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Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad

Summary

At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…

Matches: 25 hits

  • … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of  The variation of …
  • … markedly, reflecting a decline in his already weak health. Darwin then began punctuating letters …
  • … am languid & bedeviled … & hate everybody’. Although Darwin did continue his botanical …
  • … letter-writing dwindled considerably. The correspondence and Darwin’s scientific work diminished …
  • … of the water-cure. The treatment was not effective and Darwin remained ill for the rest of the year. …
  • … the correspondence from the year. These letters illustrate Darwin’s preoccupation with the …
  • … to man’s place in nature  both had a direct bearing on Darwin’s species theory and on the problem …
  • … detailed anatomical similarities between humans and apes, Darwin was full of praise. He especially …
  • … in expressing any judgment on Species or origin of man’. Darwin’s concern about the popular …
  • … Lyell’s and Huxley’s books. Three years earlier Darwin had predicted that Lyell’s forthcoming …
  • … first half of 1863 focused attention even more closely on Darwin’s arguments for species change. …
  • … ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). Darwin reiterated in a later letter that it …
  • … of creation, and the origin of species particularly, worried Darwin; he told Hooker that he had once …
  • … letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February [1863] ). Darwin did not relish telling Lyell of his …
  • … ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). Nevertheless, Darwin’s regret was profound that the …
  • … the ‘brutes’, but added that he would bring many towards Darwin who would have rebelled against …
  • … from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). The botanist Asa Gray, Darwin’s friend in the United States, …
  • … off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In May, Darwin responded to Gray that Lyell’s and …
  • … or   Modification, ’. Faction fighting Darwin was not alone in feeling disaffected …
  • … in the subject. ‘The worst of it is’, Hooker wrote to Darwin, ‘I suppose it is virtually Huxley’s …
  • … that he had contributed to the proofs of human antiquity. Darwin and Hooker repeatedly exchanged …
  • … appeared in the  Natural History Review  in January, Darwin, who was already ill-disposed towards …
  • … January [1863] ). Archaeopteryx Falconer, Darwin, and others found an additional …
  • … of Owen’s ‘slip-shod and hasty account’ of the find, Darwin asked, ‘Has God demented Owen, as a …
  • … observed that the fossil was ‘a strange being à la Darwin’, a transitional form between reptiles and …

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: 28 hits

  • … evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost …
  • … (1875) and  Cross and self fertilisation  (1876). Darwin’s son Francis became increasingly …
  • … career to become his father’s scientific secretary. Darwin had always relied on assistance from …
  • … Francis’s decision. A large portion of the letters Darwin received in 1873 were in response …
  • … the previous year. As was typical, readers wrote to Darwin personally to offer suggestions, …
  • … some of which were incorporated in a later edition. Darwin also contributed to discussions in the …
  • … Francis Galton’s work on inherited talent, which prompted Darwin to reflect on the traits and …
  • … Station at Naples. Plants that eat and feel? Darwin had resumed experiments on the …
  • … 12 January [1873] ).  Drosera  was the main focus of Darwin’s study of insectivorous plants, a …
  • … and alkaloids, and even electrical stimulation. On sending Darwin a specimen of the carnivorous  …
  • … ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 January 1873 ). Darwin found that the glandular hairs on the …
  • … to bend inward, so that the plant closed like a fist. Darwin was fascinated by this transmission of …
  • … plants , p. 63). The plants secreted a viscid fluid, which Darwin suspected attracted insects by …
  • … ., p. 17). Through a series of painstaking experiments, Darwin determined that the secretions …
  • … botanist Mary Treat, who performed experiments suggested by Darwin on the North American species  …
  • … . He began to perform experiments modelled on those of Darwin, feeding the plant egg and raw meat, …
  • … guide to animal experimentation that Klein had co-authored. Darwin contacted two of the  Handbook …
  • … London, and director of the Brown Institution.  Darwin sent an abstract of his preliminary …
  • … muscle and nerve tissue of animals. Burdon Sanderson visited Darwin at Down in July and was drawn …
  • … To test whether the plants had a nerve-like structure, Darwin suggested electrical experiments on  …
  • … coil. He was so impressed by the results that he sent Darwin the news by telegraph in September, and …
  • … the Advancement of Science later that month. Finally, Darwin enlisted the chemist Edward …
  • … enzyme. Cross- and self-fertilisation Darwin’s other main focus of botanical …
  • … work that had been going on for many years. Darwin resumed these studies in February. He received …
  • … ( letter to T. H. Farrer, 14 August 1873 ). Darwin worried, however, that his own …
  • … in May to request permission to translate it into German. Darwin was vexed, and begged his publisher …
  • … 4 May [1873] ). Keeping it in the family As Darwin worked exclusively on botany, he …
  • … and take tracings of their burrows” ( letter from Francis Darwin, 14 August [1873] ). In …

Interview with Randal Keynes

Summary

Randal Keynes is a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, and the author of Annie’s Box (Fourth Estate, 2001), which discusses Darwin’s home life, his relationship with his wife and children, and the ways in which these influenced his feelings about…

Matches: 18 hits

  • … Randal Keynes is a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, and the author of Annie’s Box (Fourth …
  • … University Library - in the Keynes Room! - visiting the Darwin Correspondence Project. Randal is a …
  • … Your book seems to counter prevailing popular portraits of Darwin as the solitary genius, and of …
  • … any historian of science, that the great achievements, like Darwin's, and many others, are not …
  • … [of] all the scientist's colleagues. 6. Darwin's poetic sensibility …
  • … Yes. 7. How, and what, do we know of Darwin's opinions about religion? …
  • … to conclude with any certainty. You, and Jim Moore [another Darwin biographer] as well, talk about …
  • … ?the tatters of belief in a moral, just universe?, and that Darwin now took his stand as an …
  • … that he read, which are very important - and in general, Darwin's reading is a fascinating …
  • … important, fundamental act. That was important for her. Darwin just didn't have that in him, …
  • … ? and look there for the explanation of the difficulties Darwin and Emma had with each other's …
  • … I'm struck by, also, this moral dimension to Christianity. Darwin, several times, comes back to …
  • … of liberal theologians and unitarians that were part of Darwin's circle would not necessarily …
  • … Dr White: Right. 9. Emma Darwin's influence and struggle with faith …
  • … White: Right. 10. Parallels between Darwin's occupation and Emma's …
  • … for that was a struggle - and I'm thinking also about Darwin's humility as a man of …
  • … and? I'm seeing a parallel between her religious journey and Darwin's scientific vocation, …
  • … what actually drew them together. 11. Darwin's support for the church as a …

Darwin in Conversation exhibition

Summary

Meet Charles Darwin as you have never met him before. Come to our exhibition at Cambridge University Library, running from 9 July to 3 December 2022, and discover a fascinating series of interwoven conversations with Darwin's many hundreds of…

Matches: 1 hits

  • …  to discuss your visit   Meet Charles Darwin as you have never met him before.  …

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…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … are now online for the first time, and a selection of Darwin's correspondence with women …
  • … Henry Huxley , Mary Treat , Charles Lyell , Emma Darwin , Asa Gray ). You can filter …
  • … resources for 11-14 years and find out: What made Darwin angry on the Beagle voyage? Why did he …
  • … and tested in the classroom. Over six hundred of Darwin's letters from 1872 are now …
  • … published Descent of man , and the preparation of Darwin's next book Expression of the …

Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute

Summary

Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…

Matches: 25 hits

  • …   Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work,  …
  • … couple of months were needed to index the work, a task that Darwin handed over to someone else for …
  • … and animals  ( Expression ), published in 1872. Although Darwin had been collecting material and …
  • … A global reputation The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly …
  • … who might best answer the questions, with the result that Darwin began to receive replies from …
  • … Variation  would be based on proof-sheets received as Darwin corrected them. Closer to home, two …
  • … Charles Fleeming Jenkin, challenged different aspects of Darwin’s theory of transmutation as …
  • … orchids are fertilised by insects  ( Orchids ). While Darwin privately gave detailed opinions of …
  • … capable hands of Alfred Russel Wallace. At the same time, Darwin was persuaded by some German …
  • … were becoming counterproductive. Throughout the year, Darwin continued to discuss now …
  • … in Germany, and Federico Delpino in Italy, who provided Darwin with the collegial support and …
  • … tedious dull work’ Thomas Henry Huxley sent Darwin the New Year’s greeting, ‘may you be …
  • … number of copies to be printed, and by the end of the month Darwin promised to send the revised …
  • … to John Murray, 31 January [1867] ). A week later, Darwin had sent the manuscript to the …
  • … Descent  and  Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his newly …
  • … As the year progressed, the book continued to consume Darwin’s time. The first proof-sheets arrived …
  • … Russian, German, and French translations had been arranged. Darwin had now found sympathetic …
  • … was made by a young naturalist equally devoted to Darwin’s work, Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky. …
  • … brother’s embryological papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although he …
  • … concerned with finding a good translator for his book, Darwin was always on the lookout for evidence …
  • … link between invertebrates and vertebrates. Finally, Darwin had made sure that Julius Victor …
  • … he was certain that Carus would undertake the translation. Darwin had received other offers, notably …
  • … already agreed in principle to translate the work but told Darwin, ‘I am so very much occupied just …
  • … V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). This hint of uncertainty caused Darwin to respond to Vogt somewhat …
  • … task’ ( letter to Carl Vogt, 12 April [1867] ). Darwin need not have worried. Carus soon …

Darwin's Fantastical Voyage

Summary

Learn about Darwin's adventures on his epic journey.

Matches: 1 hits

  • … These activities explore Darwin’s life changing voyage aboard HMS Beagle. Using letters home, Darwin

Was Darwin an ecologist?

Summary

One of the most fascinating aspects of Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the extent to which the experiments he performed at his home in Down, in the English county of Kent, seem to prefigure modern scientific work in ecology.

Matches: 24 hits

  • … The case is a sore puzzle to me.— Charles Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1866] . …
  • … One of the most fascinating aspects of Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the extent to which the …
  • … work in ecology. Despite the difference in language between Darwin’s letter and the modern …
  • … in seeds that have no nutritive value. Other subjects that Darwin worked on at Down also have …
  • … the mix of species in a plot of grass; pollination. Was Darwin, then, an early ecologist? The …
  • … was becoming well enough established in universities that Darwin’s ‘held together with a piece of …
  • … laboratory institute in Würzburg, criticised Darwin’s experiments on movement in root radicles as …
  • … As a gentleman amateur, observing his surroundings, Darwin seems to fit easily into an earlier …
  • … between organisms over time – were highly innovative. Darwin’s own experiments challenged the old, …
  • … clearly did not mark an epoch in the history of science; Darwin and some of his correspondents …
  • … ‘The number of new words … is something dreadful’, Darwin wrote to T. H. Huxley on 22 December …
  • … world only from the late nineteenth century onwards. Darwin himself never used the word, either in …
  • … the study of all those complex interrelations referred to by Darwin as the conditions of the …
  • … in Stauffer 1957, p. 141). How important is it that Darwin did not use the word ecology, and …
  • … So, we should be careful not to make the same mistake with Darwin. When we try to understand the …
  • … there’s also a horizontal dimension, the question of what Darwin himself thought he was doing. …
  • … realising it, and what areas are still contested? Darwin’s intellectual context Darwin
  • … be involved in chemical or meteorological investigations. By Darwin’s time the term was associated …
  • … of natural objects: indeed, this is pretty much what Darwin did on the  Beagle  voyage. An …
  • … natural history, and an early influence on Darwin, was Gilbert White’s Natural history of Selborne. …
  • … natural theology had been intimately linked. In some ways Darwin’s work fitted neatly into the …
  • … of White, and other naturalists, upon him. However, Darwin’s theory challenged some of the …
  • … it could be argued that such change was guided by God. But Darwin’s theory, while not commenting on …
  • … that there was no pressure for change. According to Darwin’s theory, the natural world showed …

Six things Darwin never said – and one he did

Summary

Spot the fakes! Darwin is often quoted – and as often misquoted. Here are some sayings regularly attributed to Darwin that never flowed from his pen.

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Spot the fakes! Darwin is often quoted – and as often misquoted. Here are some sayings regularly …

Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts

Summary

At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of  Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…

Matches: 26 hits

  • … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of  …
  • … appeared at the end of 1866 and had told his cousin William Darwin Fox, ‘My work will have to stop a …
  • … material on emotional expression. Yet the scope of Darwin’s interests remained extremely broad, and …
  • … plants, and earthworms, subjects that had exercised Darwin for decades, and that would continue to …
  • … Carl von  Nägeli and perfectibility Darwin’s most substantial addition to  Origin  was a …
  • … a Swiss botanist and professor at Munich (Nägeli 1865). Darwin had considered Nägeli’s paper …
  • … principal engine of change in the development of species. Darwin correctly assessed Nägeli’s theory …
  • … in most morphological features (Nägeli 1865, p. 29). Darwin sent a manuscript of his response (now …
  • … are & must be morphological’. The comment highlights Darwin’s apparent confusion about Nägeli’s …
  • … ‘purely morphological’. The modern reader may well share Darwin’s uncertainty, but Nägeli evidently …
  • … pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide Darwin with botanical examples he could use …
  • … problems of heredity Another important criticism that Darwin sought to address in the fifth …
  • … prevailing theory of blending inheritance that Jenkin and Darwin both shared, would tend to be lost …
  • … ( Origin  5th ed., pp. 103–4). The terminology that Darwin and others employed in these matters ( …
  • … ‘I must have expressed myself atrociously’, Darwin wrote to Alfred Russel Wallace on 2 February , …
  • … of  Origin  was the result of correspondence between Darwin and the geologist James Croll. In the …
  • … but it was his theory of alternate ice ages that piqued Darwin’s interest the most. He wrote, ‘this …
  • … ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Darwin had argued ( Origin , pp. 377–8) that plant …
  • … would always exist. In  Origin  5th ed., pp. 450–61, Darwin accounted for the survival of tropical …
  • … James Croll,  31 January [1869] ). Croll could not supply Darwin with an estimate of the age of the …
  • … ( letter from James Croll, 4 February 1869 ).  Darwin did not directly challenge Thomson’s …
  • … 19 March [1869] ). Towards Descent Once Darwin had completed revisions of the …
  • … and overseas. The dog-breeder George Cupples worked hard on Darwin’s behalf, sending a steady stream …
  • … sexes in sheep, cattle, horses, and dogs, and circulating Darwin’s queries to various contacts. As …
  • … causing difficulties. The entomologist Frederick Smith, whom Darwin had asked to study the musical …
  • … butterflies, supplementing that received the previous year. Darwin also continued to receive …

Life of Erasmus Darwin

Summary

The Life of Erasmus Darwin (1879) was a curious departure for Darwin. It was intended as a biographical note to accompany an essay on Erasmus's scientific work by the German writer Ernst Krause. But Darwin became immersed in his grandfather's…

Matches: 22 hits

  • … The Life of Erasmus Darwin (1879) was a curious departure for Darwin. It was intended as a …
  • … scientific work by the German writer Ernst Krause. But Darwin became immersed in his grandfather& …
  • … than Krause's essay. Such life-writing was unusual for Darwin, but not unprecedented. Just a …
  • … his grandfather's mind and character. To compose the work, Darwin gathered materials and …
  • … book into grist for controversy.  In February 1879, Darwin received an unusual birthday …
  • … an essay by Ernst Krause on the evolutionary ideas of Darwin's grandfather. Darwin was familiar …
  • … poems, The Botanic Garden and Temple of Nature . But Darwin had never known his grandfather, …
  • … '; ' It piles up the glory and would please Francis '. Darwin's cousin, …
  • … 'men of science'. The biographical sketch was thus a way for Darwin to trace his own …
  • … character. Once a celebrated poet and philosopher, Erasmus Darwin's fame had declined sharply …
  • … wholly & shamefully ignorant of my grandfathers life ', Darwin wrote to Krause on 14 March …
  • … in decades. 'It is indeed long since we met', wrote Reginald Darwin, his father's …
  • … storehouse of private thoughts and experiences. Reading it, Darwin said, was like ' having …
  • … of Dr. D. the higher he rises in my estimation '. Violetta Darwin, a distant cousin and book …
  • … Priory where he resided at his death, both appeared in Darwin's Life .   & …
  • … word “benevolent” has always been associated with Dr. Darwin by his friends '. She recalled an …
  • … bedside & made him a sign to be silent. He then said “Dr. Darwin I am the Jockey who is to ride …
  • … just at the last, & come in third or fourth'.  Darwin tried to verify such tales …
  • … in the Life , pp. 63–5.  One of Darwin's aims in assembling these episodes …
  • … which had been tarnished by previous biographies. Many of Darwin's relations had expressed …
  • … Schimmelpenigs account of his greediness '. While Darwin was writing his lengthy notice …
  • … Butler, Evolution Old and New , which discussed Erasmus Darwin's ideas alongside those of …

Scientific Practice

Summary

Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…

Matches: 20 hits

  • … the work of collecting, and the construction of theory. Darwin was not simply a gentleman naturalist …
  • … of the most advanced laboratory methods and equipment. Darwin used letters as a speculative space, …
  • … Specialism and Detail Darwin is usually thought of as a gentleman naturalist and a …
  • … across and drew together different fields of knowledge. But Darwin also made substantial …
  • … discussion was often the starting point for some of Darwin's most valuable and enduring …
  • … correspondence about barnacles. Letter 1514 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H., 11 Apr …
  • … cirripedes morning & night.” Letter 1480 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H., 23 Apr …
  • … stages than Huxley thinks. Letter 1592 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H., 13 Sept [1854] …
  • … laboratories. It often took place in domestic settings. Darwin used his house and garden as a site …
  • … cross-pollination, or the climbing habits of plants. One of Darwin's most important …
  • … of botanical experimentation. Letter 4895 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 20 Sept …
  • … probable. Letter 5173 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. R., 2 Aug 1866 Müller …
  • … Letter 5429 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. R., 4 Mar 1867 Müller reports observations on …
  • … species. Letter 5480 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. R., 1 Apr 1867 Müller cites …
  • … Copepoden [1863]. Letter 5551 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 26 May [1867] …
  • … Microscopes This collection of letters between Darwin and a variety of correspondents shows …
  • … ranks second only to geology. Letter 1018 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., [6 Nov 1846 …
  • … like to meet Hooker in London. Letter 1166 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, [26 Mar …
  • … scientific enquiry (1849)]. Letter 1167 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S., [1 Apr …
  • … Smith & Beck of 6 Colman St. City for a simple microscope. Darwin finds this microscope …

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: 30 hits

  • … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . .  What little …
  • … of   On the origin of   species , intended to be Darwin’s last, and of  Expression of the …
  • … books brought a strong if deceptive sense of a job now done: Darwin intended, he declared to Alfred …
  • …  27 July [1872] ). By the end of the year Darwin was immersed in two of the studies that …
  • … of books and papers, and the latter formed the subject of Darwin’s last book,  The formation of   …
  • … worms , published in the year before his death.  Despite Darwin’s declared intention to take up new …
  • … begun many years before. In his private life also, Darwin was in a nostalgic frame of mind, …
  • … The last word on Origin The year opened with Darwin, helped by his eldest son William, …
  • … on 30 January , shortly after correcting the proofs, and Darwin’s concern for the consolidation of …
  • … and sixth editions were costly to incorporate, and despite Darwin’s best efforts, set the final …
  • … closely involved in every stage of publication of his books, Darwin was keen to ensure that this …
  • … to bring out the new edition in the United States, Darwin arranged with Murray to have it …
  • … had to be reset.  The investment in stereotype reinforced Darwin’s intention to make no further …
  • … A worsening breach The criticisms against which Darwin had taken the greatest trouble to …
  • … objections to the theory of natural selection’, Darwin refuted point by point assertions published …
  • … Although Mivart was among those who wrote in January to wish Darwin a happy new year, before the …
  • … critical and anonymously published review of  Descent . Darwin’s supporters had rallied to his …
  • … The republication of Wright’s paper had been arranged by Darwin himself (see  Correspondence  vol. …
  • … so bigotted a person as I am made to appear’, complained Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 …
  • … that he would willingly acknowledge himself at fault if only Darwin would renounce `fundamental …
  • … letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872] ).  Despite Darwin’s request that he drop the …
  • … ( letter from St G. J. Mivart,  10 January 1872 ).  Darwin, determined to have the last word in …
  • … 11 January [1872] ). 'I hate controversy,’ Darwin wrote later in the year, possibly with this …
  • … ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 3 August [1872] ).  Darwin's theories under siege …
  • … sexual selection in human evolution, continued to trouble Darwin.  ‘At present natural selection is …
  • … about the level of support for his theories abroad and Darwin, directing operations from the safe …
  • … 13 December 1872 ).  'Here is a bee' Darwin discussed the reception of his …
  • … selection to bees (H. Müller 1872), and with his reply Darwin enclosed an account of research he had …
  • … By the time  Origin  was published in February, Darwin was in London, making the first of several …
  • … he found a mixed blessing: ‘I hope my Brain likes it,’ Darwin wrote about one of these holidays; ‘as …

Darwin's illness

Summary

Was Darwin an invalid? In many photographs he looks wearied by age, wrapped in a great coat to protect him from cold. In a letter to his cousin William Fox, he wrote: "Long and continued ill health has much changed me, & I very often think with…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … Was Darwin an invalid? In many photographs he looks wearied by age, wrapped in a …
  • … the same with my old affections. " As a young man, Darwin experienced periods of …
  • … Head symptoms ... nervousness when E. leaves me." Darwin came from a family of doctors …
  • … who applied ice to the spine for relief of stomach troubles. Darwin was hopeful at first. “ I think …
  • … his sickness, and he stopped after a month. Darwin's health has been of great …
  • … hypo-adrenalism (the list goes on). Surprisingly, Darwin's health improved in later life. Emma …
  • … with extended visits to family three or four times a year. Darwin complained about this as well, for …

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…

Matches: 28 hits

  • … The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle  voyage was one …
  • … a family Busy as he was with scientific activities, Darwin found time to re-establish family …
  • … close contact. In November 1838, two years after his return, Darwin became engaged to his cousin, …
  • … daughter, Anne Elizabeth, moved to Down House in Kent, where Darwin was to spend the rest of his …
  • … his greatest theoretical achievement, the most important of Darwin’s activities during the years …
  • … identifications of his bird and fossil mammal specimens, Darwin arrived at the daring and momentous …
  • … in species. With this new theoretical point of departure Darwin continued to make notes and explore …
  • … present in the version of 1859. Young author Darwin’s investigation of the species …
  • … the  Beagle  had returned to England, news of some of Darwin’s findings had been spread by the …
  • … great excitement. The fuller account of the voyage and Darwin’s discoveries was therefore eagerly …
  • … suitable categories for individual experts to work upon, Darwin applied himself to the revision of …
  • … of the surveying voyage of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle. Darwin’s volume bore the title  Journal …
  • … visited by H.M.S. Beagle .  Also in November 1837, Darwin read the fourth of a series of papers to …
  • … to the Society of 9 March 1838), had been developed by Darwin from a suggestion made by his uncle, …
  • … Sedgwick, [after 15 May 1838] ). The new research Darwin undertook after 1837 was an …
  • … time, the parallel terraces, or ‘roads’, of Glen Roy. Darwin had seen similar formations on the …
  • … roads of Glen Roy’,  Collected papers  1: 88–137). Darwin later abandoned this view, calling it a …
  • … contemporaneous unstratified deposits of South America”, Darwin continued to defend his and Lyell’s …
  • … 1842, having heard of evidence of glaciation in North Wales, Darwin made a tour there in order to …
  • … more satisfactorily than any alternative explanation. Darwin eventually relinquished this theory and …
  • … the Beagle voyage In addition to his work on geology Darwin undertook to provide a …
  • … The correspondence provides a nearly complete record of Darwin’s arrangements with the Treasury, his …
  • … , by Thomas Bell—a total of nineteen quarto issues. Darwin contributed a substantial portion of the …
  • … and habitats of the species. Mr Arthrobalanus Darwin had originally planned to include …
  • … Archipelago off the coast of Chile. These unexpectedly led Darwin to devote eight years (1846–54) …
  • … As the correspondence from these years shows, that work put Darwin in communication with most of the …
  • … and corals by William Lonsdale ( Collected papers , 2). Darwin’s crustacean specimens, originally …
  • … Only the plants were neglected. During the voyage Darwin had expected that J. S. Henslow would …

Science: A Man’s World?

Summary

Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…

Matches: 14 hits

  • … Discussion Questions | Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth …
  • … Letters Darwin’s Notes On Marriage [April - July 1838] In these notes, …
  • … of family, home and sociability. Letter 489 - Darwin to Wedgwood, E., [20 January 1839] …
  • … theories, & accumulating facts in silence & solitude”. Darwin also comments that he has …
  • … Letter 3715 - Claparède, J. L. R. A. E. to Darwin, [6 September 1862] Claparède …
  • … are not those of her sex”. Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 March 1863] …
  • … critic”. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [2 January 1864] Haeckel …
  • … works”. Letter 4441 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [30 March 1864] Lydia Becker …
  • … to study nature. Letter 4940 - Cresy, E. to Darwin, E., [20 November 1865] …
  • … masculine nor pedantic”. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. B., [8 November 1869] …
  • … , (1829). Letter 7329 - Murray, J. to Darwin, [28 September 1870] Written …
  • … them ears”. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, [7 November 1871] Sarah …
  • … thinking”. Letter 8079 - Norton, S. R. to Darwin, [20 November 1871] Sarah …
  • … pamphlet herself. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, [16 May 1872] Reade …

Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments

Summary

1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…

Matches: 28 hits

  • … indicates, 1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his …
  • … promotion of his theory of natural selection also continued: Darwin’s own works expanded on it, …
  • … a keen interest in the progress of his views through Europe, Darwin negotiated, in addition to a …
  • … the family over the summer. But towards the end of the year, Darwin was able once more to turn his …
  • … of the Scottish press hissed). Huxley, while advocating Darwin’s theory, had again espoused the view …
  • … experimental production of new ‘physiological’ species. Darwin attempted to dissuade him from this …
  • … delivered a series of lectures to working men that reviewed Darwin’s theory, and sent copies to …
  • … about the vars. of Tobacco.' At the end of the year, Darwin seemed resigned to their …
  • … common man This correspondence with Huxley made Darwin keener than ever to repeat the …
  • … began writing long, intelligent, and informative letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission …
  • … ). Two sexual forms: Primula and Linum Darwin’s views on the phenomenon of …
  • … when crossed with another plant of the reciprocal form. Darwin concluded that the two forms existed …
  • … in  Primula ’, p. 92 ( Collected papers  2: 59)). Darwin later recalled: ‘no little discovery of …
  • … , p. 134). On completion of his  Primula  paper, Darwin repeated his crosses through a …
  • … George Bentham at Kew were also tapped for their knowledge. Darwin, initially hopeful, became …
  • … one by one 6700 seeds of Monochætum!!’ By October, Darwin was flagging and declared to Gray: ‘I am …
  • … is something very curious to be made out about them.’ Darwin persisted with his experiments through …
  • … proved more profitable subjects for investigation, and Darwin was soon filling portfolios with notes …
  • … to M. T. Masters, 24 July [1862] ). The materials that Darwin amassed on heterostyly in this year …
  • … experiments led directly to publication. Many years earlier, Darwin had observed dimorphism in  …
  • … One of the multi-volume treatises through which Darwin groaningly trawled seeking cases of …
  • … Lythrum , the purple loosestrife. By the summer, Darwin was experimenting. ‘To day I have been …
  • … forms produced fertile seed. The case clearly excited Darwin, who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa …
  • … evidence with which to sway Huxley. By October, Darwin had decided that the case warranted a …
  • … own specimens of the orchid  Catasetum tridentatum ,that Darwin described before the ‘placid …
  • … that were believed to constitute three distinct genera. Darwin explained that the three flowers …
  • … since the previous summer. Orchids Darwin had enjoyed observing the orchids: he …
  • … son, William, his language was more blunt ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 14 February [1862] ): ‘whether …

Henrietta Emma Darwin

Summary

Henrietta “Etty” Darwin (1843–1927) was the eldest of Charles Darwin’s daughters to reach adulthood. She married Richard Buckley Litchfield in 1871. She was a valued editor to her father as well as companion and correspondent to both of her parents.…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … Henrietta “Etty” Darwin (1843–1927) was the eldest of Charles Darwin’s daughters to reach adulthood. …
  • … she edited passages of   The Autobiography of Charles Darwin  (1887), as well as a collection …
  • … Henrietta provided far more than grammatical assistance; Darwin asked her to help clarify and …
  • … or brothers, Henrietta was an essential lynchpin in the Darwin circle, and helped anchor both the …

Darwin in letters, 1844–1846: Building a scientific network

Summary

The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but he broadened his continuing investigations into the nature and origin of species. Far from being a recluse, Darwin was at the heart of British scientific society,…

Matches: 26 hits

  • … results of the  Beagle  voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but throughout these …
  • … species and varieties. In contrast to the received image of Darwin as a recluse in Down, the letters …
  • … Down House was altered and extended to accommodate Darwin’s growing family and the many relatives …
  • … The geological publications In these years, Darwin published two books on geology,  Volcanic …
  • … papers for all these organisations. Between 1844 and 1846 Darwin himself wrote ten papers, six of …
  • … 2, letter to A. Y. Spearman, 9 October 1843, n. 1). Darwin's inner circle: first …
  • … not (it is like confessing a murder) immutable Darwin’s earlier scientific friendships …
  • … friends, with the addition of Hooker, were important to Darwin for—among other things—they were the …
  • … scientific issues that arose out of his work on species. Darwin discussed his ideas on species …
  • … Only two months after their first exchange, early in 1844, Darwin told Hooker that he was engaged in …
  • … correspondence that his close friends were not outraged by Darwin’s heterodox opinions and later in …
  • … But although eager for the views of informed colleagues, Darwin was naturally protective of his …
  • …  vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 [February 1847]). Darwin can be seen as a cautious strategist, …
  • … candidate, known to be working on species and varieties, was Darwin himself: as he told his cousin …
  • … the book to him. But, as his letters to Hooker show, Darwin carefully considered and then rejected …
  • … Perhaps the most interesting letter relating to Darwin’s species theory, which also bears on his …
  • … to his wife Emma, dated 5 July 1844 , just after Darwin had completed the final draft of his …
  • … who would undertake to see the work through the press. Darwin also listed possible editors: at first …
  • … on the work. But the list was subsequently altered after Darwin’s second, and possibly third, …
  • … Hooker’s was added. Much later, by the autumn of 1854 when Darwin began sorting out his notes in …
  • … the cover to that effect. The full consideration that Darwin gave to the future editing and …
  • … he was for much of the time too ill even to write letters, Darwin felt that his life was only too …
  • … in his health. Volcanoes, rocks, and fossils Darwin’s published work during this …
  • … elevation of extensive tracts of land relative to the sea. Darwin put forward a new explanation of …
  • … whose subsequent work led to the general acceptance of Darwin’s views.  South America  drew …
  • … structure of the land could best be explained by elevation. Darwin presented a wholeheartedly …

The correspondence of Charles Darwin

Summary

The correspondence of Charles Darwin (F. Burkhardt, et al.eds, Cambridge University Press 1985–) is the definitive edition of all known surviving letters – more than 15,000 – written by and to Charles Darwin.

Matches: 3 hits

  • … The correspondence of Charles Darwin (F. Burkhardt,  et al. eds, Cambridge University Press 1985 …
  • … letters – more than 15,000 – written by and to Charles Darwin. It is an important source for …
  • … to the published volumes form the basis to the ' Darwin's life in letters ' pages. …
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