From E. A. Darwin [24 January 1825]
Summary
Asks CD to do an experiment for him.
Has found a curious stone in his fire.
Price’s iron in tea measured 13 per cent.
Author: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [24 Jan 1825] |
Classmark: | DAR 204: 9 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … DCP-LETT-11 …
To ? 11 March [1862–9]
Summary
Gives permission to insert in his magazine anything from CD’s works.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Unidentified |
Date: | 11 Mar [1862-9] |
Classmark: | Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13877F |
Matches: 10 hits
- … To ? 11 March [1862–9] …
- … Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums Charles Robert Darwin Down 11 Mar …
- … 1862 11 Mar …
- … 1863 11 Mar …
- … 1864 11 Mar …
- … 1865 11 Mar …
- … 1866 11 Mar …
- … 1867 11 Mar …
- … 1868 11 Mar 1869 Unidentified …
- … Down Bromley Kent March 11 th . Dear Sir You are most entirely welcome to insert anything …
To Mr S. 11 September [1875–81]
Summary
Sends a photograph.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Johannes Japetus Smith (Japetus) Steenstrup |
Date: | 11 Sept [1875-81] |
Classmark: | Kantonsbibliothek Vadiana (VadSlg NL 202: 33: 27q) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9632F |
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 |
[Hesse-Wartegg, Ernst A. von.] 1875c. Insektenfressende Pflanzen. Fremden-Blatt, 10 August 1875, pp. 11–12, and 11 August 1875, pp. 11–12.
Agassiz, Louis. 1863b. The Silurian beach. Atlantic Monthly 11: 460–71.
To W. W. Baxter 11 December [1873–5]
Summary
Requests hydrated magnesia.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Walmisley Baxter |
Date: | 11 Dec [1873-5] |
Classmark: | Bromley Historic Collections, Bromley Central Library (144/2) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13772G |
To Menyhért Lónyay [after 11 June 1872]
Summary
Thanks for his election to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Menyhért Lónyay |
Date: | [after 11 June 1872] |
Classmark: | DAR 96: 154r |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8383 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … To Menyhért Lónyay [after 11 June 1872] …
- … DAR 96: 154r Charles Robert Darwin Bassett [after 11 June 1872] Menyhért Lónyay …
- … the relationship between this letter and the letter from Menyhért Lónyay, 11 June 1872 . …
- … See letter from Menyhért Lónyay, 11 June 1872 . H. A. of Sc. : Hungarian Academy of …
- … the receipt of your obliging letter of June 11 th . in which you announce to me that the …
To J. D. Hooker 11 April [1859]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 11 Apr [1859] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 11 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2452 |
Matches: 5 hits
Balfour, John Hutton. 1873. Obituary notice of Thomas Anderson, MD, FLS. Transactions of the Botanical Society [of Edinburgh] 11: 41–5.
[Oliver, Daniel.] 1863. [Review of J. D. Hooker’s study of Welwitschia.] Natural History Review n.s. 3: 201–11.
Torell, Otto Martin. 1859. Bidrag till Spitsbergens molluskfauna. Jemte en allmän öfversigt af Arktiska regionens naturförhârcurbr;llanden och forntida utbredning. Stockholm: Typografiska föreningens boktryckeri.
From Henrietta Grace Powell 11 February 1863
Summary
Invites CD to visit on Sunday afternoon, for a quiet discussion with Huxley, the Bishop of Natal [J. W. Colenso], and herself. Will not trouble him with any eating.
Author: | Henrietta Grace Powell |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 11 Feb 1863 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 13 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3977 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … to Down on Saturday 14 February (see ‘Journal’ ( Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix II)). …
- … From Henrietta Grace Powell 11 February 1863 …
- … Henrietta Grace Powell London, Hyde Park Gate South, 1 11 Feb 1863 Charles Robert Darwin …
- … Truly your’s | Henrietta G Powell. February 11. 1863. Address | M rs . Baden Powell | 1. …
To J. D. Hooker 11 October 1869
Summary
Is glad that JDH is willing to try Candolle’s experiment [see 6915]. Encloses all the seeds except a few taken from the Moscow and Palermo packets.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 11 Oct 1869 |
Classmark: | Kenneth W. Rendell (dealer) (catalogue 123) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6932 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … To J. D. Hooker 11 October 1869 …
- … dealer) (catalogue 123) Charles Robert Darwin unstated 11 Oct 1869 Joseph Dalton Hooker …
- … October 11, 1869 I am very glad that you are willing to try DeCandolle’s experiment which …
- … 4, and letter to Alphonse de Candolle, 11 October 1869 . The original letter is complete …
From D. F. Nevill [11 September 1874]
Summary
Has sent the Utricularia with the bladders that CD described.
In Variation CD does not mention a rare breed of Siamese cat, which she owns.
Asks for another photograph.
Author: | Dorothy Fanny Nevill |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [11 Sept 1874] |
Classmark: | DAR 172: 19 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9633 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … From D. F. Nevill [11 September 1874] …
- … 172: 19 Dorothy Fanny Nevill Dangstein, Petersfield [11 Sept 1874] Charles Robert Darwin …
- … relationship between this letter and the letter to D. F. Nevill, 11 September [1874] . …
- … In 1874, 11 September was a Friday. Nevill refers to Utricularia montana , an epiphytic …
- … to D. F. Nevill, 7 September 1874 and 11 September [1874] and n. 2. Utricularia …
To Veitch & Sons [before 11 August 1877]
Summary
Asks specific questions on looking after plants of Dionaea. [The correspondent’s replies to the questions are written beneath them.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Veitch & Sons |
Date: | [before 11 Aug 1877] |
Classmark: | DAR 202: 96 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10749 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … To Veitch & Sons [before 11 August 1877] …
- … DAR 202: 96 Charles Robert Darwin unstated [before 11 Aug 1877] Veitch & Sons …
- … this letter and the letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 11 August 1877 . CD received thirty …
- … of Dionaea muscipula (Venus fly trap) from Veitch on 11 August 1877 (see letter to W. …
- … T. Thiselton-Dyer, 11 August 1877 ). CD had evidently included this set of questions about …
To ? 11 March 1874
Summary
Thanks correspondent for offer of [unidentified] rare book but does not accept it.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Unidentified |
Date: | 11 Mar 1874 |
Classmark: | Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9351 |
To Francis Galton 11 February [1877]
Summary
Sends enclosure regarding inherited handwriting from Life, letters, and journals of George Ticknor [ed. G. S. Hillard (1876)].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Francis Galton |
Date: | 11 Feb [1877] |
Classmark: | UCL Library Services, Special Collections (GALTON/1/1/9/5/7/24) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10839 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … To Francis Galton 11 February [1877] …
- … Collections (GALTON/1/1/9/5/7/24) Charles Robert Darwin Down 11 Feb [1877] Francis Galton …
- … Down. Feb. 11 th My dear G. The enclosed is worth your looking at. It was sent me from …
- … the letter to Julius von Haast, [ c. 11 February 1877], and the letter from Francis …
- … and this volume, letter to Julius von Haast, [ c. 11 February 1877]). CD remarked on the …
From J. D. Hooker 11 March 1869
Summary
Orchids translation should goad [French] Academy into electing CD.
JDH will be sent to St Petersburg congress by Government.
Huxley on protoplasm; his address to Geological Society.
Fertilised an Aucuba with pollen of various species. Reports on results.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 11 Mar 1869 |
Classmark: | DAR 103: 10–11 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6655 |
Matches: 5 hits
letter | (3144) |
bibliography | (645) |
people | (493) |
Darwin, C. R. | (1604) |
Hooker, J. D. | (177) |
Gray, Asa | (60) |
Darwin, W. E. | (36) |
Scott, John | (35) |
Darwin, C. R. | (1460) |
Hooker, J. D. | (286) |
Lyell, Charles | (64) |
Gray, Asa | (63) |
Darwin, W. E. | (60) |
Darwin, C. R. | (3063) |
Hooker, J. D. | (463) |
Gray, Asa | (123) |
Darwin, W. E. | (96) |
Lyell, Charles | (82) |
1822 | (1) |
1825 | (3) |
1826 | (3) |
1829 | (1) |
1830 | (3) |
1831 | (13) |
1832 | (6) |
1833 | (3) |
1834 | (4) |
1835 | (3) |
1836 | (2) |
1837 | (9) |
1838 | (8) |
1839 | (15) |
1840 | (9) |
1841 | (4) |
1842 | (9) |
1843 | (5) |
1844 | (25) |
1845 | (27) |
1846 | (14) |
1847 | (19) |
1848 | (10) |
1849 | (7) |
1850 | (12) |
1851 | (9) |
1852 | (6) |
1853 | (11) |
1854 | (21) |
1855 | (46) |
1856 | (57) |
1857 | (52) |
1858 | (47) |
1859 | (63) |
1860 | (123) |
1861 | (79) |
1862 | (184) |
1863 | (247) |
1864 | (202) |
1865 | (120) |
1866 | (141) |
1867 | (141) |
1868 | (190) |
1869 | (107) |
1870 | (56) |
1871 | (145) |
1872 | (134) |
1873 | (100) |
1874 | (109) |
1875 | (112) |
1876 | (102) |
1877 | (106) |
1878 | (104) |
1879 | (34) |
1880 | (38) |
1881 | (34) |
1882 | (9) |
Historical documents in Commentary

Darwin’s observations on his children
Summary
Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children, began the research that culminated in his book The Expression of the emotions in man and animals, published in 1872, and his article ‘A biographical sketch of an infant’, published in Mind…
Matches: 10 hits
- … at sudden sounds. & at Emma’s moving 3 [11] When one month & one day old. …
- … after each scream approaches it.— 8 Between 11 & 12 weeks old in smiling. I observe …
- … with moisture, but not enough to run over April 11 th . It appeared to me that the Baby …
- … lifts up & wrinkles lower eyelids.— 11 [22] April 19 th . Knew Anne,[23] most …
- … April 4 14wks & 1 day. 11 – 12 May 16 …
- … weight of clothes 1lb Wed Oct 11 …
- … only difference between our door N o 12 and N o 11 is in the slit for the Letter box.— he …
- … a flower said. “I’ve a fact to do” 52 June 11./55/ Lenny came with a piece of rag & …
- … [1] The observations are in DAR 210.11.1, a vellum-covered notebook inscribed with the initials of …
- … Erasmus was Emma and CD’s first child. [11] The first paragraph on this page was written in …
Vivisection: first sketch of the bill
Summary
Strictly Confidential Mem: This print is only a first sketch. It is being now recast with a new & more simple form – but the substance of the proposed measure may be equally well seen in this draft. R.B.L. | 2 586 Darwin and vivisection …

Henrietta Darwin's diary
Summary
Darwin's daughter Henrietta kept a diary for a few momentous weeks in 1871. This was the year in which Descent of Man, the most controversial of her father's books after Origin itself, appeared, a book which she had helped him write. The small…

Darwin’s reading notebooks
Summary
In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…
Matches: 28 hits
- … 3v.] Hunter has written Quarto work on Physiology 11 besides the paper collected by Owen …
- … 1831]. Book I. ch. 7 & Book II. Ch. 8. Book. VII. ch 8, 11. read 1 st . vol of Lamarck. …
- … 1834b]. 9. Columbidæ (Pigeons.) [Selby 1835] 11. Ruminating Animals (Deer, Antelopes, …
- … Grammont’s Memoirs [Gramont 1714] light & poor Nov 11. Bamford life of Radicle [Bamford …
- … (in relation to Köelreuter) in Revue Horticole No 9–11 89 1853 [Lecoq 1853]. Reviewed in …
- … Nat. Hist Zoologist [ Zoologist ] vols. before 11 & 12.— 106 Thumberg Travels …
- … Home Tour. (various parts) [G. Head 1837] good —— 11. Oersted’s Soul of Nature [Ørsted 1847] …
- … . Esmond. by Thackeray [Thackeray 1852] (Poor) Nov. 11. Sir Hudson Lowe’s life and letters [H …
- … Society of Bengal ]. Vol. I. (1832) 2. 3. 4. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. (1843). not much except Blyth. …
- … 1852] [DAR 128: 7] 1854 Jan 11 th . Pulsky Red, Black & White …
- … Tome I [DAR 128: 9] 1854 March 11 th . Comte Philosophie Positive G …
- … on Commercial Law: [Stephen 1853] very good. May 11 th Evelyn Diary [Evelyn 1827] 3 vols. …
- … 1855] Ap 27 th Zoologist [ Zoologist ] vols. 11 & 12, for 1853 & 1854 Ap …
- … by E. Vernon Harcourt p. 1851 [Harcourt 1851] —— 11 Busk Catalogue of Polyzoa [Busk 1852–4] …
- … Guignes, and Silvestre de Sacy, eds.] 1776–1814] 11 Gosse Birds of Jamaica [Gosse 1847] …
- … [J. B. Davis and Thurnam 1856–65]. (Crawfurd) July 11. Pistor Das Ganze Taubenzucht [Pistor …
- … d “. See Notebook C, p. 267 ( Notebooks ). 11 This work has not been identified. …
- … in the interior of America. 2 vols. London. 128: 11 Bethune, John. 1840. Poems by the …
- … ——. 1853. Home life in Germany . London. 128: 11 Bradley, Richard. 1724. A general …
- … in wild countries. London. [Darwin Library.] 128: 11 Gardiner, William. 1832. The …
- … book of beauty. Edited by Mary Howitt. London. 128: 11 Huc, Évariste Régis. 1852. …
- … animals . Vols. 10 (deer, antelopes, camels, &c.) and 11 (goats, sheep, wild and domestic …
- … of an eastern king . 2d ed. London. *128: 172; 128: 11 Knox, A. E. 1849. …
- … Noon Talfourd. 2 vols. London. *119: 22; 119: 21b; 128: 11 ——. 1840. The essays of Elia …
- … Edited by Sir G. Larpent. 3 vols. London. 128: 9, 11 Lasch, W. 1829. Beitrag zur …
- … Latham, John. 1821–8. A general history of birds. 11 vols. (Vol. 8: columbine and gallinaceous.) …
- … to the Eastern Ocean . London. [Abstract in DAR 205.11(2): 78–80.] 128: 23 Lloyd, …
- … or, the story of my education . Edinburgh. 128: 11 Miller, Philip. 1724. The …

Darwin on marriage
Summary
On 11 November 1838 Darwin wrote in his journal ‘The day of days!’. He had proposed to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and been accepted; they were married on 29 January 1839. Darwin appears to have written these two notes weighing up the pros and cons of…
Matches: 4 hits
- … On 11 November 1838 Darwin wrote in his journal ‘The day of days!’. He …
- … live in London like a prisoner? If I were moderately rich, I[11] would live in London, with pretty …
- … interl . [10] ‘C’ over illeg . [11] ‘I’ over ‘l’. [12] The date is …
- … Lyell that his cousin Emma Wedgwood had accepted him (on 11 November), he says, ‘I determined, when …
'An Appeal' against animal cruelty
Summary
The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against the cruelty of steel vermin…
Matches: 3 hits

Abstract of Darwin’s theory
Summary
There are two extant versions of the abstract of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. One was sent to Asa Gray on 5 September 1857, enclosed with a letter of the same date (see Correspondence vol. 6, letter to Asa Gray, 5 September [1857] and enclosure).…

Darwin's notes for his physician, 1865
Summary
On 20 May 1865, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary that John Chapman, a prominent London publisher who had studied medicine in London and Paris in the early 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863 Chapman started to treat…
Matches: 1 hits
- … acid solutions to aid digestion ( Correspondence vol. 11, Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, 8 December …

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…
Matches: 5 hits
- … gave his list of plants to Hooker when he visited Kew on 11 February (see Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR …
- … Mormodes auraticum 11 21 …
- … in pencil. CD misspelled Cyrtopodium punctatum. 11. Mormodes aurantiaca 12. …
- … Alloplectis chrysanthum 11 Gesneraceæ …
- … 9. Onagrae. 10. Ampelidae. 11. Alloplectus chrysanthus. 12. Bulbophyllum …

Visiting the Darwins
Summary
'As for Mr Darwin, he is entirely fascinating…' In October 1868 Jane Gray and her husband spent several days as guests of the Darwins, and Jane wrote a charming account of the visit in a sixteen-page letter to her sister. She described Charles…
Matches: 3 hits
Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species
Summary
Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…
Darwin’s student booklist
Summary
In October 1825 Charles Darwin and his older brother, Erasmus, went to study medicine in Edinburgh, where their father, Robert Waring Darwin, had trained as a doctor in the 1780’s. Erasmus had already graduated from Cambridge and was continuing his studies…