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Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments
Summary
The year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend and supporter; Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and father of Darwin’s friend…
Matches: 21 hits
- … In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The …
- … However, several smaller projects came to fruition in 1865, including the publication of his long …
- … dispute between two of Darwin’s friends, John Lubbock and Charles Lyell . These events all inspired …
- … of Hugh Falconer Darwin’s first letter to Hooker of 1865 suggests that the family had had a …
- … the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). Darwin was ready to submit his …
- … letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus Alvey Darwin, 3 January 1865 ). Erasmus forwarded his letters …
- … laboured in vain’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 6 January [1865] ). Sic transit gloria …
- … the world goes.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 February [1865] ). However, Hooker, at the time …
- … are unalloyed’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 February 1865 ). Darwin, now ‘haunted’ by …
- … with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). Continuing ill-health …
- … to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). He particularly hated being ill …
- … claimed, important for his enjoyment of life. He wrote to Charles Lyell on 22 January [1865] , …
- … and those of Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, and Charles Bonnet; Darwin wrote back: ‘I do …
- … the Royal Society of Edinburgh criticising Origin . Like Charles Lyell, who wrote to Darwin on …
- … for existence (ibid., pp. 276–81). Darwin responded to Lyell’s account in some detail ( see letter …
- … the correspondence. At the end of May, the dispute between Charles Lyell and John Lubbock over …
- … human antiquity, adding a note to his preface asserting that Lyell in his Antiquity of man , …
- … Natural History Review . He also cited a statement by Lyell in Antiquity of man that the pages …
- … inadvertence’. Though Lubbock had raised the matter with Lyell before publishing, this statement, …
- … set up to support FitzRoy’s children ( see letter from Charles Shaw, 3 October 1865 ). …
- … are letters commenting on Origin , including two from Charles Lyell, who had been sent the proof …
The Lyell–Lubbock dispute
Summary
In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…
Matches: 18 hits
- … In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
- … some of whom took immediate action to mediate a solution. Charles Darwin had close ties with both …
- … his views were generally derided. 1 In 1859, Lyell visited several sites in France …
- … belief that these were indeed implements of early humans (C. Lyell 1859). In September 1860 he …
- … such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. 3; …
- … regarding the age of the human species. The visits by both Lyell and Lubbock reflected the growing …
- … Lubbock reviewed the literature on the topic and noted that Charles Adolphe Morlot had summarised, …
- … basis of Lubbock’s book, Prehistoric times (Lubbock 1865). By 1860, Lyell had begun work …
- … material available pertaining to the antiquity of humans. In 1865, he wrote that the section on …
- … Antiquity of man (see below, ‘Textual changes made to C. Lyell 1863c’). On 6 February 1863, …
- … not pursue any grievance against Lyell until the spring of 1865. 13 In the course of …
- … C. Lyell 1863c and Lubbock 1861 (and consequently in Lubbock 1865), combined with the wording of …
- … between the end of February and the beginning of March 1865, Lubbock wrote the note which would …
- … me from any such inference. The statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in a note to page 11 of his …
- … received a copy of Lubbock’s book, published in mid-May 1865, he immediately wrote to express his …
- … it therefore did not ‘justify so severe an attack on Sir Charles Lyell’. 32 Darwin’s …
- … Stocking 1987, and Van Riper 1993. 2. Letter from Charles Lyell to John Lubbock, 20 …
- … 5. For two interpretations of Hugh Falconer’s attack on Charles Lyell, see Bynum 1984 and L. G. …
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: 22 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
- … by the publication in February of books by his friends Charles Lyell, the respected geologist, and …
- … Britain’s scientific circles following the publication of Lyell’s and Huxley’s books. Three …
- … Origin had (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). In the …
- … with animals now extinct had been rapidly accumulating. Lyell’s argument for a greater human …
- … as well as on evidence collected earlier in the century. Lyell’s Antiquity of man and Huxley’s …
- … arguments for species change. In this context, Lyell’s discussion of the origin of species …
- … that of inferior animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). Darwin …
- … out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
- … worried Darwin; he told Hooker that he had once thought Lyell ‘could do more to convert the Public …
- … February [1863] ). Darwin did not relish telling Lyell of his disappointment; when he did …
- … you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). The …
- … letter to J. D. Dana, 20 February [1863] , and letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … book’ from which he had ‘gained nothing’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 12–13 March [1863] ). …
- … that the Public shall see how far you go’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 April [1863] ). …
- … international interest in his theory ( see letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). In January …
- … from Hooker that the French botanists Joseph Decaisne and Charles Naudin thought little of his …
- … Gray, 4 August [1863] ). The results were published in his 1865 paper ‘Three forms of Lythrum …
- … from T. H. Huxley, 25 February 1863 , and letter to Charles Lyell, 12–13 March [1863] ). …
- … and the United States by Gray’s father-in-law, the lawyer Charles Greely Loring ( see letter to Asa …
- … September 1863] ). When the Darwins returned home, Charles fared little better, and most …
Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions
Summary
Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …
Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…
Matches: 4 hits
- … This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and …
- … know you have been miserably uncomfortable. Emma to Charles Darwin, 1861. …
- … think about the derivation of Species … Darwin to Charles Lyell, 1863. …
- … Darwin to Hooker (on hearing of Robert FitzRoy’s suicide), 1865. As you are now so …
Rewriting Origin - the later editions
Summary
For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions. Many of his changes were made in…
Matches: 8 hits
- … up each edition to the existing standard of science’ ( to Charles Layton, 24 November [1869] ). …
- … 2d German translation, 1863 2d French translation 1865 4 th English edition published …
- … expansion ‘in many places’ . Chief among these was Charles Lyell, instrumental in shaping both …
- … last one was a welcome endorsement from the religious author Charles Kingsley, a chaplain to the …
- … Black Pigs in the Everglades delights me If Lyell was Darwin’s key correspondent for …
- … (With a glossary of scientific terms??) by Charles Darwin F.R.S. …
- … many of his old friends and former correspondents, including Lyell ( now approached through his …
- … ed. , pp. 450–61). Despite continuing scepticism from Charles Lyell, who was staying with the …
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: 16 hits
- … 1 Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by …
- … from the correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, …
- … following: Actor 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin Actor 3 – In the dress …
- … the botanist, Joseph D Hooker GRAY: 3 Charles Darwin… made his home on the border …
- … the year 1839, and copied and communicated to Messrs Lyell and Hooker in 1844, being a …
- … at the expense of Agassiz. DARWIN: 20 Lyell told me, that Agassiz, having a …
- … – to be false… Yours most sincerely and gratefully Charles Darwin. CREED AND FEVER: 1858 …
- … forgetfuless of your darling. BOOKS BY THE LATE CHARLES DARWIN: 1863-1865 In which …
- … and officially die. And then publish books ‘by the late Charles Darwin’. Darwin takes up …
- … I find rather dull. GRAY: 170 1 May 1865… Well, ‘treason has done its worst’ and …
- … 173 Ever yours cordially (though an Englishman) Charles Darwin. GRAY: 174 …
- … at an unexpected and probably transient notoriety… Charles Darwin died on the 19th April …
- … GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 18 FEBRUARY 1861 115 A GRAY TO CHARLES WRIGHT, 17 APRIL 1862 …
- … 5 DECEMBER 1864 170 A GRAY TO RW CHURCH, 1 MAY 1865 171 C DARWIN TO A GRAY …
- … TO ASA GRAY 20 APRIL 1863 174 FROM A GRAY TO CHARLES DARWIN, 24 JULY 1865 …
- … 25 MAY 1868 195 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 21 NOV 1865 196 FROM A GRAY 27 …
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.…
Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year
Summary
The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…
Matches: 8 hits
- … at Erasmus’s house. The event was led by the medium Charles E. Williams, and was attended by George …
- … friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder …
- … at a much reduced price of nine shillings, in line with Charles Lyell’s Student’s elements of …
- … raising £860 ( Circular to John Lubbock, P. L. Sclater, Charles Lyell, W. B. Carpenter, and Michael …
- … Sharpe, 24 November [1874] ). He wrote in admiration of Charles Lyell’s plan to leave a bequest to …
- … of the English editions. Darwin’s French publisher, Charles Reinwald, engaged new translators to …
- … connotations of both Huxley’s and Tyndall’s addresses, Charles Lyell, who had spent his career …
- … may be fairly said to have had an ovation’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1 September 1874 ). …
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: 14 hits
- … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now …
- … January [1866] ). Darwin had first consulted Jones in July 1865 and attributed his improved health …
- … a preliminary sketch of pangenesis to Thomas Henry Huxley in 1865 (see Correspondence vol. 13), and …
- … Agassiz undertook an ambitious expedition to Brazil in 1865 and 1866, partly with a view to finding …
- … in correspondence throughout the year, as in his remark to Lyell, ‘I quite follow you in thinking …
- … in this volume), drawing Darwin, Hooker, and the botanist Charles James Fox Bunbury into the …
- … [28 February 1866] ). Darwin also ventured to inform Lyell that he did not support Lyell’s theory …
- … fresh opportunity for intense debate. As Darwin remarked to Lyell earlier in the year: ‘a squabble …
- … good, & we have been at it many a long year’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February [1866] ). …
- … had been a subject of long discussion in previous years with Lyell, Gray, and Hooker. Wallace …
- … copies of his earlier botanical publications at the end of 1865, Darwin wrote in January 1866, …
- … of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in December 1865. Despite concerns about the ongoing …
- … support the Jamaica Committee, which had formed in December 1865 to lobby for the criminal …
- … loneliness’ ( letter from E. C. Langton to Emma and Charles Darwin, [6 and 7? January 1866] ), and …
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: 16 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large …
- … of Argyll, and an anonymous review by an engineer, Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin, challenged …
- … started in January 1860, and advertised in the press since 1865 with the unwieldy title, …
- … hypothesis of pangenesis’. Such was the case, reported by Charles Victor Naudin, of a fan palm, …
- … apparently discussing it or showing it to anyone until 1865, when he sent a version of it to Huxley, …
- … anxious about the reception of pangenesis. He was happy that Charles Lyell had a positive response, …
- … will be a somewhat important step in Biology’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 22 August [1867] ). …
- … on the anatomy of expression by medical experts such as Charles Bell and Guillaume Benjamin Amand …
- … a book based on a series of articles that had appeared in 1865. In it he challenged aspects of …
- … and ‘clever’, but with certain weak parts ( letter to Charles Lyell, 1 June [1867] ). Charles …
- … as one who feels himself likely to be beat’ ( letter from Charles Kingsley, 6 June 1867 ). Darwin …
- … c d hardly come into a scientific book’ ( letter to Charles Kingsley, 10 June [1867] ). …
- … the most telling Reviews of the hostile kind’ ( letter to Charles Kingsley, 10 June [1867] ). …
- … & botany, before writing about them’ ( letter from Charles Kingsley, 6 June 1867 ). The …
- … than those with beaks shorter than average’ ( letter to Charles Kingsley, 10 June [1867] ). …
- … vol. 13, letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] and n. 4). Darwin’s wife and children also …
Darwin in letters, 1861: Gaining allies
Summary
The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. He had weathered the storm that followed the publication of Origin, and felt cautiously optimistic about the ultimate acceptance of his ideas. The letters from this year provide an…
Matches: 10 hits
- … notably his faithful ‘barometer’ of scientific opinion, Charles Lyell ( see letter to Charles Lyell …
- … like Cuthbert Collingwood and laymen such as the physician Charles Robert Bree and the Scottish …
- … and poultry. As he frequently admitted to friends such as Charles Lyell and interested supporters …
- … prominently in the correspondence of 1861. Here, it was Charles Lyell who continued to act as Darwin …
- … subsidence, and glaciation in Europe. Through his letters, Lyell involved Darwin in his …
- … he had published a major paper twenty years earlier. Both Lyell and Darwin encouraged the young …
- … the marine theory proposed by Darwin and since propounded by Lyell. Despite his belief that Jamieson …
- … had been ‘one long gigantic blunder’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 September [1861] ). The …
- … network in support of his son. On 1 August he wrote to Charles Lyell to ask whether he could suggest …
- … His old and established friends—Hooker, Gray, Huxley, and Lyell—continued to support his doctrines, …
Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution
Summary
The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…
Matches: 3 hits
George Busk
Summary
After the Beagle voyage, Darwin’s collection of bryozoans disappears from the records until the material was sent, in 1852, for study by George Busk, one of the foremost workers on the group of his day. In 1863, on the way down to Malvern Wells, Darwin had…
Matches: 1 hits
- … may have been responsible for their ostracism by Charles and Lady Lyell ( letter from J. D. Hooker …
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Interview with John Hedley Brooke
Summary
John Hedley Brooke is President of the Science and Religion Forum as well as the author of the influential Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 1991). He has had a long career in the history of science and…
Matches: 5 hits
- … It’s striking, I think, that scientists like Charles Lyell , for example, felt, also, that there …
- … were leading Anglican reformers and liberal theologians ? Charles Kingsley was one, …
- … heart, here, of some very sensitive issues between Emma and Charles himself. You ask, were …
- … And you refer to a letter from Joseph Hooker to Darwin in 1865 in which he notes the pain and …
- … your own power & usefulness. And then he refers George to Lyell, of whom he says, Lyell is …
Race, Civilization, and Progress
Summary
Darwin's first reflections on human progress were prompted by his experiences in the slave-owning colony of Brazil, and by his encounters with the Yahgan peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh conditions, privation, poor climate, bondage and servitude,…
Matches: 9 hits
- … an inward force or directed by design, while others such as Charles Lyell and Alfred Russel Wallace …
- … the first sight of Man in his primitive wildness." Charles wrote to his sister, Emily …
- … Letter 4933 : Farrar, F. W. to Darwin, 6 November 1865 "so far as I can see, History, …
- … , Darwin discussed his views on progress in a letter to Charles Lyell, insisting that there was no …
- … would be no advance.— " Letter 6728 : from Charles Lyell, 5 May 1869 " …
- … for existence between human races with the geologist Charles Lyell, the liberal Anglican clergymen …
- … exterminated." Letter 3439 : Darwin to Kingsley, Charles, 6 February [1862] …
- … Selected Readings Primary Charles Darwin, Notebooks, B 18-29; E 95-7 [ …
- … ] T. H. Huxley, "Methods and Results of Ethnology" (1865) [ available at archive …
Religion
Summary
Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…
Matches: 5 hits
- … up revelation”. Letter 2534 — Kingsley, Charles to Darwin, C. R., 18 Nov 1859 …
- … on beauty. Letter 4752 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 22 Jan [1865] Darwin …
- … Letter 4939 — Shaw, James to Darwin, C. R., 20 Nov 1865 Scottish school teacher and writer …
- … Letter 4943 — Darwin, C. R. to Shaw, James, 30 Nov 1865 Darwin writes to James Shaw. He is …
- … of beauty by animals. Letter 5565 — Kingsley, Charles to Darwin, C. R., 6 June 1867 …
Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Matches: 13 hits
- … to take his daily strolls (Henrietta Emma Litchfield, ‘Charles Darwin’s death’, DAR 262.23: 2, p. 2) …
- … snakes, centipedes, and spiders. The instructions were from Charles Lawrence Hughes, a fellow pupil …
- … Holland, she mentions his warm reception on arrival: ‘Charles is as well as possible & in gayer …
- … recommendations for annual medals. He strongly supported Charles Lyell for the Copley, the Royal …
- … that the future Historian of the Natural Sciences, will rank Lyell’s labours as more influential in …
- … point of view I think no man ranks in the same class with Lyell’ ( letter to William Sharpey, 22 …
- … to T. F. Jamieson, 24 January [1863] ). From 1863 to 1865, Darwin suffered the most extended …
- … November [1864] ). Writing to the clergyman and naturalist Charles Kingsley, he was more gloomy: …
- … men whom I should have liked to have known’ ( letter to Charles Kingsley, 2 June [1865] ). …
- … curious to read what you will say on Man & his Races’, Lyell wrote. ‘It was not a theme to be …
- … theory for the whole of the organic world ( letter from Charles Lyell, 16 July 1867 ). In the same …
- … and I must not make you my father confessor. ( Letter from Charles Lyell, 1 September 1874 .) …
- … complete With volume 30, the Correspondence of Charles Darwin is now complete. In the …
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: 7 hits
- … Nägeli, a Swiss botanist and professor at Munich (Nägeli 1865). Darwin had considered Nägeli’s paper …
- … account for changes in most morphological features (Nägeli 1865, p. 29). Darwin sent a manuscript of …
- … only be altered by his perfectibility principle (Nägeli 1865, pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker …
- … address in the fifth edition was that of the engineer Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin. Darwin had been …
- … structures of the South American cordillera ( letter to Charles Lyell, 20 May 1869 ), and fossil …
- … by these proceedings, Darwin arranged for another publisher, Charles Reinwald, and another …
- … been since his last period of prolonged illness in 1864 and 1865, although a particularly low spell …
