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Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms
Summary
‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…
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- … and spent extended periods with Henrietta and Richard Litchfield in London. The children returned …
Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers
Summary
In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…
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- … could see that Butler, as he told his daughter Henrietta Litchfield on 4 January , ‘would like …
Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year
Summary
The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…
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Origin is 160; Darwin's 1875 letters now online
Summary
To mark the 160th anniversary of the publication of Origin of species, the full transcripts and footnotes of nearly 650 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1875 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1875…
Henrietta Darwin's diary
Summary
Darwin's daughter Henrietta kept a diary for a few momentous weeks in 1871. This was the year in which Descent of Man, the most controversial of her father's books after Origin itself, appeared, a book which she had helped him write. The small…
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Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?
Summary
'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…
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- … selection is somewhat under a cloud’, he wrote to J. E. Taylor on 13 January , and he complained …
- … the theories of natural and sexual selection to bees (H. Müller 1872), and with his reply Darwin …
- … for myself it is dreadful doing nothing’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was far …
- … origins of music provided by her husband, Richard Buckley Litchfield ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, …
- … 'I know that I am half-killed myself’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 25 July 1872 ). A …
- … a week later ( enclosure to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, 20 June 1872 ). Darwin …
- … Charlton Bastian’s recent book on the origin of life (H. C. Bastian 1872; Wallace 1872d) left him …
- … pleasant letters & never answer them’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 October [1872] ). But not …
- … than usual. One such old friend was Sarah Haliburton, née Owen, to whose sister, Fanny, Darwin had …
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.…
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Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
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- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
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Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest
Summary
The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…
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Animals, ethics, and the progress of science
Summary
Darwin’s view on the kinship between humans and animals had important ethical implications. In Descent, he argued that some animals exhibited moral behaviour and had evolved mental powers analogous to conscience. He gave examples of cooperation, even…
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Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
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Darwin and vivisection
Summary
Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…
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- … on Virchow for experimenting on the Trichinae’ (letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January [1875] ). …
- … physiologists to present their own petition (letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 January 1875 ). In …
- … prospect of animals suffering for science. In a letter to E. Ray Lankester, he wrote: ‘You ask about …
- … not sleep to-night’ ( Correspondence vol. 19, letter to E. R. Lankester, 22 March [1871] ). In …
- … who produced a new sketch for a petition (letter from T. H. Huxley, [4 April 1875] ). This was …
- … of Lushington and Darwin’s son-in-law Richard Buckley Litchfield. On 11 April, Darwin learned …
- … to Down, however, it was decided to draft a formal bill. Litchfield drew up a sketch that was …
- … ‘we wd do whatever else you think best’ (letter to E. H. Stanley, 15 April 1875 ). After further …
- … of the documents contain marginal notes and revisions in Litchfield’s hand. The changes made to the …
- … for each offence. This version also contained notes in Litchfield’s hand for an alternative title …
- … expressed their dismay at this alteration (letter from T. H. Huxley, 19 May 1875 , letter from J. …
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
Summary
George Eliot was the pen name of celebrated Victorian novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880). She was born on the outskirts of Nuneaton in Warwickshire and was educated at boarding schools from the age of five until she was 16. Her education ended when she…
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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…
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- … & would please Francis’, he pointed out ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 13 March [1879 ]). …
- … with the when & the where, & the who—’ ( letter from V. H. Darwin, 28 May [1879] ). On the …
- … thought ‘perfect in every way’ ( letter from E. A. Wheler, 25 March 1879 ). She suggested that …
- … own family found his first draft lacked interest. Henrietta Litchfield thought it ‘very dull,—almost …
- … and well, and with little fatigue’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 , and letter from …
- … to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 5 June 1879 , and letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 ). Darwin’s …
- … Aunt Elizabeth (Bessy) Darwin, and Henrietta and Richard Litchfield to the Lake District for a …
- … … neither cross nor ennuied’ (Emma Darwin to W. E. Darwin, [4 August 1879] (DAR 219.1: 125)). Darwin …
- … wait for three months. ‘Nothing can be more useless than T.H’s conduct’, Emma Darwin pointed out, …
- … say that he has opposed it’ (letter from Emma Darwin to W. E. Darwin, [4 August 1879] (DAR 219.1: …
- … to get home ‘& began drumming at once’ (Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, [27 August 1879] (DAR …
- … & I may not be equal to the exertion’ ( letter to H. A. Pitman, [13 May 1879] ). In the end, …
- … because it dominated the picture (letter from Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, [17 July 1879] (DAR …
- … men of science quarrelled (letter from Emma Darwin to W. E. Darwin, [6 September 1879] (DAR 219.1: …
- … to their engagement being made public ( letter from T. H. Farrer, 12 October 1879 ). Darwin’s …
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…
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- … he is a good deal depressed about himself’ (letter from H. E. Litchfield to G. H. Darwin, 17 March …
- … is very calm but she has cried a little’ (letter from H. E. Litchfield to G. H. Darwin, [19 April …
Darwin’s observations on his children
Summary
Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children, began the research that culminated in his book The Expression of the emotions in man and animals, published in 1872, and his article ‘A biographical sketch of an infant’, published in Mind…
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- … evangelical stories and tracts. In her old age, Henrietta Litchfield noted that ‘Little Robert & …
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…
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Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
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- … Eeles Dresser. ‘The horror was great’, Henrietta Emma Litchfield wrote to her brother Leonard on 14 …
Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
