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New material added to the American edition of Origin

Summary

A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…

Matches: 11 hits

  • … Soon after Origin was published, Darwin received a letter from Asa Gray offering to arrange an …
  • … Darwin responded favourably to Gray’s proposal in his letter of 21 December [1859] ( Correspondence …
  • … had been fixed through the process of stereotyping (see letter from Asa Gray, 23 January [1860] and …
  • … Darwin subsequently changed his mind. On 31 January he told Joseph Dalton Hooker that he was …
  • … of species; Darwin sent this off to Gray enclosed in his letter of [8 or 9 February 1860]. He had …
  • … [1860] and 1 February [1860]). A month later, in his letter of 8 March [1860], Darwin sent …
  • … criticisms of natural selection (especially that given by Hewett Cottrell Watson in his letter of [3 …
  • … changes he intended to make in the American edition in the letter to Lyell, 18 [and 19 February 1860 …
  • … corrected Second Edition with additional corrections” (letter to Asa Gray, 1 February [1860]). …
  • … resulting from three separate printings of Origin (see letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] and …
  • … of Origin ( Origin 3d ed., pp. 363–6). See also letter from John Lubbock, [after 28 April …

Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'

Summary

In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…

Matches: 18 hits

  • … prominent in his immediate circle were Charles Lyell and Joseph Dalton Hooker, who were joined in …
  • … to rely on the caustic yet considered botanical opinions of Hewett Cottrell Watson. Similarly—with …
  • … an illustration of how selection might work in nature ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. …
  • … the real structure of varieties’, he remarked to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 September [1856 …
  • … ‘& I mean to make my Book as perfect as ever I can.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 8 February [1857] …
  • … plants, he asked Asa Gray, vary in the United States ( letter to Asa Gray, 2 May 1856 )? What …
  • … plants pretty effectually’ complained Darwin in 1857 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [2 May 1857] ). …
  • … John Lubbock that his method of calculation was wrong ( letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1857] ). …
  • … ‘Darwin, an absolute & eternal hermaphrodite’ ( letter to to T. H. Huxley, 1 July [1856] ), …
  • … which the bird had naturally eaten have grown well.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1856] …
  • … of seeds and carried out some unusual studies that required Joseph Parslow, the butler, to shoot …
  • … he wrote to Syms Covington in New South Wales ( letter to Syms Covington, 9 March 1856 ). …
  • … his work on species and the preparation of his manuscript ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 1 May 1857 ) …
  • … a preliminary sketch was apparently first made in a letter written by Lyell from London on 1–2 May …
  • … and went up to London to see Lyell to discuss it further ( letter to Charles Lyell, 3 May [1856] ) …
  • … Hearing about the party afterwards, Lyell reported in a letter to his brother-in-law that, ‘When …
  • … so far, and not embrace the whole Lamarckian doctrine.’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, …
  • … in his views to explain them in explicit detail in a long letter to Asa Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, …

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: 30 hits

  • … learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January …
  • … the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
  • … wanted: Thomas Henry Huxley, William Benjamin Carpenter, and Joseph Dalton Hooker. Others were not …
  • … he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] …
  • … his theory would have been ‘ utterly  smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A …
  • … from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
  • … a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
  • … phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
  • … natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19 …
  • … advantage to the creatures themselves. The evolutionist Hewett Cottrell Watson argued for the …
  • … considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
  • … naturalists because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). …
  • … two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like …
  • … tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 3 April [1860] ). By the …
  • … favour of change of form’, namely those of embryology ( letter to Asa Gray, 10 September [1860] ). …
  • … his study of the geographical distribution of species ( see letter from T. H. Huxley, 6 August 1860 …
  • … ‘man is in same predicament with other animals’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] )— he …
  • … book had become ‘topics of the day’ at the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. …
  • … Darwin ‘master of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other …
  • … that ‘this row is best thing for subject.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). Further …
  • … if the whole were already proved) to his own views.—’ ( letter from J. S. Henslow to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … ‘how differently different opposers view the subject’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February [1860] …
  • … studying the first published piece: 'I said in a former letter that you were a Lawyer; but I …
  • … that these visits have led to changed structure.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 27 April [1860] ). …
  • … several months later, ‘just as at a game of chess.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 [July 1860] ). …
  • … substance from non=nitrogenised substances.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 31 [August 1860] ). Relying …
  • … scarcely be believed without further supporting evidence ( letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December …
  • … ‘how much better fun observing is than writing.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 12 September [1860] ) …
  • … hope & think I shall improve the Book considerably.—’ ( letter to John Murray, 5 December [1860 …
  • … of some good judge coming some little way with me.’ ( letter to John Innes, 28 December [1860] ). …

Darwin in letters, 1851-1855: Death of a daughter

Summary

The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. The period opens with a family tragedy in the death of Darwin’s oldest and favourite daughter, Anne, and it shows how, weary and mourning his dead child,…

Matches: 9 hits

  • … expertise in zoological matters, just as he did on Joseph Dalton Hooker’s in botany. Moreover, this …
  • … in his health was indicated by his comment in a letter to Hooker on 29 [May 1854] : ‘Very far …
  • … correspondents, such as the prominent botanists Asa Gray and Hewett Cottrell Watson or outspoken …
  • … with ripe fruit to float, also drawing the botanist Miles Joseph Berkeley, his friend Hooker, and …
  • … large-scale geological changes. As he told Hooker in a letter of 5 June [1855] , ‘it shocks my …
  • … he had written to Hooker ( Correspondence  vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 [June 1850] ), …
  • … study the works of plant hybridisers, particularly those of Joseph Gottlieb Kölreuter and Karl …
  • … interested in animal breeding. As Darwin told Fox in a letter of 27 March [1855] , the object of …
  • … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But …

Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin

Summary

The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This …
  • … called it) to his views of close friends like Charles Lyell, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Thomas Henry …
  • … has  infinitely  exceeded my wildest hopes.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). …
  • … to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
  • … botanists without revealing his reason or his own opinion. Hewett Cottrell Watson and Charles …
  • … as evidence for what actually occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and  …
  • … throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have …
  • … his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
  • … selection. Darwin’s shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell …
  • … Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
  • … on Charles Lyell’s endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the …
  • … McKinney has suggested that Darwin received Wallace’s letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same …
  • … Brooks maintains that Darwin received Wallace’s letter even earlier, perhaps as early as 14 May. …
  • … of the Peninsular & Oriental Company, and assuming that the letter to Darwin was posted at the …
  • … 20 May via Southampton. According to Brooks, Darwin kept the letter for a month, during which time …
  • … at Down on 18 June. In the absence of Wallace’s letter or of any firm evidence for the date of its …
  • … work, and he shows no sign of anxiety. He says in a letter to Syms Covington, 18 May [1858], that he …
  • … ‘There is not least hurry in world about my M.S.’ In his letter to Hooker of 8 June [1858], he …
  • … of someone who is distressed, as Darwin clearly was in his letter to Lyell, at the prospect of …
  • … papers at the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858, including a letter from Wallace to Hooker thanking him …
  • … Darwin was during the days immediately following his letter to Lyell. On 18 June 1858, his eldest …
  • … of his material would require a ‘small volume’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] ). …
  • … kidney beans’, to the  Gardeners’ Chronicle  (see letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [before 13 …

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: 10 hits

  • … buried Darwin under a blizzard of letters (see especially letter to Charles Lyell, 11 October …
  • … getting permission to quote prominently from Kingsley’s letter in the revised summary: A …
  • … sufficiently acknowledged earlier work.  According to a letter to Asa Gray he had yet to start …
  • … an animal’s colour and its immunity to poison (see letter from Jeffries Wyman, [ c . 15] …
  • …   Less delightful were a three-way exchange with Joseph Hooker and Hewett Cottrell Watson …
  • … include Bates’ work on variation along with a paper by Joseph Hooker on the Arctic.   …
  • … hitherto slurred it over. In his Christmas Day letter to his old friend Joseph Hooker, …
  • … and Flower, requesting that they read through new text.  Joseph Hooker’s wife, Frances, dredged …
  • … of population increase in elephants in response to a letter published in the Athenaeum by a …
  • … remained warm enough to preserve tropical plants.   Joseph Hooker, with whom Darwin had been …

Darwin’s reading notebooks

Summary

In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…

Matches: 28 hits

  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
  • … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
  • … M rs  Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … in Brazil [Gardner 1846]. —— 10 th  D r . Joseph Adams. Philosoph. Treatise on Hereditary …
  • … Poor [Mayhew 1851].— Missionary Life in Canada [Joseph Abbott 1846] May 20 G. Cumming …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • … the private library of William Jackson Hooker and his son, Joseph Dalton Hooker, from whom CD …
  • … wishes (1784). 29  Possibly a reference to Joseph Priestley,  Hartley’s theory of …
  • … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
  • … ( Notebooks , pp. 319–28). 55  The letter was addressed to Nicholas Aylward Vigors …
  • … to William Jackson Hooker. See  Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
  • … of Khaurism . 2 vols. London.  119: 21b Abbott, Joseph. 1846.  Philip Musgrave; or, …
  • … 1799, etc . 2 vols. London.  119: 14a Acosta, Joseph de. 1604.  The naturall and morall …
  • … the Spanish. London. [Other eds.] *128: 159 Adams, Joseph. 1815.  A treatise on the …
  • … [Other eds.]  *119: 21; 119: 13b, 22b Banks, Joseph. 1796–1800.  Catalogus bibliothecæ …
  • … To which is added, an account   of his life (drawn up by Joseph Stock), and several of his   …
  • … *119: 14v.; 119: 13a Blanco y Crespo, José Maria (Joseph Blanco White). 1845.  The life of …
  • … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832.  A letter in vindication of   the principles of …
  • … Abstract in DAR 71: 85–6.]  128: 12 Butler, Joseph. 1736.  The analogy of religion, …
  • … 119: 12b Corry, John. 1804.  The life of Joseph Priestley … With   critical observations …
  • … vols. London.  *119: 24; *128: 180; 128: 5 Davis, Joseph Barnard and Thurnam, John. 1856 …
  • … by Bekhur to   Garoo and the Lake Manasarowara: with a letter from … J.   G. Gerard, Esq. …
  • … 1830. On the dying struggle of the dichotomous sytem. In a letter to N. A. Vigors.  Philosophical …
  • … *119: 8v., 22v.; *128: 165 ——. 1850a. Letter to the Rev. John Bachman, on the question of …
  • … art of improving the   breeds of domestic animals. In a letter addressed to the   Right Hon. Sir …
  • … Sta Helenica . St Helena.  *119: 7v. Watson, Hewett Cottrell. 1835.  Remarks on the …
  • … 1820.  Remarks on the improvement of   cattle, &c. in a letter to Sir John Saunders Sebright, …