To Syms Covington 9 March 1856
Summary
Thanks SC for his interesting account of the state of the colony. SC was wise to settle there where his sons have much better prospects.
Has finished his book on barnacles [1854]. Royal Medal awarded him chiefly for this work.
Asks SC whether he has observed any odd imported breeds of poultry, for his work on variation of species.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Syms Covington |
| Date: | 9 Mar 1856 |
| Classmark: | Sydney Mail, 9 August 1884, p. 255 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1840 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … DCP-LETT-1840 …
To T. C. Eyton 31 August [1856]
Summary
Asks whether number of incisors varies in domestic pigs. Is testing views of J. M. Bechstein.
Comments on TCE’s book [Herd book of Hereford cattle (1846–59)]. Mentions variations in the breed.
Will quote TCE on geese [Mag. Nat. Hist. 4 (1840): 90–2].
Problem of geographical distribution; his seed-salting experiments. Asks about distribution of seeds to islands. Do water-birds ever have dirty feet?
Could Eyton’s gamekeepers collect owl and hawk pellets? Asks for dace stomachs and contents.
Asks for cats’ skeletons.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Campbell Eyton |
| Date: | 31 Aug [1856] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.137) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1948 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … TCE on geese [ Mag. Nat. Hist. 4 (1840): 90–2]. Problem of geographical distribution; his …
- … Press. 1985–. Eyton, Thomas Campbell. 1840. Remarks on the skeletons of the common tame …
- … and common goose, as discussed in Eyton 1840 , were found by Edward Blyth and Thomas …
- … Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL. Eyton 1840 was referred to by CD in Natural selection , …
To T. C. Eyton 5 October [1856]
Summary
Offers TCE dog’s skin and skull received from W. F. Daniell in West Africa.
Mentions his experiments involving hawk pellets in seed distribution.
Reminds TCE about pig crosses and incisors.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Campbell Eyton |
| Date: | 5 Oct [1856] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.139) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1968 |
From Edward Blyth 26 February 1856
Summary
There is a possibility of establishment of a Government Museum at Calcutta, with which the Asiatic Society Museum would be merged. EB would like the curatorship but fears other possible applicants. Asks CD to represent him to W. H. Sykes.
Discusses the ancients’ awareness of various cats as deduced from the etymology of their names.
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 26 Feb 1856 |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: A126–A127 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1833 |
From H. C. Watson 5 June 1856
Summary
Answers CD’s questions about plants common to U. S. and Britain and their distribution in Europe.
Variability of agrarian weeds.
| Author: | Hewett Cottrell Watson |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 5 June 1856 |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 32 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1891 |
From Edward Blyth 8 January [1856]
Summary
Encloses "notes for Mr. D" [see 1818] and a memorandum on the wild cattle of southern India [see 1819].
Breeds of silky fowl of China and Malaya. Black-skinned fowl.
Doubts any breed of canary has siskin blood; all remain true to their type.
Wild canary and finch hybrids.
Hybrids between one- and two-humped camels.
Does not regard zebra markings on asses as an indication of interbreeding but as one of the many instances of markings in the young which more or less disappear in the adult.
Crossing of Coracias species at the edges of their ranges.
Regional variations and intergrading between species of pigeons.
Regards the differences in Treron as specific [see Natural selection, p. 115 n. 1].
Gives other instances of representative species or races differing only in certain details of colouring.
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Jan [1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: A110–13, A117–21 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1817 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Oud’h. Calcutta. Cautley, Proby Thomas. 1840. On the fossil remains of Camelidæ of the …
- … of birds. 11 vols. Winchester. Little, J. 1840. On the different breeds of cattle on the …
- … noticed by Cautley in the Journ. As. Soc. B. 1840, 623; & again by D r . Butter, in his ‘ …
- … 1834 , 1: 289, describes the country between Meshed and Heraut. Little 1840 , pp. 111– …
- … 14. Cautley 1840 , p. 623: ‘the natives of Hindostan … have in their affection for the …
To C. J. F. Bunbury 21 April [1856]
Summary
CD writes on geographical distribution – "a grand game of chess with the world for a board".
Gives his hypothetical explanation why zoology of Cape [of Good Hope] is not so peculiar as its botany: it was once a group of islands – later united.
Tries hard to set forth the difficulties of his [species] theory.
Tells CJFB in confidence of his theory of the glacial epoch and its effect on plant distribution, such as identical species being found on summits of mountains in the tropics. Invites him to attack his "doctrine".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles James Fox Bunbury, 8th baronet |
| Date: | 21 Apr [1856] |
| Classmark: | Suffolk Record Office, Bury St Edmunds (Bunbury Family Papers E18/700/1/9/6) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1856 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … en Abyssinie exécuté pendant les années 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843 par une commission …
From Edward Blyth [c. 22 March 1856]
Summary
Gives references to works on fowls and pigeons.
Observations on Gallinaceae.
Musk ox skull from southern England is additional evidence for Agassiz’s glacial period. Owen is mistaken in calling it a buffalo.
EB describes the buffalo proper.
Will send domestic pigeon specimens.
Believes pigeons were not bred in India before the Mohammedan conquest. Describes Indian breeds.
Believes the ass is an African rather than an Asian production. Discusses various species of ass and their distribution.
Wild horned cattle on borders of Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur.
[Notes received by CD on 6 May 1856.]
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [c. 22 Mar 1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: 133–9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1845 |
To Edward Sabine 23 April [1856]
Summary
CD and Hooker suggest Sir John Richardson for Royal Medal. Other suggestions are George Bentham, Joseph Prestwich, Albany Hancock.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Edward Sabine |
| Date: | 23 Apr [1856] |
| Classmark: | The Royal Society (Sa: 387) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1858 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Coalbrookdale coalfield in Shropshire (Prestwich 1840) and his work on the stratigraphy of …
From Edward Blyth 23 January 1856
Summary
Believes the goldfish originates from a wild, gold variety of Chinese carp.
Gallinaceous birds.
Crested turkeys.
EB divides the gallinaceous birds into five families on anatomical distinctions.
Wild dog species of India and Asia; ranges of some species, specific identity of others.
The fauna of the Seychelles.
Breeding of fowls in India and Africa.
Occurrence of turkeys in Africa.
Refers to some of his own papers giving fuller details of points raised previously.
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 Jan 1856 |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: A122–A125 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1825 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … History Society of Mauritius from 1829 to 1840. During this period the Rapports annuels …
| letter | (10) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (5) |
| Blyth, Edward | (4) |
| Watson, H. C. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (5) |
| Eyton, T. C. | (2) |
| Bunbury, C. J. F. | (1) |
| Covington, Syms | (1) |
| Sabine, Edward | (1) |
| Blyth, Edward | (4) |
| Bunbury, C. J. F. | (1) |
| Covington, Syms | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (10) |
| Eyton, T. C. | (2) |
| Sabine, Edward | (1) |
| Watson, H. C. | (1) |
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: 23 hits
- … 765. in Geograph. Soc?? Review of this in Edin. Phil Jour. 1840. June [Anon. 1840]. Report of …
- … 26—Account of Domestic & Foreign Bees [Jardine ed. 1840]: (Athenæum 1840 p. 195) …
- … A. Necker 1823] read Lindleys Horticulture [Lindley 1840]— Chapter on Races improvement of …
- … Admiral Von Wrangel’s Travels [Wrangel 1840].— Sir Ker Porter’s Travels in Caucasus [R. K. …
- … Instinct by D r . Alison [W. P. Alison 1847]. No 19. July. 1840 27 Annales des Sciences …
- … 12v.] Bowerbank’s Book on Fossil Fruit [Bowerbank 1840] must be studied Liebigs …
- … 1834] Royle on Indian Agricult. & Production [Royle 1840] Bennets. Whaling Voyage …
- … 1833]— Prof. Smyth. French Revolution 3 vols [Smyth 1840] Baber’s Biography. translat. …
- … II d . death [Hallam 1827] Ranke’s Popes [Ranke 1840].— Southeys life of Wesley …
- … reproductive system Encyclop of Rural Sports [Blaine 1840] (at Athenæum?) Book II Chapt. 4 on …
- … 1836].— Paxton Pocket Bot. Dict. 1841 [Paxton 1840]— probably good—every plant cultivated in …
- … must study Whewell on Philosophy of Science [Whewell 1840].— Speculates on Instinct.— …
- … A. Alison on Population. 2 vols. Feb. 1842 [A. Alison 1840].— Youatt in Vet. says Blaine on …
- … to be good Papers on Sewalik Fossils in 1842 [Cautley 1840 and Cautley and Falconer 1840] The …
- … Sheep [Blacklock 1838]; good quotation in Royle [Royle 1840] Proceedings of Agricult. Soc …
- … Capt. Parsons quoted by Royle. Prod. Res. p. 170 [Royle 1840] (read) 37 Sweet has …
- … Parrots [Selby 1836]. 26. Honey Bees [Jardine ed. 1840]. Waterhouse has it??? Jacintes …
- … [DAR *119: 21v.] Gosse Canadian naturalist [Gosse 1840] in Entomolog. Soc. Duchesne …
- … Martineau 1821] (read) Letters of L d . Ward? [Ward 1840] [DAR *119: 22v.] …
- … July 8 th M.S. Voyage of Kolff to the Molucca Sea [Kolff 1840] 10 th Surville-Marion …
- … on the Horse [Youatt 1831] Library of Useful K. 1840 Jan 1 st Many numbers of …
- … India [Heyne 1814] d[itt]o [DAR 119: 7a] 1840 D r . Hollands Medical …
- … Transactions of the Royal Society of London ] from 1788 to 1840 —Abstracted— Maer Phil Transact. …
Darwin's health
Summary
On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…
1.2 George Richmond, marriage portrait
Summary
< Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more may once have existed. In a letter of 1873 an old Shrewsbury friend, Arthur Mostyn Owen, offered to send Darwin a watercolour sketch of him, painted many years…
Matches: 10 hits
- … cousin Emma Wedgwood; the one of Darwin is signed and dated 1840. Their style is characteristic of …
- … 1839. Josiah Wedgwood himself wrote to his daughter Emma in 1840, asking her to commission Richmond …
- … However, it seems that the pair of portraits dating from 1840 which is now at Down House had a …
- … finished watercolours rather than drawings, indicating the 1840 pair now at Down House. …
- … the dates of various Darwin family commissions. In 1840 there were indeed entries (unpriced) for …
- … data to the various copies or alternative versions of the 1840 portraits which exist. A watercolour …
- … the back of the frame, ‘Charles Robert Darwin age 31 March 1840’; but she mysteriously described it …
- … of her mother – the only one she knew about – to 1840. However, in Emma Darwin: A Century of …
- … Richmond; signed and dated bottom right ‘G. Richmond 1840’ date of creation March 1840 …
- … p. 134, says that Erasmus Darwin retained the 1840 watercolours in his own collection in London, and …
Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'
Summary
The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Agassiz (see Barrett 1973, Rudwick 1974, and L. Agassiz 1840). In another paper, “On the …
- … My stomach as usual has been my enemy In 1840 the illness was different. As he wrote to …
- … life. ‘My stomach’, he wrote to FitzRoy, [20 February 1840] , ‘as usual has been my enemy—but D …
- … reasonable diagnosis (see Colp 1977). The illness of 1840 appears to have been the …
- … descendants, twelve letters from Darwin to Kemp in the years 1840 to 1843 have come to light; they …
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…
Matches: 7 hits
- … gives the first notice that he is going to cry. Feb 27. 1840 When nine weeks & three days …
- … vol. 2, letters to T. C. Eyton, [6 January 1840] , and Robert FitzRoy, [20 February 1840] . …
- … preceding sentence and the following text to ‘Feb 27. 1840’ on page 6 is in Emma Darwin’s hand. …
- … stayed with CD and Emma Darwin between 21 March and 2 May 1840 (Emma Darwin’s diary). If Emma Darwin …
- … December, rather than 4, and 28 days, not 29, in February (1840 was a leap year) when calculating …
- … Darwin’s parents Bessy and Josiah Wedgwood II, on 5 June 1840. They remained in Staffordshire and …
- … the role of bees in pollination, made in the summers between 1840 and 1842, are in DAR 46.2 and DAR …
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: 1 hits
- … Letter 555 - Darwin to FitzRoy, R., [20 February 1840] Darwin discusses the development …
Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles
Summary
Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … vol. 2, letter from J. S. Henslow, 21 November 1840 ). The sexual relations of barnacles seemed …
Bibliography of Darwin’s geological publications
Summary
This list includes papers read by Darwin to the Geological Society of London, his books on the geology of the Beagle voyage, and other publications on geological topics. Author-date citations refer to entries in the Darwin Correspondence Project’s…
People featured in the Dutch photograph album
Summary
Here is a list of people that appeared in the photograph album Darwin received for his birthday on 12 February 1877 from scientific admirers in the Netherlands. Many thanks to Hester Loeff for identifying and researching them. No. …
Conrad Martens
Summary
Conrad Martens was born in London, the son of an Austrian diplomat. He studied landscape painting under the watercolourist Copley Fielding (1789–1855), who also briefly taught Ruskin. In 1833 he was on board the Hyacinth, headed for India, but en route in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Conrad Martens was born in London, the son of an Austrian diplomat. He studied landscape painting …
People featured in the Dutch photograph album
Summary
List of people appearing in the photograph album Darwin received from scientific admirers in the Netherlands for his birthday on 12 February 1877. We are grateful to Hester Loeff for providing this list and for permission to make her research available.…
Richard Henry Corfield
Summary
Richard Henry Corfield was in his final year at Shrewsbury School when Darwin started there. It’s hard to say how well they knew each other, but fifteen years later Corfield appeared again in Darwin’s life as a surprisingly familiar face on the other side…
Matches: 1 hits
- … named Mary in Exeter ( BMD : ( Marriage index )). In 1840 there was a notice in the London …
Darwin and Design
Summary
At the beginning of the nineteenth century in Britain, religion and the sciences were generally thought to be in harmony. The study of God’s word in the Bible, and of his works in nature, were considered to be part of the same truth. One version of this…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Creation’. Eight volumes were produced between 1833 and 1840 by leading authorities in moral …
Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … SOURCES Papers Darwin, C.R. 1840. On the formation of mould. Transactions of the …
Richard Matthews
Summary
Richard Matthews was 21 years old when he stepped aboard the Beagle, destined for a lonely career as a missionary in Tierra del Fuego. The Church Missionary Society had arranged for him to accompany the three Fuegians (Fuegia Basket, Jemmy Button, and York…
Matches: 1 hits
- … relationship between the missionaries and the Maoris. In 1840, the Church Missionary Society asked …
Leonard Jenyns
Summary
When Darwin returned from the Beagle voyage there was no-one available to describe the fish that he had collected. At Darwin’s request Jenyns, a friend from Cambridge days, took on the challenge. It was not an easy one: at that time Jenyns had only worked…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle published between 1840 and 1842. The manuscript version …
Darwin’s first love
Summary
Darwin’s long marriage to Emma Wedgwood is well documented, but was there an earlier romance in his life? How was his departure on the Beagle entangled with his first love? The answers are revealed in a series of flirtatious letters that Darwin was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … wrote over the first set of writing. Before the Penny Post (1840), envelopes were rarely used. …
Syms Covington
Summary
When Charles Darwin embarked on the Beagle voyage in 1831, Syms Covington was ‘fiddler & boy to Poop-cabin’. Covington kept an illustrated journal of his observations and experiences on the voyage, noting wildlife, landscapes, buildings and people and,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … When Charles Darwin embarked on the Beagle voyage in 1831, Syms Covington was ‘ fiddler & boy …
Bartholomew James Sulivan
Summary
On Christmas Day 1866, Bartholomew Sulivan sat down to write a typically long and chatty letter to his old friend, Charles Darwin, commiserating on shared ill-health, glorying in the achievements of their children, offering to collect plant specimens, and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On Christmas Day 1866, Bartholomew Sulivan sat down to write a typically long and chatty letter to …
Darwin & Glen Roy
Summary
Although Darwin was best known for his geological work in South America and other remote Beagle destinations, he made one noteworthy attempt to explain a puzzling feature of British geology. In 1838, two years after returning from the voyage, he travelled…
