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Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health

Summary

On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…

Matches: 20 hits

… On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July …
… 52 hours without vomiting!! In the same month, Darwin began to consult William Jenner, …
… prescribed a variety of antacids and purgatives, and limited Darwin’s fluid intake; this treatment …
… the dimorphic aquatic cut-grass Leersia . In May, Darwin finished his paper on Lythrum …
… he had set aside the previous summer. In October, Darwin let his friends know that on his …
… letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864 ] to the surgeon and naturalist …
… November and December were also marked by the award to Darwin of the Royal Society’s Copley Medal; …
… been unsuccessfully nominated the two previous years. As Darwin explained to his cousin William …
… five years earlier. His primary botanical preoccupation in 1864 was climbing plants. He had become …
… ( Correspondence vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864 ] , Darwin wrote to Hooker: ‘The …
… produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864 ] ). Darwin’s excitement about his …
… & therefore sacred’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 June [1864 ] ). When Darwin asked Oliver …
… light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 ] ). Though Darwin replied with his …
… . . .’ When he told Asa Gray in a letter of 29 October [1864 ] that he was continuing to study …
… addition to his work on climbing plants, Darwin engaged in 1864 in botanical observations and …
… were produced. Continuing from these earlier studies, in 1864 he conducted crossing experiments …
… in causing sterility both within and between species in his 1864 paper, ‘Three forms of Lythrum …
… 5 September 1864 ). Fritz Müeller sent his book, Für Darwin , and Darwin had it translated by a …
… but Lyell says when I read his discussion in the Elements [C. Lyell 1865] I shall recant for fifth …
… on intellectual & moral qualities’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May 1864 ] ). …

Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants

Summary

Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…

Matches: 28 hits

… Towards the end of 1862, Darwin resolved to build a small hothouse at Down House, for ‘experimental …
… hothouse early in 1863 marked something of a milestone in Darwin’s botanical work, since it greatly …
… vol. 5, letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 April [1855] ). Darwin became increasingly involved in …
… Though his greenhouse was probably heated to some extent, Darwin found himself on several occasions …
… make observations and even experiments on his behalf. Darwin’s decision to build a hothouse …
… Hooker, 12 [December 1862] and n. 13). Initially, Darwin purchased for this purpose a glass …
… of 24 December [1862] ( Correspondence vol. 10) Darwin told Hooker: I have …
… Encyclopedia of gardening (Loudon 1835), a copy of which Darwin signed in 1841 (see the copy in …
… of heat’ (p. 1100). The latter was the sense in which Darwin used the word. The building of …
… accounts (Down House MS)). When it was completed, Darwin told Turnbull that without Horwood’s aid he …
… ). Even before work on the hothouse started, however, Darwin began making preparations to …
… plants’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January [1863] ). Darwin apparently refers to the catalogues …
… whom he had dealt over many years. In his letter to Hooker, Darwin mentioned that he hoped to be …
… (letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 January 1863] ). Darwin agreed to send Hooker his list of …
… (letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 January [1863] ). Darwin probably gave his list of plants to …
… [1863] ). On 20 February, the plants from Kew had arrived. Darwin was delighted, telling Hooker: ‘I …
… moss, peat, and charcoal (see the letter from Henrietta Emma Darwin to William Erasmus Darwin, [22 …
… continuing: ‘Do you not think you ought to be sent with M r Gower to the Police Court?’ (William …
… an important focus for his experiments. By the spring of 1864 , he was thinking of expansion, telling …
… vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26[–7] March 1864 ). The plan was quickly set in motion, and …
… the work, while William Ledger did the building. By August 1864 , he had spent £126 10s. on the new …
… had ‘4 houses of different temperatures’ (letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March [1869] , …
… was replaced after Darwin’s death, and one section of the 1864 greenhouse was subsequently …
… vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, [25 January 1864 ] ). In view of the importance of Darwin …
… which he received in mid-February (see letter from L. C. Treviranus, 12 February 1863 ). …
… The reference is to James Bateman, an orchid specialist (R. Desmond 1994). 17. Stylidium …
… C. hæmatostigma. …
… Cyanophyllum magnificum M r Low 29 | of Melastomaceæ …

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: 24 hits

… On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If any …
… 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. 87–90, Darwin had briefly introduced the concept of …
… the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864 , Darwin claimed that sexual …
… to the stridulation of crickets. At the same time, Darwin continued to collect material on …
… his immediate circle of friends and relations. In July 1868 Darwin was still anticipating that his …
… which was devoted to sexual selection in the animal kingdom. Darwin described his thirst for …
… in January 1868. A final delay caused by the indexing gave Darwin much vexation. ‘My book is …
… 1867 and had expected to complete it in a fortnight. But at Darwin’s request, he modified his …
… the text. This increased the amount of work substantially. Darwin asked Murray to intervene, …
… … though it would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s angry letter to Murray crossed one from …
… blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). Darwin sympathised, replying on 14 January …
… 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 to ‘the 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 the “Origin 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 …
… who wished to pay ‘his devotions at the shrine of D r . Darwin’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 …

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: 21 hits

… | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a …
… community. Here is a selection of letters exchanged between Darwin and his workforce of women …
… Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August 1849] Darwin …
… peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to Darwin, [29 October …
… in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [6 June 1864 ] …
… Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] Darwin …
… Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 May 1870] …
… Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 March 1864 ] Darwin thanks Hooker for …
… 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 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] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, …
… - Wright, Charles to Gray, A., [20, 25, 26 March & 1 April 1864 ] Charles Wright tells …
… 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] …
… the future. Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 March 1863] Darwin …
… . Several reviewers speak of the “lucid, vigorous style, &c.” for which he owes her a great debt …
… Letter 7858 - Darwin to Wa llace, A. R., [12 July 1871] Darwin tells Wallace that …

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: 21 hits

… Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by 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 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin Actor 3 – In the dress of a modern day …
… Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart Mill, Emma Darwin, Horace Darwin… and 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 his ‘Review of the Life of Darwin’… pencilling the address so that it …
… Joseph D Hooker GRAY: 3 Charles Darwin… made his home on the border of the little …
… are kept in check by a constitutional weakness. DARWIN: A plain but comfortable brick …
… by every blessing except that of vigorous health… DARWIN: 4 My confounded stomach …
… pursuits and the simplicity of his character. DARWIN: 5 I am allowed to work now …
… own house, where he was the most charming of hosts. DARWIN: 6 My life goes on …
… being a part of [an unpublished] manuscript. Darwin settles down to write. His tone is …
… THE CONCURRENCE OF BOTANISTS: 1855 In which Darwin initiates a long-running correspondence …
… gossip about difficult colleagues (Agassiz). Gray realizes Darwin is not revealing all of his …
… Civil War. DARWIN: 157 February 1864 … My dear Gray. It is now six months since I …
… paragraph, in which I quote and differ from you[r] 178 doctrine that each variation has been …
… ARTS AND SCIENCES, PROCEEDINGS XVII, 1882 4 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 10 MAY 1848 …
… 1863 157 C DARWIN TO A GRAY 25 FEBRUARY 1864 158 C DARWIN TO A GRAY 28 …
… 27 OCTOBER 1862 168 TO ASA GRAY 29 OCTOBER 1864 169 FROM ASA GRAY 5 …

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: 15 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 …
… Letters Letter 109 - Wedgwood, J. to Darwin, R. W., [31 August 1831] Darwin …
… professional work on his return. Letter 158 - Darwin to Darwin, R. W., [8 & 26 …
… and taking in the aesthetic beauty of the world around him. Darwin describes the “striking” colour …
… and walks into town with Emma. Letter 555 - Darwin to FitzRoy, R., [20 February 1840] …
… an Infant ’. Letter 2781 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [3 May 1860] Doubleday …
… borders of his garden. Letter 2864 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [12 July 1860] …
… saw anything so beautiful”. Letter 4230 - Darwin to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [2 July 1863] …
… brought into the house immediately after a rain storm. Here, Darwin’s scientific investigation is …
… Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [2 January 1864 ] Haeckel sends Darwin some …
… Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 March 1864 ] Darwin thanks Hooker for …
… Letter 4469 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, [20 April 1864 ] Hooker discusses the scientific …
… Letter 4472 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, [26 or 27 April 1864 ] Hooker once again discusses …
… on the bedroom wallpaper. Letter 10821 - Graham C. C. to Darwin, [30 January 1877] …

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: 16 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. …
… 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 …
… Letter 4463 — Scott, John to Darwin, C. R., 14 Apr [1864 ] Scott thanks Darwin for his …
… Letter 4468 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 19 [Apr 1864 ] Darwin makes another plea to his …
… Letter 4469 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 20 Apr 1864 Hooker again refuses to help Scott, …
… Letter 4471 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 25 Apr [1864 ] Darwin thinks his friend Kew …
… Letter 4611 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 13 Sept [1864 ] Darwin sends abstract of John Scott …
… Letter 4441 — Becker, Lydia to Darwin, C. R., 30 Mar 1864 Becker sends Darwin a copy of her …

Science: A Man’s World?

Summary

Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…

Matches: 12 hits

… Discussion Questions | Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth …
… Letters Darwin’s Notes On Marriage [April - July 1838] In these notes, …
… of family, home and sociability. Letter 489 - Darwin to Wedgwood, E., [20 January 1839] …
… theories, & accumulating facts in silence & solitude”. Darwin also comments that he has …
… sitting by”. Letter 3715 - Claparède, J. L. R. A. E. to Darwin, [6 September 1862] …
… are not those of her sex”. Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 March 1863] …
… critic”. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [2 January 1864 ] Haeckel …
… works”. Letter 4441 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [30 March 1864 ] Lydia Becker …
… masculine nor pedantic”. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. B., [8 November 1869] …
… , (1829). Letter 7329 - Murray, J. to Darwin, [28 September 1870] Written …
… natural thinking”. Letter 8079 - Norton, S. R. to Darwin, [20 November 1871] …
… patience. Letter 13607 – Darwin to Kennard, C. A., [9 January 1882] 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: 18 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 …
… Darwin had received a copy of Müller’s book, Fü r Darwin , a study of the Crustacea with reference …
… ), and wrote up his results on his voyage to India in late 1864 , despite suffering from sea-sickness …
… … inheritance, reversion, effects of use & disuse &c’, and which he intended to publish in …
… in learned societies and in the popular press. In December 1864 , George Douglas Campbell, the duke …
… this and that modification of structure’ (G. D. Campbell 1864 , pp. 275–6). Campbell argued further …
… 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 …
… ‘As for your thinking that you do not deserve the C[opley] Medal,’ he rebuked Hooker, ‘that I …

Have you read the one about....

Summary

... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.

Matches: 1 hits

… ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …

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 …

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: 25 hits

… In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous …
… for scientific colleagues or their widows facing hardship. Darwin had suffered from poor health …
… of his scientific friends quickly organised a campaign for Darwin to have greater public recognition …
… Botanical observation and experiment had long been Darwin’s greatest scientific pleasure. The year …
… to Fritz Müller, 4 January 1882 ). These were topics that Darwin had been investigating for years, …
… working at the effects of Carbonate of Ammonia on roots,’ Darwin wrote, ‘the chief result being that …
… contents, if immersed for some hours in a weak solution of C. of Ammonia’. Darwin’s interest in root …
… London on 6 and 16 March, respectively. In January, Darwin corresponded with George John …
… letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 28 December 1881 ). Darwin had a long-running interest in such …
… experiments had been conducted to lend support to Darwin’s theory of pangenesis (see …
… He was eager to write up the results on Brazilian cane, with Darwin providing a detailed outline: ‘I …
… at the Linnean Society on 4 May, but not published. Darwin carried on with botanical work in …
… which are asymmetric, thus facilitating cross-fertilisation. Darwin’s aim, he said, was just to …
… 3 April 1882 ). Earthworms and evolution Darwin’s last book, Earthworms , had been …
… Appendix V). The conservative Quarterly Review , owned by Darwin’s publisher John Murray, carried …
… themselves’ ( Quarterly Review , January 1882, p. 179). Darwin commented at length on the review …
… is a young man & a worker in any branch of Biology,’ Darwin continued, ‘he will assuredly sooner …
… and professor of ecclesiastical history Henry Wace. Darwin was confident that the theory of …
… our homes, would in this case greatly suffer’ ( letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). Kennard …
… judged, intellectually his inferior, please ( letter from C. A. Kennard, 28 January 1882 ). …
… dull aching in the chest’ (Emma Darwin to G. H. Darwin, [ c . 28 March 1882] (DAR 210.3: 45)). …
… to some Estancia,’ wrote Hughes, ‘as the scenery &c. will amply repay your trouble’ ( letter …
… where he had witnessed an earthquake in 1835 ( letter from R. E. Alison, [March–July 1835 ]). …
… will be months before I am able to work’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [ c . 10 April 1864 ] ). To …
… History every day’ ( letter to Henry Holland, 6 November [1864 ] ). Writing to the clergyman and …

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: 11 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, …
… Origin . The second is a single letter from naturalist A. R. Wallace to Darwin on design and …
… 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 …
… of Argyll’s address to the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1864), Darwin used birds, flowers and …
… of Argyll’s address [to the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1864)] on beauty and sexual selection. He …

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: 22 hits

… The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now …
… and also a meeting with Herbert Spencer, who was visiting Darwin’s neighbour, Sir John Lubbock. In …
… all but the concluding chapter of the work was submitted by Darwin to his publisher in December. …
… hypothesis of hereditary transmission. Debate about Darwin’s theory of transmutation …
… alleged evidence of a global ice age, while Asa Gray pressed Darwin’s American publisher for a …
… for the Advancement of Science. Fuller consideration of Darwin’s work was given by Hooker in an …
… frustrations were punctuated by family bereavement. Two of Darwin’s sisters died, Emily Catherine …
… from painful illness. Diet and exercise Among Darwin’s first letters in the new year …
… every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). Darwin had first consulted Jones in July …
… ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). Darwin began riding the cob, Tommy, on 4 …
… day which I enjoy much.’ The new exercise regime led to Darwin’s being teased by his neighbour, John …
… dimorphism and trimorphism, published between 1861 and 1864 , which raised questions about hybrid …
… you go on, after the startling apparition of your face at R.S. Soirèe—which I dreamed of 2 nights …
… so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [ c . 10 May 1866] ). Henrietta’s …
… teleological development ( see for example, letter to C. W. Nägeli, 12 June [1866] ). Also in …
… common broom ( Cytisus scoparius ) and the white broom ( C. multiflorus ) in his botanical …
… and June on the subject of Rhamnus catharticus (now R. cathartica ). Darwin had become …
… of separate sexes. William gathered numerous specimens of R. catharticus , the only species of …
… replied with a modified list, adding Fritz Müller’s Fü r Darwin , and a recent fossil discovery in …
… selection, and with special creation ( letter from W. R. Grove, 31 August 1866 ). Hooker later …
… an expression first used by Herbert Spencer in an 1864 instalment of Principles of biology . ( …
… indeed at poor Susan’s loneliness’ ( letter from E. C. Langton to Emma and Charles Darwin, [6 and 7 …

Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life

Summary

1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…

Matches: 24 hits

… The year 1876 started out sedately enough with Darwin working on the first draft of his book on the …
… games. ‘I have won, hurrah, hurrah, 2795 games’, Darwin boasted; ‘my wife … poor creature, has won …
… regarding the ailments that were so much a feature of Darwin family life. But the calm was not to …
… four days later. ‘I cannot bear to think of the future’, Darwin confessed to William on 11 …
… once, the labour of checking proofs proved a blessing, as Darwin sought solace for the loss of his …
… and his baby son Bernard now part of the household, and Darwin recasting his work on dimorphic and …
… had involved much time and effort the previous year, and Darwin clearly wanted to focus his …
… of the second edition of Climbing plants ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 23 February 1876 ). When …
… single-volume edition titled Geological observations , Darwin resisted making any revisions at …
… volume, Coral reefs , already in its second edition. Darwin was nevertheless ‘firmly resolved not …
… meticulous correction of errors in the German editions made Darwin less anxious about correcting the …
… to Carus. ( Letter to J. V. Carus, 24 April 1876. ) Darwin focused instead on the second …
… concentrated on the ‘means of crossing’, was seen by Darwin as the companion to Cross and self …
… return to old work than part of the future work outlined by Darwin in his ‘little Autobiography’ ( …
… holiday after finishing Cross and self fertilisation , Darwin took up the suggestion made by a …
… for his family only. Writing for an hour every afternoon, Darwin finished his account on 3 August …
… dimittis.”’ (‘Recollections’, pp. 418–19). Darwin remained firm in his resolution to …
… ever return to the consideration of man.’ In particular, Darwin seemed eager to avoid issues that …
… effected by his forthcoming pamphlet, Darwin confounded (C. O’Shaughnessy 1876), which, he …
… and who had succeeded in giving him pain ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 17 June 1876 ). Although …
… year’s experiments’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [ c . 19 March 1876] ). A less welcome reaction …
… because of a ‘long and terrible illness’ ( letter to C. S. Wedgwood, 20 April 1876 ). By the time …
… in harmony with yours’ ( letter from George Henslow, [ c. 7 December 1876] ). A more typical …
… from different forms of dimorphic and trimorphic plants in 1864 showed that hybrid sterility in …

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: 24 hits

… Letters | Selected Readings Darwin's first reflections on human progress were …
… human progress or cause degeneration. In the "Fuegians", Darwin thought he had witnessed …
… several years earlier as part of a missionary enterprise. Darwin was struck by the progress that had …
… been returned to their native land. After the voyage, Darwin began to question the …
… After the publication of Origin of Species , many of Darwin's supporters continued to …
… or extermination of other peoples and cultures. When Darwin wrote about the human races and …
… on human and animal behavior accumulated over three decades. Darwin argued forcefully for the unity …
… and beyond. Letters Darwin’s first observations of the peoples …
… Cambridge, John Stevens Henslow. Letter 204 : Darwin to Henslow, J. S., 11 April 1833 …
… Charles wrote to his sister, Emily Catherine Darwin, about witnessing slavery in the Portuguese …
… effect in the following year. Letter 206 : Darwin to Darwin, E. C., 22 May [– 14 July] …
… descent. Letter 4933 : Farrar, F. W. to Darwin, 6 November 1865 "so …
… this a very strong argument for the Polygenist?" Darwin asked the English settler …
… of replies from the South African native, Christian Gaika. Darwin was impressed by Gaika's …
… of civilization of the natives. Letter 5617 , Darwin to Weale, J. P. M., 27 August …
… civilization" Letter 5722 , Weale, J. P. M. to Darwin, [10 December 1867] …
… Just prior to the publication of Origin of Species , Darwin discussed his views on progress in a …
… structure. This remained a point of dispute between many of Darwin’s scientific supporters, …
… , 6 th ed, p. 98). Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C., 11 October [1859] …
… William Graham. Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C., 11 October [1859] I …
… in rank." Letter 4510 : Darwin to Wallace, A. R., 28 [May 1864 ] "Now …
… at archive.org ] Carl Vogt, Lectures on Man (1864 ) [ available at archive.org ] …
… theory of natural selection", Anthropological Review 2 (1864 ): clviii-clxx [ available at …
… . New York: The Free Press, 1968. Robert J. C. Young, Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, …

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: 27 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 …
… letter-writing dwindled considerably. The correspondence and Darwin’s scientific work diminished …
… 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 Darwin’s preoccupation with the …
… to man’s place in nature both had a direct bearing on Darwin’s species theory and on the problem …
… detailed anatomical similarities between humans and apes, Darwin was full of praise. He especially …
… in expressing any judgment on Species or origin of man’. Darwin’s concern about the popular …
… Lyell’s and Huxley’s books. Three years earlier Darwin had predicted that Lyell’s forthcoming …
… first half of 1863 focused attention even more closely on Darwin’s 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, Darwin’s regret was profound that the …
… the ‘brutes’, but added that he would bring many towards Darwin who would have rebelled against …
… from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). The botanist Asa Gray, Darwin’s friend in the United States, …
… off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In May, Darwin responded to Gray that Lyell’s and …
… or Modification, ’. Faction fighting Darwin was not alone in feeling disaffected …
… in the subject. ‘The worst of it is’, Hooker wrote to Darwin, ‘I suppose it is virtually Huxley’s …
… that he had contributed to the proofs of human antiquity. Darwin and Hooker repeatedly exchanged …
… appeared in the Natural History Review in January, Darwin, who was already ill-disposed towards …
… January [1863] ). Archaeopteryx Falconer, Darwin, and others found an additional …
… sentence from the second edition of Antiquity of man (C. Lyell 1863b, p. 469), published in …
… to the Linnean Society in a paper that was read in February 1864 . He had already promised Scott that …
… very slowly recovering, but am very weak’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [29 September? 1863] ). …
… Thomas’s Hospital, London ( letter from George Busk, [ c. 27 August 1863] ). Brinton, who …

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 …
… material on emotional expression. Yet the scope of Darwin’s 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 Darwin’s most substantial addition to Origin was a …
… a Swiss botanist and professor at Munich (Nägeli 1865). Darwin had considered Nägeli’s paper …
… principal engine of change in the development of species. Darwin correctly assessed Nägeli’s theory …
… in most morphological features (Nägeli 1865, p. 29). Darwin sent a manuscript of his response (now …
… are & must be morphological’. The comment highlights Darwin’s apparent confusion about Nägeli’s …
… ‘purely morphological’. The modern reader may well share Darwin’s uncertainty, but Nägeli evidently …
… pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide Darwin with botanical examples he could use …
… problems of heredity Another important criticism that Darwin sought to address in the fifth …
… prevailing theory of blending inheritance that Jenkin and Darwin both shared, would tend to be lost …
… ( Origin 5th ed., pp. 103–4). The terminology that Darwin and others employed in these matters ( …
… ‘I must have expressed myself atrociously’, Darwin wrote to Alfred Russel Wallace on 2 February , …
… now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , and …
… 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 …
… Sweetland Dallas’s edition of Fritz Müller’s Fü r Darwin (Dallas trans. 1869). The book, an …
… had greatly impressed Darwin when it first appeared in 1864 , and the ensuing correspondence with …
… creation, if he is not completely staggered after reading y r essay’. The work received a …
… whole meeting was decidedly Huxley’s answer to D r M c Cann. He literally poured boiling oil …
… as it had been since his last period of prolonged illness in 1864 and 1865, although a particularly …

Darwin in letters, 1844–1846: Building a scientific network

Summary

The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but he broadened his continuing investigations into the nature and origin of species. Far from being a recluse, Darwin was at the heart of British scientific society,…

Matches: 26 hits

… results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but throughout these …
… species and varieties. In contrast to the received image of Darwin as a recluse in Down, the letters …
… Down House was altered and extended to accommodate Darwin’s growing family and the many relatives …
… The geological publications In these years, Darwin published two books on geology, Volcanic …
… papers for all these organisations. Between 1844 and 1846 Darwin himself wrote ten papers, six of …
… 2, letter to A. Y. Spearman, 9 October 1843, n. 1). Darwin's inner circle: first …
… not (it is like confessing a murder) immutable Darwin’s earlier scientific friendships …
… friends, with the addition of Hooker, were important to Darwin for—among other things—they were the …
… scientific issues that arose out of his work on species. Darwin discussed his ideas on species …
… Only two months after their first exchange, early in 1844, Darwin told Hooker that he was engaged in …
… correspondence that his close friends were not outraged by Darwin’s heterodox opinions and later in …
… But although eager for the views of informed colleagues, Darwin was naturally protective of his …
… vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 [February 1847]). Darwin can be seen as a cautious strategist, …
… candidate, known to be working on species and varieties, was Darwin himself: as he told his cousin …
… the book to him. But, as his letters to Hooker show, Darwin carefully considered and then rejected …
… Perhaps the most interesting letter relating to Darwin’s species theory, which also bears on his …
… to his wife Emma, dated 5 July 1844 , just after Darwin had completed the final draft of his …
… who would undertake to see the work through the press. Darwin also listed possible editors: at first …
… on the work. But the list was subsequently altered after Darwin’s second, and possibly third, …
… Hooker’s was added. Much later, by the autumn of 1854 when Darwin began sorting out his notes in …
… the cover to that effect. The full consideration that Darwin gave to the future editing and …
… he was for much of the time too ill even to write letters, Darwin felt that his life was only too …
… in his health. Volcanoes, rocks, and fossils Darwin’s published work during this …
… elevation of extensive tracts of land relative to the sea. Darwin put forward a new explanation of …
… whose subsequent work led to the general acceptance of Darwin’s views. South America drew …
… with drawings of his first dissection. The barnacle—‘M r Arthrobalanus’ in Hooker’s and Darwin’s …

	CCD intro	(8)
	Copley medal	(1)
	humans	(1)
	Historical documents	(2)
	Life sciences	(2)
	Natural selections: a longer read	(1)
	Asa Gray	(1)
	emotion	(2)
	Featured	(4)
	natural selection	(2)
	Primula	(1)
	Sexual selection	(1)
	Variation	(3)
	drama	(1)
	Climbing Plants	(1)
	George Douglas Campbell	(1)
	Hugh Falconer	(1)
	reading	(1)
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	distribution	(1)
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	glacier	(1)
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	Origin	(2)
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	hothouse	(1)
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	heredity	(1)
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	ice ages	(1)
	Nägeli	(1)
	Geology	(1)
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Darwin Correspondence Project

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