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Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin
Summary
The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…
Matches: 18 hits
- … The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural …
- … Russel Wallace. This letter led to the first announcement of Darwin’s and Wallace’s respective …
- … exceeded my wildest hopes By the end of 1859, Darwin’s work was being discussed in …
- … and ‘bitter opponents’; compiling corrections for a second and then a third edition of his book; and …
- … that my book w d be successful; but I never even built a castle-in-the air of such success as it …
- … Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). This transformation in Darwin’s personal world and the …
- … from these years. The 'big book' The year 1858 opened with Darwin hard at …
- … his ninth chapter, on hybridism, on 29 December 1857, Darwin began in January 1858 to prepare the …
- … appropriate. The correspondence shows that at any one time Darwin was engaged in a number of …
- … The chapter on instinct posed a number of problems for Darwin. ‘I find my chapter on Instinct very …
- … celebrated as a classic example of divine design in nature. Darwin hypothesised that the instinct of …
- … of construction as it took place in the hive. As with Darwin’s study of poultry and pigeons, …
- … founder and president of the Apiarian Society, provided Darwin with information and specimens. His …
- … For assistance with mathematical measurements and geometry, Darwin called upon William Hallowes …
- … for on this view wherever many closely related species, (i.e. species of the same genus) have been …
- … work—& that I confess made me a little low—but I c d . have borne it, for I have the …
- … it is impossible that men like Lyell, Hooker, Huxley, H. C. Watson, Ramsay &c would change their …
- … much more larky since we run two horses’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 6 October [1858] ). Visitors to …
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: 11 hits
- … the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely variable. Many of …
- … sharp theoretical differences with him; on the other hand, a number of his public critics assisted …
- … 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 …
- … Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, C. R., 24 Nov 1859 Adam Sedgwick thanks Darwin for …
- … Letter 5500 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. A., 12 Apr [1867] Darwin is sympathetic to …
- … Letter 2285 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 18 [June 1858] Darwin writes to Lyell and …
- … Letter 2294 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [25 June 1858] Darwin writes to Lyell saying …
- … Letter 2295 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 26 [June 1858] Darwin writes to Lyell and …
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: 18 hits
- … | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a …
- … 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] …
- … officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to Darwin, [after February 1867] …
- … 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 2221 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [22 February 1858] Edward Blyth, curator of the …
- … 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 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 2345 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [20 October 1858] Darwin describes to Joseph …
- … Letter 7858 - Darwin to Wa llace, A. R., [12 July 1871] Darwin tells Wallace that …
Origin
Summary
Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to establish priority for the species theory he had spent over twenty years researching. Darwin never intended to write Origin, and had resisted suggestions in 1856…
Matches: 17 hits
- … Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew …
- … species theory he had spent over twenty years researching. Darwin never intended to write Origin, …
- … supporting evidence, and to this end was steadily writing a work he called his ‘big book’ . His …
- … Down for a few weeks to the Isle of Wight. Although Darwin and Wallace’s papers were …
- … . In reply, Hooker provided reassurance by suggesting that Darwin might be able to have 100 to 150 …
- … the big book on large and small genera, and was able to tell Darwin ‘ you overrate the extent of my …
- … than I now do. ’ Even with this endorsement, Darwin’s spirits remained low. ‘ We are too …
- … on 18 July. Just two days later, he told his cousin William Darwin Fox ‘ After all, I am now …
- … because Fox had been instrumental in persuading Darwin not to publish an abstract in 1856 , …
- … & I shall have separate copies & will send you one . Darwin’s weariness in …
- … pamphlet. ’ On the 4 October, in a letter to T. C. Eyton explaining his change of plans regarding …
- … was writing his essay on the flora of Australia in December 1858, he asked to borrow Darwin’s ‘ …
- … views were apparent when he reported to Wallace that ‘ D r . Hooker has become almost as …
- … convert. ’ Making the book By mid-October 1858, Darwin had expected that his abstract …
- … I have been thinking that if I am much execrated as atheist &c, whether the admission of …
- … was having, and the fulfilment of his stated aim in July 1858 when he began to write his abstract: ‘ …
- … of all living beings,—on their lines of migration &c &c. ’ Reference: …
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: 26 hits
- … In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to …
- … (DAR 119) opens with five pages of text copied from Notebook C and carries on through 1851; the …
- … used these notebooks extensively in dating and annotating Darwin’s letters; the full transcript …
- … *128). For clarity, the transcript does not record Darwin’s alterations. The spelling and …
- … book had been consulted. Those cases where it appears that Darwin made a genuine deletion have been …
- … a few instances, primarily in the ‘Books Read’ sections, Darwin recorded that a work had been …
- … of the books listed in the other two notebooks. Sometimes Darwin recorded that an abstract of the …
- … own. Soon after beginning his first reading notebook, Darwin began to separate the scientific …
- … the second reading notebook. Readers primarily interested in Darwin’s scientific reading, therefore, …
- … editors’ identification of the book or article to which Darwin refers. A full list of these works is …
- … to be Read [DAR *119: Inside Front Cover] C. Darwin June 1 st . 1838 …
- … [DAR *119: 2v.] White’s regular gradation in man [C. White 1799] Lindley’s …
- … 8 vo p 181 [Latreille 1819]. see p. 17 Note Book C. for reference to authors about E. Indian …
- … in brutes Blackwood June 1838 [J. F. Ferrie 1838]. H. C. Watson on Geog. distrib: of Brit: …
- … of variation in animals in the different isl ds of E Indian Archipelago— [DAR *119: 6v.] …
- … & Rev. W. Herbert.— notes to White Nat. Hist of Selbourne [E. T. Bennett ed. 1837 and [J. Rennie …
- … [Fellows 1839] Catherine 48 Life of Collins R.A. [Collins 1848] Phases of Faith …
- … by Decaisne on Fruit Trees. Le Jardin Fruitier [Decaisne 1858–75]. (Pears.) [DAR *128: 167] …
- … important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] (Innes) Hairy woman— (Read) …
- … Bernier, François. 1826. Travels in the Mogul Empire A.D. 1656–1668 . Translated by Irving …
- … Bethune, John. 1840. Poems by the late John Bethune; with a sketch of the author’s life by his …
- … eds.] 119: 11a Blacklock, Ambrose. 1838. A treatise on sheep; with the best means …
- … 1848. Memoirs of the life of William Collins, Esq., R.A. 2 vols. London. *119: 23; 119: …
- … by Richard Owen. Vol. 4 of The works of John Hunter, F.R.S. with notes . Edited by James F. …
- … Robert. 1843. Memoirs of the life of John Constable, R.A., composed chiefly of his letters. …
- … Peacock, George. 1855. Life of Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.S. London. *128: 172; 128: 21 …
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: 22 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 Darwin’s proposed election to the French …
- … Lyell, ‘thank all the powers above & below, I shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding …
- … Finishing Descent; postponing Expression Darwin began receiving proofs of some of the …
- … ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ). Darwin was still working hard on parts of the …
- … style, the more grateful I shall be’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). She had …
- … , the latter when she was just eighteen years of age. Darwin clearly expected her to make a …
- … He worried that parts of the book were ‘too like a Sermon: who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn …
- … so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February 1870] ). …
- … philanthropist Frances Power Cobbe. At Cobbe’s suggestion, Darwin read some of Immanuel Kant’s …
- … ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] ). Cobbe accused Darwin of smiling in his beard with …
- … as animals: ears Despite Cobbe’s plea, most of Darwin’s scientific attention in 1870 was …
- … fairy in Shakespeare’s A midsummer night’s dream. Darwin obtained a sketch of a human ear from …
- … of a pointed tip projecting inward from the folded margin. Darwin, who had posed for the sculptor in …
- … this volume, letter to Thomas Woolner, 10 March [1870] ). Darwin included Woolner’s sketch in …
- … muscles A more troubling anatomical feature for Darwin was the platysma myoides, a band of …
- … who sent a sketch of a baby’s 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]). …
- … April [1870] ). Darwin alluded here to the famous events of 1858,When Wallace had communicated his …
- … attending college lectures for the time being ( letter to [E.W. Blore], [October 1870 or later] ). …
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: 23 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
- … , anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied …
- … briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a letter of 23 [June 1863] he wrote …
- … 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 …
- … seen how indignant all Owen’s lies and mean conduct about E. Columbi made me… . The case is come to …
- … sentence from the second edition of Antiquity of man (C. Lyell 1863b, p. 469), published in …
- … Copley Medal had been unsuccessful ( see letter from E. A. Darwin to Emma Darwin, 11 November [1863 …
- … of the summer, one that he said he owed to Gray’s 1858 paper on the coiling of tendrils in …
- … the bookcase and around the head of the sofa ( letter to W. E. Darwin, [25 July 1863], and …
- … 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, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'
Summary
In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…
Matches: 23 hits
- … On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that he ‘Began by Lyell’s advice writing …
- … this manuscript. Although advised by Lyell to publish only a brief outline—probably more for the …
- … quantities of information, pursuing his own experiments in a variety of different areas, analysing …
- … Natural selection . Determined as he was to publish, Darwin nevertheless still felt cautious …
- … specialist in Madeiran entomology, Thomas Vernon Wollaston. Darwin also came to rely on the caustic …
- … in London. Natural Selection Not all of Darwin’s manuscript on species has been …
- … of pigeons, poultry, and other domesticated animals. As Darwin explained to Lyell, his studies, …
- … can William Bernhard Tegetmeier continued to help Darwin acquire much of the material for …
- … on domestic animals in India and elsewhere. William Darwin Fox supplied information about cats, dogs …
- … mastiffs. The disparate facts were correlated and checked by Darwin, who adroitly used letters, …
- … can.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 8 February [1857] ). Darwin also attempted to test ideas …
- … garden species with their wild congeners. Many of Darwin’s conclusions about the variation of …
- … these chapters are not extant. It seems likely that Darwin used the manuscript when compiling The …
- … or lost during the process. Before the publication of Darwin's correspondence from these years, …
- … light on the role that these ideas were intended to play in Darwin’s formal exposition. …
- … selection could not act without varieties to act upon, Darwin wanted to know where, how, and in what …
- … Making the fullest possible use of his botanical friends, Darwin cross-examined them on different …
- … and conditions of existence? One useful example that Darwin intended to include in his book was the …
- … relatives. But a last-minute check with Hooker revealed that Darwin was mistaken: ‘You have shaved …
- … in October 1857, to be followed by a second notice in 1858. Geographical distribution: seeds …
- … not a bird be killed (by hawk, lightning, apoplexy, hail &c) with seeds in crop, & it would …
- … bad & not a stop from beginning to end!’ (letters to W. E. Darwin, [17 February 1857] and …
- … and the preparation of his manuscript ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 1 May 1857 ) seem innocuous and …
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: 24 hits
- … kingdom , published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide …
- … 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 remarkable’ In September 1866, Darwin announced to the American botanist …
- … several years ( To Édouard Bornet, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin began a series of experiments, …
- … ( To Edouard Bornet, 20 August [1867] ). It was only after a new season of experiments that Darwin …
- … access to flowers was only the tip of the iceberg. Darwin next focused on the California …
- … conditions’ ( From Fritz Müller, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin’s interest was piqued and he described …
- … when self-fertilised, although fewer than crossed plants. Darwin sent some of these seeds to Müller, …
- … [1868] ). Müller, in turn, sent seeds from his plants to Darwin and both men continued to …
- … Müller remarked, on receiving a new batch of seeds from Darwin, ‘that it was ‘curious to see, on …
- … ( From Fritz Müller, 15 June 1869 ). By May 1870, Darwin reported that he was ‘rearing 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 …
- … the sweet pea ( Lathyrus odoratus ), and in October 1867, Darwin wrote to James Moggridge to ask …
- … of the year ( To J. T. Moggridge, 1 October [1867] ). Darwin was beginning to suspect that the …
- … simply did not exist in Britain. During a visit to Darwin in May 1866, Robert Caspary, a …
- … by the former ( From Robert Caspary, 18 February 1868 ). Darwin eagerly requested seed from both …
- … was published on 30 January 1868. In April 1868, Darwin informed George Bentham, ‘I am …
- … to elongate when the pollen touches the stigmatic surface. Darwin was able to discern that …
- … I am already plagued by foreign Translators, Reviewers, &c.’ ( To John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). …
- … 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 A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this …
