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Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex

Summary

The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…

Matches: 21 hits

  • …   On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If
  • he ought to do what I am doing pester them with letters.’ Darwin was certainly true to his word. The
  • and sexual selection. In  Origin , pp. 8790, Darwin had briefly introduced the concept of
  • in satisfying female preference in the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864, …
  • to the stridulation of crickets. At the same time, Darwin continued to collect material on
  • and his immediate circle of friends and relations. In July 1868 Darwin was still anticipating that
  • which was devoted to sexual selection in the animal kingdom. Darwin described his thirst for
  • as well say, he would drink a little and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868] ) …
  • in January 1868. A final delay caused by the indexing gave Darwin much vexation. ‘My book is
  • Murray to intervene, complaining on 9 January , ‘M r . Dallasdelayis intolerableI am
  • it was by Gray himself, but Darwin corrected him: ‘D r  Gray would strike me in the face, but not
  • … . It is a disgrace to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] ). The review was
  • April 1868 . The letter was addressed tothe Rev d  C. Darwin M.d’; Binstead evidently assumed
  • I did not see this, or rather I saw it only obs[c]urely, & have kept only a few references.’ …
  • as life he wd find the odour sexual!’ ( letter to A . R. Wallace, 16 September [1868] ). Francis
  • south of France to Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood on 9 Novembe r, describing sphinx moths that were
  • question of theOrigin of Species”’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 4 October 1868 ). …
  • hands of the enemies of Nat. Selection’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). …
  • mission stations in Victoria, Australia ( letter from R. B. Smyth, 13 August 1868 ); lengthy
  • of her two-month old daughter Katherine ( letter from C. M. Hawkshaw to Emma Darwin, 9 February
  • rest mostly on faith, and on accumulation of adaptations, &c) … Of course I understand your

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
  • handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller, 22 February
  • 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?” Darwins questionnaire was an extension of
  • was also carefully devised so as to prevent the feelings of Darwins remote observers from colouring
  • in Ceylon, wrote the botanist George Thwaites on 22 July 1868 , “all endeavour to drill their
  • Scottish botanist John Scott wrote from Calcutta, 4 May 1868 : “Shame isexpressed by an
  • 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
  • exceptyesorno.” “The same state of mindDarwin would later assert in Expression of the
  • uniformity.” Table of Correspondence about Darwins Questionnaire (click on the letter
  • could available online ahead of schedule as part of theDarwin and Human Natureproject, funded by
  • Correspondent Letter date Location
  • nodding vertically Blair, R.H. 11 July
  • Africa)? ] mentioned in JPM Weale letter, but Bowker's answers not found
  • Fuegians Brooke, C.A.J. 30 Nov 1870
  • Dyaks Brooke, C.A.J. 30 April 1871
  • Bulmer, J 13 Aug 1868 [Gipps Land, nr. Flemington? …
  • Bunnett, Templeton 13 Aug 1868 Echuca, Australia
  • Woolston, Southampton, England letter to W.E. Darwin shrugging
  • Square W London, England enclosed in a letter from Henry Maudsley
  • Darwin, W.E. [after 29 March 1868] Chester Place, …
  • Reade, Winwood W. [c.8 or 9 Apr 1870] Accra, West
  • in Hottentots Smyth, R. Brough 13 Aug 1868

6430_10256

Summary

From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hookerf1   25 October 1868Lund (Suède)25 Okt. 1868.Monsieur le Professeur! J’ai écrit à deux de mes amis qui ont des connaissances personnelles à la Lapponie, pour avoir les…

Matches: 9 hits

  • … From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hooker f1    25 October 1868 Lund (Suède) 25 Okt. 1868. …
  • … attendant je preds la liberté de Vous avertir ou plutôt M r . Darwin par Vous, qu’il se trouve …
  • … que Vous avez la bonté de me recommender chez M r . Darwin pour avoir la sienne. Je me suis …
  • … Footnotes f1 For a translation of this letter, see Correspondence vol. 16, Appendix I. …
  • … knowledge of Lapland, to obtain the information that M r . Darwin wanted about Reindeer Antlers …
  • … I shall take the liberty of advising you or rather M r . Darwin through you, that a description of …
  • … one can read, it seems to me, the major part of what M r . Darwin wants to know. f4 Regarding …
  • … famous Men of Science, the photographs of yourself and of M r . Darwin are still missing. In your …
  • … that you will have the goodness to recommend me to M r . Darwin to obtain his. I have been …

Women’s scientific participation

Summary

Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…

Matches: 20 hits

  • … |  Editors and critics  |  Assistants Darwins correspondence helps bring to light a
  • community. Here is a selection of letters exchanged between Darwin and his workforce of women
  • Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August
  • silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to
  • to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to
  • Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] Darwin
  • Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H., [30 January 1868] Darwin asks Thomas Huxley to
  • Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 May 1870] …
  • 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S. E., [9 November 1868] Darwins nephew, Edmund, …
  • the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9
  • Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris
  • in Llandudno. Letter 4823  - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, H. E., [May 1865] …
  • Letter 6139  - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868] Doubleday responds to Darwins
  • Letter 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] Darwin asks his niece, …
  • Lychnis diurna. Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] …
  • lawn. Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin
  • Letter 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, [22 August 1874] Darwins niece, Lucy, …
  • Letter 1701  - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris
  • garden ”. Letter 6083  - Casparay, J. X. R. to Darwin, [2 April 1868] …
  • Letter 7858 - Darwin to Wa llace, A. R., [12 July 1871] Darwin tells Wallace that

Cross and self fertilisation

Summary

The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom, published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells us, in the most emphatic manner, that she abhors…

Matches: 27 hits

  • the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwins belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells
  • on plants with two or three different forms of flowers, Darwin had focused on the anatomical and
  • of different forms of pollen. Although many plants that Darwin observed had flowers with adaptations
  • rates, growth, and constitutional vigour. Although Darwin was no stranger to long months and years
  • … … is highly remarkableIn September 1866, Darwin announced to the American botanist
  • several years ( To Édouard Bornet, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin began a series of experiments, …
  • … ). It was only after a new season of experiments that Darwin would confirm that this poppy shed its
  • access to flowers was only the tip of the iceberg. Darwin next focused on the California
  • conditions’ ( From Fritz Müller, 1 December 1866 ). Darwins interest was piqued and he described
  • when self-fertilised, although fewer than crossed plants. Darwin sent some of these seeds to Müller, …
  • to produce capsules’ ( To Fritz Müller, 30 January [1868] ). Müller, in turn, sent seeds from his
  • Müller remarked, on receiving a new batch of seeds from Darwin, ‘that it wascurious to see, on
  • … ( From Fritz Müller, 15 June 1869 ). By May 1870, Darwin reported that he wasrearing crossed
  • From a fairly early stage in his experimental programme, Darwin began to pay more attention to the
  • seeds of Ipomœa. I remember saying the contrary to you & M r  Smith at Kew. But the result is
  • 17 March [1867] ). He noted another factor in a letter to Gray, remarking, ‘I am going on with my
  • the sweet pea ( Lathyrus odoratus ), and in October 1867, Darwin wrote to James Moggridge to ask
  • of the year ( To JTMoggridge, 1 October [1867] ). Darwin was beginning to suspect that the
  • produced by the former ( From Robert Caspary, 18 February 1868 ). Darwin eagerly requested seed
  • their power of growth’ ( To Robert Caspary, 25 February [1868] ).  By this time he had already
  • … (Variation 2: 128-9), which was published on 30 January 1868. In April 1868, Darwin informed
  • quite intelligible to me’ ( To George Bentham, 22 April 1868 ). A month later, he had another set
  • taken from the same plant!’ ( To JDHooker, 21 May [1868] ) Pollen tubes, or rapidly elongating
  • I am already plagued by foreign Translators, Reviewers, &c.’ ( To John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). …
  • … [1873] ). In September, Darwin wrote a long letter to Nature commenting on a seemingly
  • the set of all my works, I would suggest 1,500’ ( To R. F. Cooke, 16 September 1876 ). In the
  • of hybrids, has not yet been produced’ ( From ARWallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this

5935_4582

Summary

From J. D. Hooker   26[–7] February 1868KewFeby 26th/68Dear Darwin I have been bursting with impatience to hear what you would say of the Athenæum Review & who wrote it— I could not conceive who…

Matches: 10 hits

  • From JDHooker   26[–7] February 1868 Kew Feby 26 th /68 Dear Darwin
  • hascovered itself with infamy”.— The GCarticle is weak, wateryIt is hard to decide
  • Next morningAfter rereading all this vaporous letter I shall try to answer your last page in a
  • i.ewhere furthest removed from the action of light air &c, (as Spermatic cells) or in the most
  • some] ‘(5)’ added before blue crayon Top of letter : ‘LondonAthen. Lewesf10 blue
  • of Variation in the Athenæum to Richard Owen (see letter to JDHooker, 23 February [1868] …
  • 1867) was reviewed in the Athenæum , 8 February 1868, pp21718. f3 CD had discussed
  • f10 These annotations are for CDs reply. See letter to JDHooker, 28 February [1868] and nn. …
  • Letter details From Hooker, J. D. To Darwin, C. R. Sent from Kew
  • Tries to answer question on last page of CDs letter anent sexuality. …

5873_1488

Summary

From B. J. Sulivan   13 February [1868]f1 Bournemouth Feby. 13. My dear Darwin As Mr Stirling has sent me the recpt. you may as well have it with the Photo of the four Fuegian boys which he wishes me to send you in case you have not seen it. He…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … From B. J. Sulivan   13 February [1868] f1 Bournemouth Feby. 13. My dear …
  • … boys were returned in 1867. See Correspondence vol. 14, letter from B. J. Sulivan, 25 December …
  • … had resided in the Falklands from 1848 to 1851. Letter details From …
  • … social behaviour Please cite as Darwin Correspondence Database, http://www …

Women as a scientific audience

Summary

Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…

Matches: 16 hits

  • … Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those …
  • … a broad variety of women had access to, and engaged with, Darwin's published works. A set of …
  • … Were women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
  • … that his views are original and will appeal to the public. Darwin asks Murray to forward the …
  • … from all but educated, typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E …
  • … he seeks her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … in order to minimise impeding general perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, …
  • … in Expression . Letter 10072 - Pape, C. to Darwin, [16 July 1875] …
  • … in her garden. Letter 13650 Kennard, C. A. to Darwin, [28 January 1882] …
  • Letter 5861 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [11 February 1868] Zoologist Edward Blyth sends …
  • Letter 5928 - Gray, A. to Darwin, [25 February 1868] American naturalist Asa Gray …
  • Letter 6040 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [23 March 1868] Haeckel informs Darwin …
  • Letter 6110 - Samuelson, J. to Darwin, [10 April 1868] James Samuel, editor of …
  • … Variation . Letter 6126 - Binstead, C. H. to Darwin, [17 April 1868] …
  • … of Variation . Letter 6237 - Bullar, R. to Darwin, [9 June 1868] …
  • Letter 6335 - Innes, J. B. to Darwin, [31 August 1868] John Innes reports that he has …

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: 15 hits

  • … the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same …
  • … nineteenth century were different in important ways. Many of Darwin's leading supporters were …
  • … their religious beliefs with evolutionary theory. Darwin's own writing, both in print and …
  • … much as possible. A number of correspondents tried to draw Darwin out on his own religious views, …
  • … political contexts. Design Darwin was not the first to challenge …
  • … on the controversial topic of design. The first is between Darwin and Harvard botanist Asa Gray, …
  • … of “brute force”. Letter 2855 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 3 July [1860] Darwin …
  • … on this issue. Letter 3256 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 17 Sept [1861] Darwin …
  • … about an angel. Letter 3342 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 11 Dec [1861] Darwin …
  • … questions about design. Letter 6167 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 8 May [1868] …
  • Darwin and Wallace Letter 5140 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 2 July 1866 …
  • Darwin and Graham Letter 13230 — Darwin, C. R. to Graham, William, 3 July 1881 …
  • Letter 441 — Wedgwood, Emma to Darwin, C. R., [21–22 Nov 1838] In this letter, his soon-to-be …
  • … 6223 — Horsman, S. J. H. to Darwin, C. R., 2 June [1868] Horsman attempts to convince Darwin …
  • Letter 6241 — Innes, J. B. to Darwin, C. R., 13 June 1868 J. B. Innes, vicar of Down writes …

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: 24 hits

  • Re: DesignAdaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and othersby Craig
  • as the creator of this dramatisation, and that of the Darwin Correspondence Project to be identified
  • correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring
  • Actor 1Asa Gray Actor 2Charles Darwin Actor 3In the dress of a modern day
  • Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart Mill, Emma Darwin, Horace Darwinand acts as a sort
  • the play unfolds and acting as a go-between between Gray and Darwin, and between the audience and
  • this, he sends out copies of his Review of the Life of Darwin. At this time in his life, Asa
  • friends in England, copies of hisReview of the Life of Darwin’… pencilling the address so that it
  • Joseph D Hooker GRAY:   3   Charles Darwinmade his home on the border of the little
  • are kept in check by a constitutional weakness. DARWIN: A plain but comfortable brick
  • his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention
  • 11   My dear HookerWhat a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my
  • be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy itHis letter does strike me as most uncommonly
  • on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year
  • a brace of letters 25   I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received
  • might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing
  • fade.   GRAY PAYS DARWIN A VISIT AT DOWN: 1868 In which Gray announces his
  • apart theologically. GRAY:   175   Summer. 1868. The gist of my present note is to
  • paragraph, in which I quote and differ from you[r178   doctrine that each variation has been
  • …   189   [Jane Gray. Letter to her sister. Fall, 1868.] Mr Darwin [is].. fascinating… [he has] the
  • THE OLDER ONE GETS THE MORE THERE IS TO DO: 1868-1876 In which the friends consider the
  • ARTS AND SCIENCES, PROCEEDINGS XVII, 1882 4  C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 10 MAY 1848
  • 24 JULY 1865 175 A GRAY TO RW CHURCH, 22 JUNE 1868 176  TO A GRAY 15 AUGUST
  • TO A GRAY 15 APRIL 1867 180  TO A GRAY 8 MAY 1868 181 FROM A GRAY 25 MAY

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: 27 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
  • … & I am sick of correcting’ ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868
  • Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). …
  • material on emotional expression. Yet the scope of Darwins 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 Darwins most substantial addition to  Origin  was a
  • a Swiss botanist and professor at Munich (Nägeli 1865). Darwin had considered Nägelis paper
  • principal engine of change in the development of species. Darwin correctly assessed Nägelis theory
  • in most morphological features (Nägeli 1865, p. 29). Darwin sent a manuscript of his response (now
  • made any blunders, as is very likely to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). …
  • are & must be morphological’. The comment highlights Darwins apparent confusion about Nägelis
  • … ‘purely morphological’. The modern reader may well share Darwins uncertainty, but Nägeli evidently
  • pp. 289). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide Darwin with botanical examples he could use
  • than I now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , …
  • of information which I have sent prove of any service to M r . Darwin I can supply him with much
  • … & proximate cause in regard to Man’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ).  More
  • and the bird of paradise  (Wallace 1869a; letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 March [1869] ), and
  • an injustice & never demands justice’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). …
  • species that Darwin had investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February 1869 ). In a
  • genus that he had studied in the early 1860s ( letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March 1869 ). This
  • on the German translation of  Variation  (Carus trans. 1868). The French translation proved
  • the French edition of  Variation  (Moulinié trans. 1868), and CD now extended his permission for
  • Sweetland Dallass edition of Fritz Müllers  Für Darwin  (Dallas trans. 1869). The book, an
  • creation, if he is not completely staggered after reading y r  essay’. The work received a
  • whole meeting was decidedly Huxleys answer to D r  M c Cann. He literally poured boiling oil
  • Scientific Opinion , launched towards the end of 1868, was one of several periodicals begun in

Controversy

Summary

The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…

Matches: 17 hits

  • … the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely variable. Many of …
  • … was itself an important arena of debate, one that Darwin greatly preferred to the public sphere. …
  • … and support sustained in spite of enduring differences. Darwin's correspondence can thus help …
  • … Disagreement and Respect Darwin rarely engaged with critics publically. Letters exchanged …
  • … Richard Owen, the eminent comparative anatomist, show how Darwin tried to manage strong disagreement …
  • … were less severe, the relationship quickly deteriorated and Darwin came to regard him as a bitter …
  • … of a spirit of bravado, but a want of respect. Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, …
  • … of brotherly love and as his true-hearted friend. Letter 2555 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … Owen Letter 2526 — Owen, Richard to Darwin, C. R., 12 Nov 1859 Owen says to Darwin …
  • … as “heterodox”. Letter 2575 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [10 Dec 1859] …
  • … higgledy-piggledy”. Letter 2580 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, 13 Dec [1859] …
  • … men eminent in science. Letter 2767 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 25 Apr [1860] …
  • … aggressive tactics. Letter 5500 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. A., 12 Apr [1867] …
  • Letter 6024 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 19 Mar 1868 Wallace writes to Darwin with a …
  • Letter 6033 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., [21 Mar 1868] Darwin lets Wallace know he has …
  • Letter 6045 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 24 Mar [1868] Wallace returns George Darwin’s …
  • Letter 6058 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., 27 Mar [1868] Darwin writes to Wallace saying …

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: 18 hits

  • The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the
  • in relation to Sex’. Always precise in his accounting, Darwin reckoned that he had started writing
  • gathered on each of these topics was far more extensive than Darwin had anticipated. As a result,  …
  • and St George Jackson Mivart, and heated debates sparked by Darwins proposed election to the French
  • shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding machine’  ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December
  • anything which has happened to me for some weeks’  ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ) …
  • corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be’  ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ) …
  • … , the latter when she was just eighteen years of age. Darwin clearly expected her to make a
  • who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
  • abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February
  • philanthropist Frances Power Cobbe. At Cobbes suggestion, Darwin read some of Immanuel Kants  …
  • throapes & savages at the moral sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] …
  • how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870
  • fairy in Shakespeares  A midsummer nights dreamDarwin obtained a sketch of a human ear from
  • the folded margin. Darwin, who had posed for the sculptor in 1868, an experience he described as
  • in thanks for the drawing ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868] …
  • who sent a sketch of a babys brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). He also wrote to
  • … (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …

Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots

Summary

Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…

Matches: 16 hits

  • There are summaries of all Darwin's letters from the year 1879 on this website.  The full texts
  • 27 of the print edition of The correspondence of Charles Darwin , published by Cambridge
  • to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an
  • the sensitivity of the tips. Despite this breakthrough, when Darwin first mentioned the book to his
  • that his grandfather had felt the same way. In 1792, Erasmus Darwin had written: ‘The worst thing I
  • wrinkles one all over like a baked pear’ ( enclosure in letter from R. W. Dixon, 20 December 1879
  • itself, or gone some other way round?’ At least the last letter of 1879 contained a warmer note and
  • nice and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ). The masters of
  • of the Admiralty described the unknown young man asA M r Darwin grandson of the well known
  • him on 9 June not toexpend much powder & shot on M r  Butler’, for he really was not worth
  • leaving Darwinmore perplexed than ever about life of D r . D’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 12
  • the highest point, for hiswhy”—“what for” &c are incessant’, Darwin joked on 2 July (first
  • and Farrer had corresponded on scientific topics since 1868 and after Farrers second marriage to
  • which is his profession thonot a profitable one; also D r  C[lark]’s opinion that he was so
  • greatly amused Darwin, who felt it wasvery acute of M r  Ruskin to know that I feel a deep & …
  • and preventCattle diseases, Potato diseases &c’, probably did not know that Darwin had already

Natural Science and Femininity

Summary

Discussion Questions|Letters A conflation of masculine intellect and feminine thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity. Working from the private domestic comfort of their homes and exercising…

Matches: 14 hits

  • thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity
  • feminine powers of feeling and aesthetic appreciation, Darwin and his male colleagues struggled to
  • Britain? Letters Letter 109 - Wedgwood, J. to Darwin, …
  • pursuit of real, professional work on his return. Letter 158 - Darwin to Darwin, R. W., …
  • and taking in the aesthetic beauty of the world around him. Darwin describes thestrikingcolour
  • meals, family time and walks into town with Emma. Letter 555 - Darwin to FitzRoy, R., …
  • … ‘ A Biographical Sketch of an Infant ’. Letter 2781 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [3 May
  • them in the north-facing borders of his garden. Letter 2864 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
  • andnever saw anything so beautiful”. Letter 4230 - Darwin to GardenersChronicle, [2
  • Letter 6044 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H., [24 March 1868] Darwin relays his discussion with
  • Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments he
  • Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868] Doubleday details his experiments
  • Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S. E., [9 November 1868] Darwins nephew, Edmund, …
  • on the bedroom wallpaper. Letter 10821 - Graham C. C. to Darwin, [30 January 1877] …

Darwin and the Church

Summary

The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It shows another side of the man who is more often remembered for his personal struggles with faith, or for his role in large-scale controversies over the…

Matches: 20 hits

  • The story of Charles Darwins involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It
  • unique window into this complicated relationship throughout Darwins life, as it reveals his
  • belief (and doubt) than many non-conformist denominations. Darwins parents attended a Unitarian
  • the necessary studies to be a clergyman. During Darwins lifetime, the vast majority of the
  • income was essential to enjoy a gentlemanly lifestyle. For Darwin, who could rely on the financial
  • compatible with the pursuit of scientific interests. Indeed, Darwins Cambridge mentorJohn Stevens
  • … (Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine (1887): 321). Darwin started on his journey around the world
  • … & I can see it even through a grove of Palms.—’ (letter to Caroline Darwin, 256 April [1832] …
  • wrote to the contrary: ‘I am sorry to see in your last letter that you still look forward to the
  • near the British Museum or some other learned place’ (letter from E. A. Darwin, 18 August [1832] …
  • it is a sort of scene I never ought to think about—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, [912 August] 1835 ). …
  • in 1838 and 1839, as can be read here. In the end, Darwin chose a middle coursea life of ease in
  • However, what remains is cordial; in the first extant letter of the correspondence, Darwin wrote to
  • … (a local charity), which he administered from 1848 to 1869 (letter to J. B. Innes, [8 May 1848] …
  • a cow and a red deer (letter from J. B. Innes, 7 December 1868 ). Innes had a tendency to tease
  • he left behind (letter from S. J. OH. Horsman, 2 June [1868] ). Among the reasons justifying his
  • the churchs organ fund (letter to J. B. Innes, 15 June [1868] ). So embroiled in this process
  • the Down parish church (letter to J. B. Innes, 1 December 1868 ). Darwin wrote of the next
  • Innes informed Darwin that though heheard all good of M r . Ffindens moral character, his
  • an interesting letter from Darwin to the evangelist J. W. C. Fegan. Darwin whole-heartedly supported

Inheritance

Summary

It was crucial to Darwin’s theories of species change that naturally occurring variations could be inherited.  But at the time when he wrote Origin, he had no explanation for how inheritance worked – it was just obvious that it did.  Darwin’s attempt to…

Matches: 9 hits

  • to advance the hypothesis of Pangenesis  (Charles Darwin, Variation , vol. 2, p. 357). …
  • workedit was just obvious that it did. Darwins attempt to describe how heredity might
  • … ‘The whole subject of inheritance is wonderfulDarwin wrote,‘When a new character arises, whatever
  • 26 [March 1863] ).   Years before he published, Darwin sent a draft manuscript on Pangenesis
  • Huxley was worried that its speculative nature would give Darwins critics ammunition, but didnt
  • T. H. Huxley, 16 July 1865 ). 'Your last note' Darwin replied, 'made us
  • Huxley, [17 July 1865] ). He was forced to confess in a letter to Hooker , that it was indeed & …
  • some other name. (  to J. D. Hooker, 23 February '1868] )   And took
  • place,—and that I think hardly possible. ( from A. R. Wallace, 24 February 1868 ) …

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

  • and colonial authorities. In the nineteenth-century, letter writing was one of the most important
  • when strong institutional structures were largely absent. Darwin had a small circle of scientific
  • in times of uncertainty, controversy, or personal loss. Letter writing was not only a means of
  • section contains two sets of letters. The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. …
  • and he is curious about Hookers thoughts. Letter 729Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., …
  • confessing a murder”. Letter 736Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 23 Feb [1844] …
  • Darwin and Gray Letter 1674Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 25 Apr [1855] Darwin
  • species. Letter 1685Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. R., 22 May 1855 Gray recalled
  • flora in the USA. Letter 2125Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 20 July [1857] Darwin
  • information exchange. Letter 1202Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] …
  • name. Letter 1220Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 3 Feb 1849 In this gossipy
  • species descriptions. Letter 1260Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 12 Oct 1849
  • Letter 5770Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., Jan [1868] Müller thanks Darwin for his

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
  • 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
  • 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 Darwins preoccupation with the
  • to mans place in nature  both had a direct bearing on Darwins species theory and on the problem
  • fromsome Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
  • detailed anatomical similarities between humans and apes, Darwin was full of praise. He especially
  • … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
  • in expressing any judgment on Species or origin of man’. Darwins concern about the popular
  • Lyells and Huxleys books. Three years earlier Darwin had predicted that Lyells forthcoming
  • than  Origin had (see  Correspondence  vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
  • first half of 1863 focused attention even more closely on Darwins 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, Darwins regret was profound that the
  • sentence from the second edition of  Antiquity of man  (C. Lyell 1863b, p. 469), published in
  • Primula  crosses, the results of which were published in 1868 ( see letter to John Scott, 25 and
  • months. However, the two-volume work was not published until 1868. Roping in the family
  • very slowly recovering, but am very weak’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [29 September? 1863] ). …
  • Thomass Hospital, London ( letter from George Busk, [ c. 27 August 1863] ). Brinton, who

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.…

Matches: 12 hits

  • Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, …
  • set of selected letters is followed by letters relating to Darwin's 1881 publication
  • work are referenced throughout Variation . Letter 2395 - Darwin to Holland, …
  • her identity is both anonymised and masculinised. Letter 3316 - Darwin to Nevill, D
  • Nevill is referenced by name for herkindnessin Darwins Fertilisation of Orchids . …
  • are identified only asfriends in Surrey”. Letter 4794 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [25
  • to state that the information wasreceived through Sir C. Lyellor received fromMiss. B”. …
  • Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [9 June 1867 - 72] Darwin asks his niece to
  • Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H., [30 January 1868] Darwin asks Henrietta Huxley
  • at him. Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] Darwins
  • near his house. Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] …
  • worm castings . Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] …
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