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Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Matches: 11 hits
- … human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the …
- … he first began to reflect on the transmutation of species. Darwin’s correspondence reveals the scope …
- … he exchanged information and ideas. Letter 346: Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, C. S., 27 Feb 1837 …
- … separated from one stock.” Letter 2070: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, C. R., [before 29 …
- … because we can trace the elements into Latin, German &c. but I see much the same sort of thing …
- … down of former continents.” Letter 3054: Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 2 Feb [1861] …
- … him is perfectly logical.” Letter 5605: Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 15 Aug [1867] …
- … do they scream & make loud noise?” Letter 7040: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, C. R., …
- … growing to such a stage” Letter 8367: Darwin, C. R. to Wright, Chauncey, 3 June [1872] …
- … altering the breed. Letter 8962: Darwin, C. R. to Max Müller, Friedrich, 3 July 1873 …
- … Letter 10194: Max Müller, Friedrich to Darwin, C. R., 13 Oct [1875] For Müller, human and …
The origin of language
Summary
Darwin started thinking about the origin of language in the late 1830s. The subject formed part of his wide-ranging speculations about the transmutation of species. In his private notebooks, he reflected on the communicative powers of animals, their…
Matches: 14 hits
- … Darwin started thinking about the origin of language in the late 1830s. The …
- … communicate to each other” (Barrett ed. 1987, p. 542-3). Darwin observed the similarities between …
- … Proponents of the natural language theory included Darwin’s cousin, Hensleigh Wedgwood , the …
- … series of influential lectures delivered several years after Darwin’s Origin of Species , Max …
- … the cries of beasts” (Müller 1861, 1: 22-3, 354). Darwin eventually published his views on …
- … the similarities between animal and human communication. Darwin’s arguments were based on his broad …
- … as well as observations of his own children and pets. Darwin described how language might have …
- … and snarls, for example), which functioned as warning signs. Darwin addressed the natural theology …
- … other functions, especially the use of the hands. Finally, Darwin drew an extended analogy between …
- … and animal psychology, build upon the work of Darwin and his contemporaries, while taking that work …
- … sources Barrett, Paul. et al. eds. Charles Darwin’s Notebooks, 1836-1841. Cambridge: …
- … Alex V. W. Bikkers. London: John Camdem Hotten. Wake, C. S. 1868. Chapters on man, with the …
- … Johns Hopkins University Press. Alter, Steven G. 2008. Darwin and the linguists: the …
- … . Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Hurford, James R., Michael Studdert-Kennedy, and Chris Knight, …
The "wicked book": Origin at 157
Summary
Origin is 157 years old. (Probably) the most famous book in science was published on 24 November 1859. To celebrate we have uploaded hundreds of new images of letters, bringing the total number you can look at here to over 9000 representing more than…
Matches: 9 hits
- … book appeared. You can now see examples of letters to Darwin from nearly 250 different people, and …
- … Lyell , and Joseph Hooker , the two men who arranged for Darwin’s and Wallace’s ideas to be made …
- … Asa Gray who was an important sounding board for Darwin’s emerging ideas, and Thomas Huxley …
- … scrap from 1857 comparing his views on species to Darwin’s. Others, like Hugh Falconer , …
- … the less well-known scientific collaborators who became Darwin's correspondents, Mary Treat …
- … Amy Ruck, was co-opted as an observer in Wales. Lucy Wedgwood , Darwin’s neice, was one of …
- … of water thrown over me on rising William Darwin Fox , Charles’s cousin and another …
- … W. T. Thiselton-Dyer George Cupples H. C. Watson J. J. Weir H. W. Bates …
- … Frederick Smith A. G. Butler John Lubbock R. I. Lynch J. B. Burdon Sanderson …
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: 25 hits
- … The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, seeing the publication of his …
- … book out of my head’. But a large proportion of Darwin’s time for the rest of the year was devoted …
- … way, and the initial reception of the book in the press. Darwin fielded numerous letters from …
- … offered sharp criticism or even condemnation. Darwin had expected controversy. ‘I shall be …
- … a bare-faced manner.”‘ The most lively debate centred on Darwin’s evolutionary account of the …
- … taste. Correspondence with his readers and critics helped Darwin to clarify, and in some cases …
- … year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression. Darwin continued to investigate the …
- … also brought a significant milestone for the family, as Darwin’s eldest daughter Henrietta was …
- … during several past years, has been a great amusement’. Darwin had been working fairly continuously …
- … work on species theory in the late 1830s. In recent years, Darwin had collected a wealth of material …
- … and the heavy use of their arms and legs ( letter from C. L. Bernays, 25 February 1871 ). Samples …
- … is a thing which I sh d feel very proud of, if anyone c d . say of me.’ After the publication …
- … was achieved through ‘the medium of opinion, positive law &c’, and transmitted by culture, not …
- … from within his own family circle, especially his cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood, whom Darwin had cited …
- … passing temptation of hunting it’ ( Descent 2: 392). Wedgwood, however, denied that a simple …
- … or remorse. The true essence of conscience, according to Wedgwood, was shame, and he went so far as …
- … was confronted by the presence of its master. ( Letter from Hensleigh Wedgwood, [3–9 March 1871] . …
- … Morley. George and Henrietta remarked upon his dispute with Wedgwood. Darwin’s theory of the moral …
- … and morally bound. In one particularly long letter to Wedgwood, Darwin alluded to the pain of …
- … point of agreement is a satisfaction to me’ ( letter to Hensleigh Wedgwood, 9 March 1871 ). …
- … in the world except. laughing. crying grinning pouting &c. &c’, he wrote to Hooker on 21 …
- … so giddy I can hardly sit up, so no more’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 4 August [1871] ). On 23 …
- … home, Leith Hill Place in Surrey, and CD’s niece Lucy Wedgwood collected and weighed the dried …
- … annually on an acre of land at 16 tons (letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [20 November 1871] ). He also …
- … ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 July [1871] , letter to S. R. S. Norton, 23 November [1871] ). …
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,…
Moral Nature
Summary
In Descent of Man, Darwin argued that human morality had evolved from the social instincts of animals, especially the bonds of sympathy and love. Darwin gathered observations over many decades on animal behavior: the heroic sacrifices of social insects,…
Matches: 13 hits
- … | Selected Readings In Descent of Man , Darwin argued that human morality had …
- … (Barrett et al. eds. 1987, p. 619) Darwin gathered observations over many decades on …
- … Though rooted in instinctive sympathy, moral behavior for Darwin was not purely automatic or …
- … the social instincts that humans shared with animals. Darwin's moral theory was the most …
- … obligation, compassion, guilt, and the pangs of conscience. Darwin's theory was condemned by …
- … female members of their hive in order to protect the queen. Darwin engaged with his critics in …
- … of ideas, rather than as evolving from animal instinct. Darwin got clarification on this point from …
- … Descent of Man in the Pall Mall Gazette (Morley 1871). Darwin admired the review, and …
- … from generation to generation." Letter 7685 : Darwin to Morley, John, 14 April …
- … at a time when Paris is aflame". Letter 7145 : Darwin to Cobbe, F. P. 23 March …
- … form one great philosophy?" Letter 7470 : Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, [before 3 …
- … or respect is shame." Letter 7537 : Darwin, C. R. to Wenslow, Hensleigh, 3 March …
- … 2007. Darwin (London: Routledge), ch. 6 Richards, R. J. 1987. Darwin the development of …
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: 23 hits
- … 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working …
- … dispute over an anonymous review that attacked the work of Darwin’s son George dominated the second …
- … and traveller Alexander von Humboldt’s 105th birthday, Darwin obliged with a reflection on his debt …
- … during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August 1874] ). The death of a …
- … from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ). Such reminiscences led Darwin to the self-assessment, ‘as for one …
- … I feel very old & helpless The year started for Darwin with a week’s visit to …
- … Andrew Clark, whom he had been consulting since August 1873. Darwin had originally thought that …
- … ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] ). Darwin mentioned his poor health so frequently in …
- … 1874 ). Séances, psychics, and sceptics Darwin excused himself for reasons of …
- … by George Henry Lewes and Marian Evans (George Eliot), but Darwin excused himself, finding it too …
- … the month, another Williams séance was held at the home of Darwin’s cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood. Those …
- … imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). Darwin agreed that it was ‘all imposture’ …
- … stop word getting to America of the ‘strange news’ that Darwin had allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his …
- … the first three months of the year and, like many of Darwin’s enterprises in the 1870s, were family …
- … 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17 December [1873] ). Darwin himself had some trouble in …
- … and letter to Charles Lyell, [13 January 1874] ). Darwin blamed his illness for the …
- … Descent was published in November 1874 ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Though …
- … on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). …
- … in a few hours dissolve the hardest cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. …
- … whether at the ‘close of the putrefaction of flesh, skin &c, any substance is produced before …
- … details of an Australian variety of sundew ( letter from T. C. Copland, 23 June 1874 ). …
- … Sharpe for promotion at the British Museum ( letter to R. B. Sharpe, 24 November [1874] ). He …
- … head that M r Spencer’s terms of equilibration &c always bother me & make everything less …
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
Matches: 25 hits
- … When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect …
- … ease of distribution sometime in late 1867 or early 1868. Darwin went over his questions, refining …
- … was the collection of observations on a global scale. Darwin was especially interested in peoples …
- … cultural and conventional, or instinctive and universal. Darwin used his existing correspondence …
- … and with the mouth a little drawn back at the corners?” Darwin’s questionnaire was an extension of …
- … was also carefully devised so as to prevent the feelings of Darwin’s remote observers from colouring …
- … and not the susceptibilities of a moral nature.” Darwin did not typically countenance such …
- … the collection of information to its display in print. After Darwin received all of the replies to …
- … except “yes” or “no.” “The same state of mind” Darwin would later assert in Expression of the …
- … uniformity.” Table of Correspondence about Darwin’s Questionnaire (click on the letter …
- … could available online ahead of schedule as part of the “Darwin and Human Nature” project, funded by …
- … nodding vertically Blair, R.H. 11 July …
- … Fuegians Brooke, C.A.J. 30 Nov 1870 …
- … Dyaks Brooke, C.A.J. 30 April 1871 …
- … Southampton, England letter to W.E. Darwin shrugging/pouting of …
- … blushing Darwin, Francis 20 June 1867 …
- … Bartlett and S. Sutton Darwin, Francis …
- … pouting Darwin, W.E. [after 29 March 1868] …
- … blushing in blind students Darwin, W.E. [7 …
- … blushing Darwin, W.E. [22? April 1868] …
- … Reade, Winwood W. [c.8 or 9 Apr 1870] Accra, West …
- … in Hottentots Smyth, R. Brough 13 Aug 1868 …
- … astonishment Wedgwood, F.J. [1867-72] …
- … nodding Wedgwood, Hensleigh [1867-72] …
- … laughter Wedgwood, Hensleigh [1867-72] …
Scientific Networks
Summary
Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…
Matches: 13 hits
- … activities for building and maintaining such connections. Darwin's networks extended from his …
- … when strong institutional structures were largely absent. Darwin had a small circle of scientific …
- … section contains two sets of letters. The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. …
- … about Hooker’s thoughts. Letter 729 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., [11 Jan 1844] …
- … confessing a murder”. Letter 736 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 23 Feb [1844] …
- … Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 25 Apr [1855] Darwin …
- … species. Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. R., 22 May 1855 Gray recalled …
- … flora in the USA. Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 20 July [1857] Darwin …
- … information exchange. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] …
- … name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 3 Feb 1849 In this gossipy …
- … species descriptions. Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 12 Oct 1849 …
- … Letter 1319 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 6 & 7 Apr 1850 Hooker apologises for the …
- … well as sister Catherine’s and his own. He also notes that Hensleigh [Wedgwood] thinks he has …
Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics
Summary
On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…
Matches: 25 hits
- … 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species , printing …
- … surprised both the publisher and the author. One week later Darwin was stunned to learn that the …
- … But it was the opinion of scientific men that was Darwin’s main concern. He eagerly scrutinised each …
- … his views. ‘One cannot expect fairness in a Reviewer’, Darwin commented to Hooker after reading an …
- … ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] ). Darwin’s magnanimous attitude soon faded, …
- … but ‘unfair’ reviews that misrepresented his ideas, Darwin began to feel that without the early …
- … it was his methodological criticism in the accusation that Darwin had ‘deserted the inductive track, …
- … to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). Above all else Darwin prided himself on having developed a …
- … was a hypothesis, not a theory, therefore also displeased Darwin. Comparing natural selection to the …
- … it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] ). This …
- … issue of Macmillan’s Magazine . Fawcett asserted that Darwin’s theory accorded well with John …
- … induction, ratiocination, and then verification. Darwin and his critics Specific …
- … evidence. Several correspondents, such as his cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood and Heinrich Georg Bronn, …
- … the origin of life itself, which the theory did not address. Darwin chose to treat this as an …
- … things, about the multitude of still living simple forms. Darwin readily admitted that his failure …
- … it into his method of reasoning about global change. Darwin also knew that Lyell was a powerful …
- … of the origin and distribution of blind cave animals. Darwin attempted to answer each of these …
- … to one another. Harvey’s letters reveal aspects of Darwin’s theory that gave contemporary …
- … discomfort. After several long letters were exchanged, Darwin finally decided that Harvey and other …
- … whose offspring should be infertile, inter se ,’ Darwin’s theory would remain unproven (T. H. …
- … among animal groups could give rise to new species, Darwin found Huxley’s lecture irritating and …
- … because more accustomed to reasoning As Darwin himself well recognised and fully …
- … relatively advanced forms of life. Many singled out Darwin’s own discussion of the absence of …
- … into the multitude of the earth’s present inhabitants. Darwin agreed, for example, with Alfred …
- … because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). Darwin …
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: 19 hits
- … In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
- … letters on climbing plants to make another paper. Darwin also submitted a manuscript of his …
- … protégé, John Scott, who was now working in India. Darwin’s transmutation theory continued to …
- … Argyll, appeared in the religious weekly, Good Words . Darwin received news of an exchange of …
- … Butler, and, according to Butler, the bishop of Wellington. Darwin’s theory was discussed at an …
- … in the Gardeners’ Chronicle . At the end of the year, Darwin was elected an honorary member of …
- … year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend of …
- … in August. There was also a serious dispute between two of Darwin’s friends, John Lubbock and …
- … jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). Darwin was ready to submit his paper on …
- … a sudden illness. Falconer was 56, almost the same age as Darwin himself. Falconer had seconded …
- … supported his candidacy, and had tried hard to persuade Darwin to accept the award in person (see …
- … the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus Alvey Darwin, 3 January 1865 ). Erasmus …
- … Darwin had received a copy of Müller’s book, Für Darwin , a study of the Crustacea with reference …
- … … inheritance, reversion, effects of use & disuse &c’, and which he intended to publish in …
- … He wrote to Hooker, ‘I doubt whether you or I or any one c d do any good in healing this breach. …
- … Hooker’s behalf, ‘He asks if you saw the article of M r . Croll in the last Reader on the …
- … a long holiday at Hengwrt, a house in Wales rented by the Hensleigh Wedgwoods for the summer, and …
- … Correspondence vol. 13, CD’s ‘Journal’, Appendix I). Wedgwood and Darwin relatives visited Down …
- … ‘As for your thinking that you do not deserve the C[opley] Medal,’ he rebuked Hooker, ‘that I …
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: 27 hits
- … In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to …
- … (DAR 119) opens with five pages of text copied from Notebook C and carries on through 1851; the …
- … used these notebooks extensively in dating and annotating Darwin’s letters; the full transcript …
- … *128). For clarity, the transcript does not record Darwin’s alterations. The spelling and …
- … book had been consulted. Those cases where it appears that Darwin made a genuine deletion have been …
- … a few instances, primarily in the ‘Books Read’ sections, Darwin recorded that a work had been …
- … of the books listed in the other two notebooks. Sometimes Darwin recorded that an abstract of the …
- … own. Soon after beginning his first reading notebook, Darwin began to separate the scientific …
- … the second reading notebook. Readers primarily interested in Darwin’s scientific reading, therefore, …
- … editors’ identification of the book or article to which Darwin refers. A full list of these works is …
- … page number (or numbers, as the case may be) on which Darwin’s entry is to be found. The …
- … to be Read [DAR *119: Inside Front Cover] C. Darwin June 1 st . 1838 …
- … [DAR *119: 2v.] White’s regular gradation in man [C. White 1799] Lindley’s …
- … 8 vo p 181 [Latreille 1819]. see p. 17 Note Book C. for reference to authors about E. Indian …
- … in brutes Blackwood June 1838 [J. F. Ferrie 1838]. H. C. Watson on Geog. distrib: of Brit: …
- … Wiegman has pub. German pamphlet on crossing oats &c [Wiegmann 1828] Horticultural …
- … in Library of Hort. Soc. [DAR *119:5v.] M c .Neil 16 has written good article …
- … on the Dog with illustrations of about 100 varieties [?C. H. Smith 1839–40] 24 Flourens …
- … [Lindley 1840]— Chapter on Races improvement of &c &c important I should think …
- … [Fellows 1839] Catherine 48 Life of Collins R.A. [Collins 1848] Phases of Faith …
- … 1859] } Fanny The Woman in White [Collins 1860] } Hensleigh [DAR *128: 151] …
- … (Liebig 1851). 50 Probably Elizabeth Wedgwood. 51 This note is a …
- … with ‘X’ in brown crayon. 101 Fanny Hensleigh, i.e., Frances Mackintosh Wedgwood. …
- … 1848. Memoirs of the life of William Collins, Esq., R.A. 2 vols. London. *119: 23; 119: …
- … by Richard Owen. Vol. 4 of The works of John Hunter, F.R.S. with notes . Edited by James F. …
- … Robert. 1843. Memoirs of the life of John Constable, R.A., composed chiefly of his letters. …
- … Peacock, George. 1855. Life of Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.S. London. *128: 172; 128: 21 …
