To Ernst Dieffenbach 6 April [1846]
Summary
On geological works of Tschudi and Buch.
"My health keeps indifferent & I do not suppose I shall ever be a strong man again: everything fatigues me, & I can work but little at my writing: this summer, however, I shall get out my geology of S. America".
"I found Bronn’s Geschichte, which you recommended me, very useful, for references to facts on variation".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Ernst Dieffenbach |
Date: | 6 Apr [1846] |
Classmark: | J. A. Stargardt (dealers) (Catalogue 574 11–13 November 1965) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-972 |
To Catherine Darwin [22 November 1846]
Summary
Concerned about Father’s health.
Forwards a letter from FitzRoy.
Dr Erasmus Darwin’s scientific prophecies are the talk of London.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Emily Catherine (Catherine) Darwin; Emily Catherine (Catherine) Langton |
Date: | [22 Nov 1846] |
Classmark: | DAR 92: A1–A2 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1029 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Concerned about Father’s health. Forwards a letter from FitzRoy. Dr Erasmus Darwin’s …
To J. L. Stokes 3 November 1846
Summary
CD’s note to Stokes [see 940] has been forwarded to George Grey; CD fears he may be offended. Asks how it could have happened.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Lort Stokes |
Date: | 3 Nov 1846 |
Classmark: | Auckland Public Library (Grey collection GL D8 (1)) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1017 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … continues to be in a pretty good state of health | Believe me, my dear Stokes | Yours very …
To Robert FitzRoy 1 October 1846
Summary
Has just heard of RF’s return [from New Zealand]. Hopes to see him.
CD and family are well, but he is a different man in strength and energy from when he was "Flycatcher" in the Beagle.
Has just finished his book [South America].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Robert FitzRoy |
Date: | 1 Oct 1846 |
Classmark: | DAR 144: 119 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1002 |
From J. D. Hooker 1 February 1846
Summary
Goes on the assumption that each species has one origin, is immutable, and migrates.
Disagrees with Gaudichaud[-Beaupré] that volcanic island species are polymorphous.
Some mundane genera vary, others do not (Senecio vs Gnaphalium).
John Lindley’s doctrine of longevity of trees is amazing.
Edward Forbes’s health is better.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 1 Feb 1846 |
Classmark: | DAR 100: 60–2 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-947 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Lindley’s doctrine of longevity of trees is amazing. Edward Forbes’s health is better. …
To Leonard Jenyns [14 or 21 August 1846]
Summary
Looks forward to LJ’s volume [Observations in natural history (1846)].
Observations on what the world would call trifling points in natural history are always very interesting to him. Deplores their absence in foreign periodicals.
Is slaving away to finish S. American geology.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Leonard Jenyns; Leonard Blomefield |
Date: | [14 or 21] Aug 1846 |
Classmark: | Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-987 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … there, & sh d . much enjoy meeting you. — My health continues pretty well; never right & …
To J. D. Hooker [23 November 1846]
Summary
Has read JDH’s paper ["Plants of the Galapagos Archipelago", Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 20 (1851): 116–233] and thinks it the best essay on geographical distribution he has ever met with. Comments on the paper.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [23 Nov 1846] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 75 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1031 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … for his kind reception to Sir William. — Please inform me about your Sisters health. …
To Joseph Beete Jukes [18 October 1846]
Summary
Knows nothing about missing fossils collected by J. L. Stokes.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Beete Jukes |
Date: | [18 Oct 1846] |
Classmark: | University of Oklahoma Libraries History of Science Collections |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1010 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … your very kind enquiries about my health. — I enjoyed my week at Southampton extremely. …
To J. D. Hooker [25 February 1846]
Summary
Glad to hear of JDH’s botanical appointment [with Geological Survey].
Edward Forbes has written about his subsidence doctrine; CD objects to its hypothetical base.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [25 Feb 1846] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 55 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-955 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Hooker I came here on account of my Fathers health, which has been sadly failing of late, …
To Robert FitzRoy 23 November [1846]
Summary
J. D. Hooker has described Capt. King’s Tierra del Fuego plants and CD’s Galapagos plants [in Flora Antarctica, pt 2 (1847)] which have extraordinary interest and novelty.
A malicious person has sent George Grey, Governor of New Zealand, a letter CD had written to J. L. Stokes, containing a derogatory statement likening Grey’s expedition to "a set of school boys".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Robert FitzRoy |
Date: | 23 Nov [1846] |
Classmark: | DAR 144: 121a |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1030 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … and my two sisters who live with him his health lately has been a good deal shaken— The …
To J. D. Hooker 10 April [1846]
Summary
Is pleased JDH will attend to polymorphism and also with the botanical relation, as stated by JDH, between Africa and Java.
Would welcome any information on impregnation in the bud.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 10 Apr [1846] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 59 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-973 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … has, however, long been in such a state of health, that her death was a great relief to …
To J. D. Hooker [8 or 15 July 1846]
Summary
Regrets he cannot visit JDH.
Has been talking with Lyell about coal, which he finds utterly perplexing.
Is delighted with the generalisations in latest numbers of Flora Antarctica.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [8 or 15] July 1846 |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 63 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-986 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … but fear must now give up. My father’s health is rather failing & I must go there the last …
From J. D. Hooker 2 [March] 1846
Summary
Thanks for Edward Forbes’s letter. Botanical evidence conflicts with parts of his theory but supports others. Is becoming more of a migrationist.
Bentham agrees with JDH on polymorphism.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 [Mar] 1846 |
Classmark: | DAR 100: 63–8 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-958 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … your fathers restoration to his usual health & the continuance of your own & Mrs Darwin’s. …
letter | (13) |
Darwin, C. R. | (11) |
Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
Hooker, J. D. | (4) |
Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
FitzRoy, Robert | (2) |
Blomefield, Leonard | (1) |
Darwin, Catherine | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (13) |
Hooker, J. D. | (6) |
FitzRoy, Robert | (2) |
Blomefield, Leonard | (1) |
Darwin, Catherine | (1) |
Darwin's health
Summary
On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…
Matches: 6 hits
- … letter which he put down to his exceptionally poor health: Indeed all this winter, I …
- … up to its name. Darwin experienced chronic episodes of ill health, which increased in severity in …
- … treatment. In April 1864, Darwin attributed his improved health to Dr Jenner’s advice: ‘ drinking …
- … very least, it seems clear that Darwin’s periods of ill health were quite useful. Citing a troubled …
- … letter to Robert FitzRoy, [20 February 1840] . Darwin’s health diary (Down House MS), which he …
- … Darwin had sometimes noted the acidity of his vomit in his health diary (Down House MS; see Colp …
Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 8 hits
- … had plagued him since the spring of 1863. Because of poor health, Darwin corresponded little during …
- … and having scientific papers read to him. In March, his health improved enough for him to make some …
- … he could work (presumably at writing) for two hours. As his health grew worse during the last two …
- … flower-peduncle, petiole, leaf, and aerial roots. When his health deteriorated in 1863, he found …
- … forms of the trimorphic Lythrum , and when his health permitted in 1864 he drew up the results …
- … Sabine, 4 December [1864] ). Struggling with ill-health Darwin received news of …
- … form of letters during 1864; because of his fragile state of health, he saw few people outside the …
- … scientific colleagues, and he continued writing even as his health worsened again in November and …
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: 3 hits
- … 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863 Chapman started to treat …
- … Jenner. In November and December of 1864, however, his health grew worse. In his ‘Journal’, Darwin …
- … for references to the extensive literature on CD’s health, see Colp 1977 and 1998, and Bowlby 1990. …
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…
Climbing plants
Summary
Darwin’s book Climbing plants was published in 1865, but its gestation began much earlier. The start of Darwin’s work on the topic lay in his need, owing to severe bouts of illness in himself and his family, for diversions away from his much harder book on…
Darwin soundbites
Summary
From atheistical cats to old fogies in Cambridge, we've collected some of Darwin's pithier remarks - some funny, some serious - but all quotes from letters you can read in full here. We particularly like this one: Will you be so kind as…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Where's it from? On sickness, health, and bananas …you began your …
Dining at Down House
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's Domestic Life While Darwin is best remembered for his scientific accomplishments, he greatly valued and was strongly influenced by his domestic life. Darwin's…
Matches: 7 hits
- … One of Darwin's defining characteristics was his poor health. The letters provide insight into …
- … to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 Darwin’s ill health began on his Beagle voyage. In …
- … to their marriage, Emma expresses her concern for Darwin’s health, her sympathy for the frustration …
- … spiritualism. Darwin expresses his regrets that his own ill health prevents him from visiting the …
- … his own aches and pains, Lenny reports on their father’s health, noting that Darwin’s frustration …
- … of Darwin's personal life? 2. How did Darwin's health affect his scientific …
- … married. In it Emma expressed her concern for Darwin’s health, her sympathy for the frustration he …
Insectivorous plants
Summary
Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in the summer of 1860, staying with his wife’s relatives in Hartfield, Sussex, he went for long walks on the heathland and became curious about the large number of insects caught by…
Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles
Summary
Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…
Matches: 4 hits
- … friends and relatives, Darwin felt sufficiently restored in health to work for two or three hours a …
- … keeping up the battle, he gave up only from fatigue and ill health ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 …
- … that it was a success, and there is no doubt that his health improved, at least temporarily. This is …
- … a methodical mind keen to establish order: he chronicled his health, his daily and household …
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: 3 hits
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: 7 hits
- … and here, attended by every blessing except that of vigorous health… DARWIN: 4 My …
- … In truth there is nothing which I should enjoy more; but my health is not, and will, I suppose, …
- … able to suppress his anger. He is in his 70s and in poor health. SEDGWICK: 69 …
- … They are enjoying the furore. Darwin is more earnest, his health – mental and physical – is …
- … In which Drwin struggles more than usual with his health, grows a beard, and cancels The Times; and …
- … to cross over to England in two months… Mrs Gray’s health makes me anxious to avoid another winter …
- … if he had had a good laugh. Then, Darwin’s health dictates that he and his American guests …
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: 5 hits
- … dropped markedly, reflecting a decline in his already weak health. Darwin then began punctuating …
- … is the mother of fine children all over the world’. Health worries Despite his …
- … no reason why he should not recover his previous state of health. Brinton’s words must have …
- … to J. D. Hooker, 26 December [1863] ) that Darwin’s health fluctuated and showed little improvement …
- … from his sons. She was pessimistic about his prospects of health over the next few months: ‘When not …
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Benjamin (1) District Health Office (1) …
Expression
Summary
Darwin's interest in emotional expression can be traced as far back as the Beagle voyage. He was fascinated by the different sounds and gestures among the peoples of Tierra del Fuego, and on his return from the voyage he started recording observations…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The exigencies of the public service have already ruined my health, & curtailed my capacities. …
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: 5 hits
- … respect for the elder naturalist, inquired after Darwin’s health, and expressed his desire to meet …
- … Galton, 13 September 1871 ). A return to poor health During the summer months, Darwin …
- … ). On 23 September he informed Murray that owing to poor health he had done nothing for six …
- … described the joyous occasion in great detail, her uncertain health requiring her to attend …
- … Murchison, and the earl of Derby. Given his poor state of health for much of the summer, it is …
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
- … be exclusively geological United States, Mexico Depend upon health & vigour & how far I …
- … music & female chit-chat.— These things good for one’s health.— [16] but terrible loss of …
- … to gain one’s bread.— (But then it is very bad for ones health[19] to work too much) Perhaps …
- … rather than with the advantages. [19] ‘for ones health’ interl.i [20] The heading …
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 6 hits
- … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now …
- … consulted Jones in July 1865 and attributed his improved health by the end of that year to the diet …
- … with his brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin. Owing to improved health, Darwin was able to make a number …
- … she and Emma continued to play in safeguarding Darwin’s health and securing his privacy. Similarly, …
- … waterlilies prevailed over considerations of health in this case. Ernst Haeckel Nor …
- … died in October. On learning of Catherine’s poor state of health, Hooker, who had lost his father …
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…
Darwin and Fatherhood
Summary
Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…
Matches: 4 hits
- … country. Darwin frequently expressed regrets that his ill health (e.g., Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 14 …
- … to hydropathic spas or the seaside to strengthen their health. Although his interest in inheritance …
- … ). In addition to his fears for his children’s health, Darwin’s other principal concern as a …
- … and holidays at the seaside were often necessitated by ill health rather than pleasure. It was …
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: 8 hits
- … reminiscences, and laments about advancing age and poor health, with family friends from childhood, …
- … operation, combined with Moulinié’s increasingly poor health, led to yet further delay, and the new …
- … to Darwin which he, however, declined on the grounds of ill health. Expression : …
- … usual chemist, William Baxter, were not in this case for his health, but to test their effects when …
- … he repeated to several correspondents. His own health was slightly better than in the …
- … sons spent some time on the continent for the sake of their health ( see letter to W. D. Fox, 16 …
- … over their wills, and he poured out such a litany of ill health to one correspondent that Emma …
- … Darwin gracefully declined on the habitual grounds of ill health ( letter from J. S. Craig, 4 …