depth of mould in various locales, e.g., on ridges and furrows of an old ploughed field.
Author: | Lucy Caroline Wedgwood; Lucy Caroline Harrison |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [8 Feb 1872] |
Classmark: | DAR 63: 79–80 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8203 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … experiments. She has measured depth of mould in various locales, e.g. , on ridges and …
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … this little washed away? ’ added ink 7.1 Worm mould on common] ‘space almost level’ interl …
- … slope in garden and at bottom. (Feb 6 th . ) Top worm-mould 4 inches Bottom—— 5 3 4 Ex …
- … pt . 4 Worm mould on common near sq re . yard 3–4 in. On terrace near sq y d . 3 3 4 6.1 …
- … field on slope. Jan. 11 th . Line of worm-mould very ill-defined— No apparent difference …
- … straight line I think to preclude chance worm-mould 2 3 4 —4 inches No 2 (furrow) — — 3 1 …
From J. V. Carus 6 December 1881
Summary
Lists errata in Earthworms, which he is translating.
Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 6 Dec 1881 |
Classmark: | DAR 161: 116 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13533 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … The word ‘mould’ in the …
- … phrase ‘dark-coloured mould’ has not been changed to ‘humus’ in either of these printings. …
- … Earthworms (1882): The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … ask you what difference you make between mould and humus ? In the most places you use both …
- … l.6 you add (in the proof sheets), to the word “mould”, “ or humus ”, and on the very same …
- … you insert (line 14), ‘humus’ instead of mould. This puzzles me. The translation will be …
- … thousand), p. 103, and Earthworms (1882) , p. 105, the phrase ‘mould or humus’ is used. …
- … 1882. Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
From W. E. Darwin [1 January 1872]
Summary
Worm action at Stonehenge.
Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [1 Jan 1872] |
Classmark: | DAR 162: 105 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8137 |
Matches: 10 hits
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … altered from ‘of what? mould? —’]’ inserted after ‘bottom’ 15.2 filled … inches] scored …
- … the shepherd … pipe. 12.8] ‘But why has more mould accumulated close to stone than at …
- … distance of 8 yards Did not block indent the mould? ’ added pencil 12.3 …
- … 10 inches] underl red crayon 12.3 into the mould] ‘ …
- … mould’ underl red crayon 12.4 full of worms] underl red crayon 12.6 8 yards] underl red …
- … bottom 13.3] ‘Is turf abruptly higher close to stones? ’ added pencil ; ‘of mould. ? — [ …
- … trowel I found that this was sunk at the spot I examined 10 inches into the mould (it was …
- … evidently worm mould v. full of worms); the shepherd said the earth had probably been …
- … inches to a foot, I found the depth of the mould above the mixed flint and chalk to be 5 1 …
From William Buckland to the Geological Society of London 9 March 1838
Summary
Recommends CD’s paper on "Formation of mould" [Collected papers 1: 49–53; read 1 Nov 1837] be printed in Transactions. Praises it as establishing a new "geological power".
Author: | William Buckland |
Addressee: | Geological Society of London |
Date: | 9 Mar 1838 |
Classmark: | Geological Society of London (GSL/COM/P/4/2/47) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-404 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Recommends CD’s paper on "Formation of mould" [ Collected papers 1: 49–53; read 1 Nov …
- … vols. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. 1977. ‘Formation of mould’: On the …
- … formation of mould. [Read 1 November 1837. ] Transactions of the Geological Society of …
- … on M r Darwyns Paper on the formation of Mould. I consider the above paper & note appended …
- … On the formation of mould’ , Collected papers 1: 49–53. CD had concluded the version of …
- … of marine animals, in the same manner as mould has been prepared by the earth-worm on …
From Arthur Hall 5 December 1881
Summary
Vegetable mould covering paving-stones in Oxfordshire lanes accumulated over 14 or 16 centuries.
Author: | Arthur Hall |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 5 Dec 1881 |
Classmark: | DAR 166: 88 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13531 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Vegetable mould covering paving-stones in Oxfordshire lanes accumulated over 14 or 16 …
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … Street | London S.E. Dec 5/81 “Vegetable Mould &c” Dear Sir Many of the minor Roman Roads …
- … surface has thus become covered with mould in sufficient quantity to support abundant …
From A. C. Horner 23 December 1881
Summary
Detailed criticism of Earthworms.
Author: | Arthur Claypon Horner |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 23 Dec 1881 |
Classmark: | DAR 166: 268 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13578 |
Matches: 9 hits
- … Earthworms (1882): The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … there ought to be both more and larger stones in the “mould” at the bottom than at …
- … the top near the “superficial mould”, but the diagram does not represent it to be so. At …
- … 1882. Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … its appearance as represented. The layer of vegetable mould is clearly defined. Beneath it …
- … is a mass (25 1 2 inches thick) of “dark brown mould”. In the …
- … the walls project into this “dark brown mould” on the north or upper side about half way ( …
- … 12 inches or more) Now, if this state of “mould” had been brought about by long continued …
- … to be incorrect, I should expect to find the “mould” gradually shelving off from the upper …
To T. H. Farrer 18 January 1881
Summary
Asks THF to obtain sample of chalk immediately below vegetable mould at Abinger.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer |
Date: | 18 Jan 1881 |
Classmark: | Linnean Society of London (LS Ms 299/32) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13016 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Asks THF to obtain sample of chalk immediately below vegetable mould at Abinger. …
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … fragments, immediately beneath the vegetable mould. I want to ascertain the percentage of …
- … hear what the thickness of the vegetable mould is, measured from the upper surface, at the …
From J. G. Joyce 15 November 1877
Summary
Memorandum on Silchester. Report by IGJ of investigations carried out at Silchester with Frank and Horace [Darwin] on earthworm activity at the site of a Roman villa. Sections of vertical cuttings at Silchester, traced from the journal of the excavations of the Roman house, and notes on the same.
Author: | James Gerald Joyce |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 15 Nov 1877 |
Classmark: | DAR 64.2: 63–6; DAR 65: 104, 106, 108 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11236 |
Matches: 11 hits
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … from the walls. 2 nd . The texture of the mould overlying walls & floors. General Aspect: …
- … from 1
′ .6″—to 1 f t . We examined the mould overlying this. The section was an excellent … - … lower was 24″ 1 2 deep. It is dark brown mould, very thickly interspersed with small sized …
- … a much larger intermixture of pebbles & bits of tile in this mould than we expected. Above …
- … this 24 1 2 ″ bed, is the surface mould in w h . the grass grows. This is homogeneous, …
- … was not white, nor light coloured—it was quite dark, & largely mixed with mould. This …
- … was not its original condition, & the mould permeating it must be due to …
- … the action of worms which carry mould with them into the very heart of the wall, when they …
- … wall within. There was, even here, dark mould mixed in the mortar of the middle part, & …
- … consequence. 24.2] scored pencil 23.5 it was … mould. ] underl red crayon 23.5 This was … …
To John Scott 15 January 1872
Summary
Is resuming the study of worm-casts as he believes they will bear on the denudation of land. Requests specific information on the relative number, size, and manner of deterioration of worm-casts in India.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Scott |
Date: | 15 Jan 1872 |
Classmark: | Transactions of the Hawick Archæological Society (1908): 68 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8159F |
Matches: 4 hits
- … CD refers to ‘Formation of mould’ , which was read before the Geological Society of London …
- … 1985–. Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881. ‘Formation of mould’: On the …
- … formation of mould. [Read 1 November 1837. ] Transactions of the Geological Society of …
To William Lonsdale [c. June 1838]
Summary
Responds to report of the referee [on his paper "The formation of mould"]. Strikes out a paragraph and wants to add a note. Asks WL’s advice about a sentence.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Lonsdale |
Date: | [c. June 1838] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-417 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … referee [on his paper "The formation of mould"]. Strikes out a paragraph and wants to add …
- … vols. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. 1977. ‘Formation of mould’: On the …
- … formation of mould. [Read 1 November 1837. ] Transactions of the Geological Society of …
- … CD’s paper ‘On the formation of mould’ , Collected papers 1: 49–53. On the deleted …
From J. P. Taylor 14 November 1881
Summary
Thinks CD overestimates earthworms’ role in creating mould. Gives some observations on worms and questions about their breeding habits.
Author: | John Pitt Taylor |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 14 Nov 1881 |
Classmark: | DAR 178: 55 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13483 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … CD overestimates earthworms’ role in creating mould. Gives some observations on worms and …
- … Earthworms (1882): The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … 1882. Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … that in accounting for the formation of mould you have scarcely made sufficient allowance …
From W. E. Darwin 31 December [1880]
Summary
Sends diagrams [missing] showing worm action at two sites.
Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 31 Dec [1880] |
Classmark: | DAR 162: 88 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12957 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … you might have a constant thickness of mould in any place continuing the same for …
- … and that in case of slopes the thickness of mould diminishes with the angle of slope. I …
- … of slope, and hardly worked at all where the mould was only just enough to support grass, …
- … diagrams and notes on the thickness of mould in Teg Down and the Rifle valley in 1872; CD …
From A. R. Wallace 18 October 1881
Summary
Thanks for book [Earthworms]. Asks whether leaf-mould is not formed by decay as well as by the agency of worms.
Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 18 Oct 1881 |
Classmark: | DAR 106: B156–7 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13413 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … for book [ Earthworms ]. Asks whether leaf-mould is not formed by decay as well as by the …
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … not see that you refer to the formation of leaf-mould by the mere decay of leaves &c. In …
- … it not take part in the formation of all mould? & also the decay of the roots of grasses & …
To Henry Johnson 23 December 1871
Summary
Is unable to accept invitation to Shrewsbury. Is grateful for offer of assistance at Wroxeter.
The weight of dry earth cast up by worms is 161/10 tons per acre annually.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Henry Johnson |
Date: | 23 Dec 1871 |
Classmark: | Private collection |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8118A |
Matches: 4 hits
- … 1985–. Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881. ‘Formation of mould’: On the …
- … formation of mould. [Read 1 November 1837. ] Transactions of the Geological Society of …
- … Society of London , ‘Formation of mould’ . See also letter from L. C. Wedgwood, 20 …
From Henry Johnson 12 January [1872?]
Summary
Sends a map of a field showing the effect of earthworms.
Author: | Henry Johnson |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 12 Jan [1872?] |
Classmark: | DAR 168: 65 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12419 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … asked Johnson to observe the thickness of mould covering the Roman remains at Wroxeter, …
- … whilst at the bottom of the same field the mould was deeper. The best way to decide the …
- … the very top of the field B, & see if the mould always rests upon stony obstruction, or if …
- … in your investigation of the subject of mould . I have great pleasure in doing it. My Son …
letter | (364) |
bibliography | (4) |
people | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (167) |
Cooke, R. F. | (12) |
Darwin, W. E. | (12) |
John Murray | (12) |
Darwin, Francis | (10) |
Darwin, C. R. | (185) |
Darwin, Francis | (22) |
Darwin, W. E. | (14) |
Carus, J. V. | (11) |
Cooke, R. F. | (10) |
Darwin, C. R. | (352) |
Darwin, Francis | (32) |
Darwin, W. E. | (26) |
Cooke, R. F. | (22) |
John Murray | (22) |
1837 | (1) |
1838 | (3) |
1839 | (1) |
1840 | (1) |
1844 | (1) |
1847 | (1) |
1848 | (2) |
1849 | (1) |
1850 | (2) |
1851 | (1) |
1856 | (1) |
1857 | (1) |
1860 | (1) |
1861 | (1) |
1862 | (1) |
1863 | (4) |
1864 | (4) |
1865 | (1) |
1866 | (1) |
1867 | (2) |
1868 | (1) |
1869 | (3) |
1870 | (1) |
1871 | (16) |
1872 | (26) |
1873 | (5) |
1874 | (5) |
1875 | (3) |
1876 | (6) |
1877 | (15) |
1878 | (12) |
1879 | (5) |
1880 | (29) |
1881 | (182) |
1882 | (24) |
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
- … letters relating to Darwin's 1881 publication Vegetable mould and earthworms . …
- … casting fieldwork. Her work was referenced in Vegetable Mould and Earthworms but she was …
- … fieldwork. Her work is referenced in Vegetable Mould but she was identified only as …
- … fieldwork and observations are referenced in Vegetable Mould . Letter 12742 …
- … referenced the work of "My son Horace" in Vegetable Mould . Letter …
- … habits of worms” referenced anonymously in Vegetable Mould . Letter 12760 - …
- … William’s work is proudly referenced in Vegetable Mould . …
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/PR-T-00992-B-00001-00045_worm.jpg?itok=dJ29SS-R)
Casting about: Darwin on worms
Summary
Earthworms were the subject of a citizen science project to map the distribution of earthworms across Britain (BBC Today programme, 26 May 2014). The general understanding of the role earthworms play in improving soils and providing nutrients for plants to…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin wrote, snappily-titled The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms , …
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/earthworms.jpg?itok=LQNk3fSw)
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…
Matches: 5 hits
- … As his final published work, The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms was a …
- … Papers Darwin, C.R. 1840. On the formation of mould. Transactions of the Geological Society …
- … the hearing power of worms. In Chapter 1 of Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms , Darwin …
- … observe the effect of vibrations upon worms. In Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms Darwin wrote: …
- … vibrations! [1] Charles Darwin, Vegetable Mould and Earth-Worms (London: John …
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
- … Mary Tanner tells Darwin that she has read his Vegetable Mould and Worms “with great …
4.38 Franz Goedecker, caricature
Summary
< Back to Introduction In a caricature by the German artist Franz Goedecker, Darwin stands in front of a desk, confronting a monkey with a face resembling his own. It holds his book on earthworms, and is squatting on a copy of a German translation,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of Berlin. The reference to The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of Worms fixes …
4.41 'Punch', Sambourne cartoon 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction In October 1881, Darwin was included in Linley Sambourne’s series of ‘Punch’s Fancy Portraits’ of celebrities as No. 54. While the caption recurs to the old theme of Darwin’s views on human ancestry, the drawing contains a more…
Matches: 1 hits
- … to his just-published book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms. This …
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/Vol%2029_Cover.jpg?itok=8i7UCUqm)
Volume 29 (1881) is published!
Summary
In October 1881, Darwin published his last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. A slim volume on a subject that many people could understand and on which they had their own opinions, it went…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin published his last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/MS-DAR-00140-00004-000-00007.jpg?itok=JyBfd3Dg)
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: 1 hits
- … of Darwin’s last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms , …
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/Down-house1_4.jpg?itok=vMXP0hC3)
Darwin and Down
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin, with their first two children, settled at Down House in the village of Down (later ‘Downe’) in Kent, as a young family in 1842. The house came with eighteen acres of land, and a fifteen acre meadow. The village combined the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … between species. His last publication, The formation of mould through the action of earthworms …
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/Darwin%20portrait_Collier_0.jpg?itok=WYQg-3NE)
The full edition is now online!
Summary
For nearly fifty years successive teams of researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have been working to track down all surviving letters written by or to Charles Darwin, research their content, and publish the complete texts. The thirtieth and final…
Matches: 1 hits
- … to a review of his latest book, The formation of vegetable mould through the actions of worms , …
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/Geological-Observations-CD-1891.jpg?itok=yvNTXDZ0)
Bibliography of Darwin’s geological publications
Summary
This list includes papers read by Darwin to the Geological Society of London, his books on the geology of the Beagle voyage, and other publications on geological topics. Author-date citations refer to entries in the Darwin Correspondence Project’s…
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/Volume%2028_%20Jacket2.jpg?itok=vSk7lC2Q)
Volume 28 (1880) now published
Summary
1880 opened and closed with an irksome controversy with Samuel Butler, prompted by the publication of Erasmus Darwin the previous year. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of Movement in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … began writing his final book, The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms . …
2.3 Wedgwood medallions
Summary
< Back to Introduction Despite Darwin’s closeness to the Wedgwood family, he was studiously uninterested in the productions of his maternal grandfather Josiah Wedgwood I, the immensely successful ceramic manufacturer. In a letter to Hooker of January…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the first wax model portraying Darwin; the plaster mould created from it; and a clay relief cast …
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/DARWIN-C-R-05-00001.jpg?itok=UkLFErMx)
Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest
Summary
The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…
Matches: 1 hits
- … in Darwin’s last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms , published …
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/MURRAY-J-01-03463.jpg?itok=abNwvBRw)
John Murray
Summary
Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…
Matches: 1 hits
- … sent Murray the manuscript of The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms ( …
![](https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_teaser/public/PR-T-00992-B-00001-00045-000-FANCY-PORTRAIT-NO-54_CD.jpg?itok=rTbJmmHO)
Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers
Summary
In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…
Matches: 3 hits
2.8 Alphonse Legros medallion
Summary
< Back to Introduction The painter, printmaker and sculptor Alphonse Legros created this bronze medallion with a profile portrait of Darwin in 1881, shortly before the latter’s death. According to a friend of Legros, the writer Thomas Okey, it was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … individually modelled in relief and cast in bronze from a mould by the traditional lost-wax process, …
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German poems presented to Darwin
Summary
Experiments in deepest reverence The following poems were enclosed with a photograph album sent as a birthday gift to Charles Darwin by his German and Austrian admirers (see letter from From Emil Rade, [before 16] February 1877). The poems were…
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- … on your dark grave,— Away with the delusion, the mould, It is the time of battle, …
1.14 William Richmond, oil
Summary
< Back to Introduction William Blake Richmond’s portrait of Darwin, dating from 1879, celebrated his honorary degree of LL.D (Doctor in Laws), awarded by Cambridge University in 1877. Darwin’s return to his alma mater for the presentation ceremony…
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- … Darwin and his unique public persona simply did not fit the mould of institutional, honorific …
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Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'
Summary
The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…
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- … The fourth presented his hypothesis on the formation of mould by earthworms. This explanation of a …