From Louis Rérolle 15 June 1870
Summary
French translation of Orchids is published.
| Author: | Louis Rérolle |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 June 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 132 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7234 |
From John Brodie Innes 28 January 1870
Summary
JBI sends clipping about a hybrid between a deer and a cow, from the same parish as the one reported in 1868.
| Author: | John Brodie Innes |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Jan 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 167: 27 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7087 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … about a hybrid between a deer and a cow, from the same parish as the one reported in 1868. …
- … at the Forres Cattle Show on 7 December 1868 (see Correspondence vol. 16, letters from …
- … J. B. Innes, 7 December 1868 and …
- … 14 December 1868 , and letter from Lachlan McLean to J. …
- … B. Innes, 15 December 1868 ). . On the history of Wombwell’s Menagerie, which had three …
- … at the Forres Christmas Cattle Show in 1868. Dear Darwin The above is from the Elgin …
From W. W. Reade 4 June 1870
Summary
The Negro’s idea of beauty is the same as white man’s.
Believes the Jollops select for blackness.
Native immunity from coast fever is not complete.
Has found stone instruments.
| Author: | William Winwood Reade |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 June 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 38 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7216 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … John Murray. 1871. Ehrenberg, Christian Gottfried. 1868. Über die rothen Erden als Speise …
- … der Guinea-Neger. [Read 14 May 1868. ] ]Abhandlungen der …
- … zu Berlin ( Physikalische Abhandlungen ) (1868): 1–55. Expression : The expression of the …
- … admired by natives in his letter of 21 May [1868] ( Correspondence vol. 16). CD reported …
- … based merchant who sponsored Reade’s 1868 and 1869 expeditions into the Niger region, gave …
- … to Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg and Ehrenberg 1868 . Cape Verde is an archipelago off …
- … the coast of West Africa. See Ehrenberg 1868 , p. 20. On the mythical Kong mountains, see …
- … sent to Reade with his letter of 21 May [1868] (see Correspondence vol. 16). Reade did …
From Lewis Henry Morgan 9 August 1870
Summary
Sends last chapter of his book in press [Systems of consanguinity and affinity of the human family vol. 17 in Smithsonian contributions to knowledge (1871)], which supports CD on man.
Ethnology must study the ages of barbarism as the formative portions of man’s physical and mental history.
| Author: | Lewis Henry Morgan |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 Aug 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 238 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7299 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … system of relationship. [Read 11 February 1868. ] Proceedings of the American Academy of …
- … solution of the origin of the classificatory system of relationship’ ( Morgan 1868 , p. …
- … 477). Morgan 1868 is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL (G458 and G514); there is a …
- … terms that distinguish individual, lineal relationships ( Morgan 1868 and 1870). …
- … CD referred to Morgan 1868 in Descent 1: 182 in the context of his argument that all …
From Fritz Müller 29 March 1870
Summary
His observations on mimicry in butterflies
and self-sterility in plants.
| Author: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 Mar 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 76: B36 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7150 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … 1869] . See Correspondence vol. 16, letters from Fritz Müller , 22 April 1868 , 9 …
- … September 1868 , and …
- … 31 October 1868 , and Correspondence vol. 17, letters from Fritz Müller , 12 January …
- … manner by a plant, which I had raised 1868 from your seeds and which only flowered 1869. — …
- … same seeds, which flowered the first year (1868) had retained self-fertility in a small …
From L. C. Wedgwood [5 May 1870]
Summary
Expression in horses.
Crying in babies.
| Author: | Lucy Caroline Wedgwood; Lucy Caroline Harrison |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [5 May 1870] |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 60 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7179 |
From John Dean Caton 17 November 1870
Summary
Observations on winter colour of coats of male and female elk,
spots on deer,
and tuft of hair on breasts of wild female turkeys.
| Author: | John Dean Caton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 Nov 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 83: 172–4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7375 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Bibliography Caton, John Dean. 1868. American Cervus. …
- … the Ottawa Academy of Natural Sciences, 21 May 1868. Ottawa, Illinois: Osman and Hapeman. …
- … and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868. …
- … s paper on North American Cervus ( Caton 1868 ) was also published in Caton 1880 , pp. …
- … 9 and 152. An annotated offprint of Caton 1868 is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL. …
From Gilbert William Child 26 January [1870]
Summary
Sends 2d ed. of his Essays on physiological subjects (1869).
| Author: | Gilbert William Child |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 26 Jan [1870] |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 141 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6579 |
From Hermann Hoffmann 23 June 1870
Summary
Sends drawings of the foot of chicken showing swimming membrane.
| Author: | Karl Heinrich Hermann (Hermann) Hoffmann |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 June 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 193: 113–14 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7242 |
From Federico Delpino 20 May 1870
Summary
Responds to CD’s request for Canna seeds.
Studying dichogamy in Lotus. Describes mechanism that pumps pollen on to a visiting bee. Corrects Axell on Lotus.
| Author: | Federico Delpino |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 May 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 147 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7196 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Press. 1985–. Delpino, Federico. 1868–75. Ulteriori osservazioni sulla dicogamia nel regno …
- … Italiana di Scienze Naturali Milano 11 (1868): 265–352; 12 (1869): 179–233; 13 (1870): …
- … is hairy canary clover. See Delpino 1868–75 , part 1, pp. 45, 47, 52. Apis , Eucera , …
- … to CD, Delpino 1867b , p. 25 and Delpino 1868–75 , part 1, pp. 45–6. Lotus corniculatus …
From William Thierry Preyer [before 17 February 1870]
Summary
Notes the differences in haemoglobin between species; this proves, to WP, that natural selection does not act only on morphological development.
Remarks on the differences and similarities in the effects of prussic acid on different groups of animals.
Questions CD on his early education and influences.
| Author: | William Thierry (William) Preyer |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 17 Feb 1870] |
| Classmark: | DAR 261.11: 21 (EH 88206073) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7110 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … your statements (Variation etc II, p. 328, 1868). 3) The occurrence of sulphuric acid in …
- … a copy of his paper on haemoglobin ( Preyer 1868 ); there is a copy in the Darwin Pamphlet …
- … John Murray. 1859. Preyer, William. 1868. Ueber einige Eigenschaften des Hämoglobins und …
- … and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868. …
From Edouard van Beneden 17 December 1870
Summary
CD has been nominated as a Membre Associé of the Belgian Royal Academy.
Discusses crustacean embryology; EvB is at variance with Dohrn.
| Author: | Édouard Joseph Louis Marie (Édouard) van Beneden |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 Dec 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 132 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7396 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … 1870 and n. 6. There are offprints of Beneden 1868 , 1869a, 1869b, 1870a, 1870b, 1870c, …
- … and 1870d, and Beneden and Bessels 1868, in the Darwin …
- … Pamphlet Collection–CUL; Beneden 1868 and 1870b are lightly annotated. Anton Dohrn had …
- … known as anchor worms (Beneden and Bessels 1868, pp. 440–1). Dohrn outlined some of his …
From George Cupples 20 June 1870
Summary
Will send CD a deerhound puppy.
Reaffirms his statement that dogs in breeding form decided preferences toward each other, based on size, colour, or character.
| Author: | George Cupples |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 June 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 83: 142–3 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7237 |
From J. D. Hooker 1 July 1870
Summary
Hibiscus and Nolana seeds not harvested at Kew. Sends list of the best plants of Lilium he can give.
Asks CD for name of work on orchids mentioned in his supplementary paper ["Fertilization of orchids", Collected papers 2: 138–56].
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 July 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 103: 51–2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7258 |
From Francis Galton 28 June 1870
Summary
[William Rathbone] Greg is author [of "Failure of ""natural selection"" in the case of man", Fraser’s Magazine 78 (1868): 353–62].
Comments on findings in J. M. Duncan [Fecundity, fertility, sterility and allied topics (1866)].
Saw A. D. Bartlett about monkeys.
| Author: | Francis Galton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 June 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 80: B160–1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7249 |
From J. D. Hooker [31 May 1870]
Summary
Sends enclosure [a letter from Lady Lyell?]. He is choking with vanity.
Is going to send Willy to Mr La Touche in Salop; he brought up young Colenso and Frank Lyell. Some of his friends will think he is sending his son into a nest of young adders!
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [31 May 1870] |
| Classmark: | DAR 103: 46; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Directors’ Correspondence 105: 236) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6964 |
From H. H. Vivian 10 May 1870
Summary
About the insertion of a column on marriage of cousins in the census form.
| Author: | Henry Hussey Vivian, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 May 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 180: 8 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7182 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Henry Austin Bruce was home secretary from 1868 until 1873 ( ODNB ). See letter to [H. …
From F. P. Cobbe 28 March [1870?]
Summary
Pleased to have encouraged CD to look at Kant.
| Author: | Frances Power Cobbe |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Mar [1870?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 186 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7149 |
From J. V. Carus 2 October 1870
Summary
The outbreak of war and war work have interfered with JVC’s scientific work.
Publisher does not, however, think the war will hurt success of Descent in Germany, and JVC asks for corrected sheets for his use in translating it.
Wishes struggle between Romanic and Teutonic races could be fought out in a form more appropriate to their cultures and civilisation.
| Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 Oct 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 76 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7332 |
From Robert Swinhoe 2 February 1870
Summary
Sends a copy of Notes and Queries for Francis Galton, as it contains a reply to Galton’s circular on hereditary genius.
RS much refreshed by his trip to Down.
| Author: | Robert Swinhoe |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 Feb 1870 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 333 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7095 |
| letter | (54) |
| Galton, Francis | (3) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (3) |
| Reade, W. W. | (3) |
| Child, G. W. | (2) |
| Cupples, George | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (54) |
| Galton, Francis | (3) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (3) |
| Reade, W. W. | (3) |
| Child, G. W. | (2) |
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: 27 hits
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If …
- … The quantity of his correspondence increased dramatically in 1868; the increase was due largely to …
- … and his immediate circle of friends and relations. In July 1868 Darwin was still anticipating that …
- … and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868] ). My book is horribly …
- … as early as 1865, the two-volume work appeared in January 1868. A final delay caused by the indexing …
- … look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). Darwin sympathised, replying on …
- … fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). But such worries were laid to …
- … was clearly impressed by Lewes’s reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from …
- … not behind my back’ ( letter to John Murray, 25 February [1868] ). Wallace commiserated: ‘I am …
- … to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] ). The review was in fact by John …
- … a veritable ass’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868] ). I am bothered with …
- … Yorkshire, wrote of the colour of duck claws on 17 April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the …
- … Commons than any assembly in the world’ (from ?, 6 April 1868). On 21 May , Darwin complained to …
- … breeder, who apologised in a letter of 11–13 May 1868 for his ‘voluminuous zeal’, and offered …
- … changes in the canary (letters from J. J. Weir, [26] March 1868 and 3 June 1868 ). ‘It was …
- … clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). Sexual selection …
- … ratios was scanty, and he spent much of the first half of 1868 collecting facts on this question, …
- … may be gained’ ( letter to H. T. Stainton, 21 February [1868] ). From the beginning, Darwin had …
- … males getting wives’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 25 February [1868] ). Yet a number of Darwin’s …
- … the American entomologist Benjamin Dann Walsh on 25 March 1868 . Wallace maintained that males …
- … entomologists ( letter from Roland Trimen, 20 February 1868 , and letter from Robert MacLachlan, …
- … in attracting females. J. J. Weir reported on 14 April 1868 that a bullfinch had piped a German …
- … odour sexual!’ ( letter to A . R. Wallace, 16 September [1868] ). Francis sought additional advice …
- … to his mother Emma in a letter dated [after 16 October 1868] : ‘I had a long work with Crotch to …
- … in the dyed hen ( letter from Harrison Weir, 28 March 1868 ). Writing on the same day, Edward …
- … of Species”’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 4 October 1868 ). Heaven protect my stomach …
- … of Nat. Selection’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). Researching emotion …
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
Matches: 30 hits
- … for ease of distribution sometime in late 1867 or early 1868. Darwin went over his questions, …
- … in Ceylon, wrote the botanist George Thwaites on 22 July 1868 , “all endeavour to drill their …
- … Scottish botanist John Scott wrote from Calcutta, 4 May 1868 : “Shame is … expressed by an …
- … Bulmer, J 13 Aug 1868 [Gipps Land, nr. Flemington? …
- … Bunnett, Templeton 13 Aug 1868 Echuca, Australia …
- … Darwin, W.E. [after 29 March 1868] Chester Place, …
- … Darwin, W.E. [7? April 1868] Southampton, England …
- … Darwin, W.E. [22? April 1868] Southampton, England …
- … Forbes, David 26 March 1868 Boulton, England (about …
- … Geach, F.F. April 1868 Johore, Malaysia …
- … Glenie, S.O. 22 July 1868 Peradeniya, Ceylon …
- … Glenie, S.O. [July 1868] Trincomalee, Ceylon …
- … Hagenauer, J.A. 13 Aug 1868 Flemington, Australia …
- … Hawkshaw, Cicely Mary (to ED) 9 Feb 1868 Liphook, …
- … Hooker, J.D. 5 Sept 1868 Kew, London (about Nagasaki …
- … Lacy, Dyson [before 13 Aug 1868] [Queensland, …
- … Lane, H.B. 13 Aug 1868 Belfast, Australia? …
- … Lang, Archibald G. 13 Aug 1868 [Coranderrk, …
- … Muller, Fritz 30 Jan [1868] Itajahy, Santa Catharina …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 23 May 1868 Conservative Club, …
- … Scherzer, Karl Von 20 Oct 1868 Ministry of Commerce, …
- … Scott, John 4 May 1868 Royal Botanic Gardens, …
- … Smyth, R. Brough 13 Aug 1868 Flemington, Australia …
- … Speedy, J. 29 Sept 1868 Freshwater, Isle of Wight, …
- … Swinhoe, Robert 4 Aug 1868 British Legation, Peking, …
- … Thwaites, G.H.K. 1 Apr 1868 Peradeniya, Ceylon …
- … Walsh, B.D. 25 March 1868 Rock Island, Illinois, USA …
- … Weale, J.P.M. 23 Oct 1868 Bedford, Cape of Good Hope …
- … Sarah E to ED [30 March-12 April 1868] London, …
- … Wilson, Edward 19 Feb 1868 Hayes, Bromley, Kent, …
6430_10256
Summary
From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hookerf1 25 October 1868Lund (Suède)25 Okt. 1868.Monsieur le Professeur! J’ai écrit à deux de mes amis qui ont des connaissances personnelles à la Lapponie, pour avoir les…
Matches: 12 hits
- … From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hooker f1 25 October 1868 Lund (Suède) 25 Okt. 1868. …
- … CD’s query, see the letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 August 1868. Hooker passed CD’s query to Nilsson at …
- … in Norwich (see letter from J. D. Hooker, 30 August 1868). f3 Nilsson sent the response in …
- … An English translation was never published. Earlier in 1868, Longman’s, Green, and Company had …
- … of northern Europe during the Stone Age (Nilsson 1868); see letter to John Lubbock, 15 February …
- … on Nilsson’s view in Lubbock’s introduction to Nilsson 1868, pp. xxxv–xxxvi. …
- … From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hooker f1 25 October 1868 Lund (Sweden) 25 Oct. 1868 …
- … CD’s query, see the letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 August 1868. Hooker passed CD’s query to Nilsson at …
- … in Norwich (see letter from J. D. Hooker, 30 August 1868). f3 Nilsson sent the response in …
- … An English translation was never published. Earlier in 1868, Longman’s, Green, and Company had …
- … of northern Europe during the Stone Age (Nilsson 1868); see letter to John Lubbock, 15 February …
- … on Nilsson’s view in Lubbock’s introduction to Nilsson 1868, pp. xxxv–xxxvi. …
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: 7 hits
- … to produce capsules’ ( To Fritz Müller, 30 January [1868] ). Müller, in turn, sent seeds from his …
- … produced by the former ( From Robert Caspary, 18 February 1868 ). Darwin eagerly requested seed …
- … their power of growth’ ( To Robert Caspary, 25 February [1868] ). By this time he had already …
- … (Variation 2: 128-9), which was published on 30 January 1868. In April 1868, Darwin informed …
- … quite intelligible to me’ ( To George Bentham, 22 April 1868 ). A month later, he had another set …
- … taken from the same plant!’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 21 May [1868] ) Pollen tubes, or rapidly elongating …
- … he told Müller ( To Fritz Müller, 28 November 1868 ). In March 1869, Müller reported results of …
Reading my roommate’s illustrious ancestor: To T. H. Huxley, 10 June 1868
Summary
My roommate at Harvard College was Tom Baum, now a Hollywood screenwriter. Tom’s full name is Thomas Henle Baum, his middle name a reference to a German physician ancestor for whom the ‘Loop of Henle’ in the kidney had been named. Other than this iconic…
5935_4582
Summary
From J. D. Hooker 26[–7] February 1868KewFeby 26th/68Dear Darwin I have been bursting with impatience to hear what you would say of the Athenæum Review & who wrote it— I could not conceive who…
Matches: 4 hits
- … From J. D. Hooker 26[–7] February 1868 Kew Feby 26 th /68 Dear Darwin …
- … to Richard Owen (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 February [1868]); the review was by John Robertson ( …
- … 1867) was reviewed in the Athenæum , 8 February 1868, pp. 217–18. f3 CD had discussed …
- … CD’s reply. See letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 February [1868] and nn. 8–10. …
5873_1488
Summary
From B. J. Sulivan 13 February [1868]f1 Bournemouth Feby. 13. My dear Darwin As Mr Stirling has sent me the recpt. you may as well have it with the Photo of the four Fuegian boys which he wishes me to send you in case you have not seen it. He…
Matches: 1 hits
- … From B. J. Sulivan 13 February [1868] f1 Bournemouth Feby. 13. My dear …
Diagrams and drawings in letters
Summary
Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of the fish and hence of all higher vertebrates, 23 March 1868 Roland Trimen on the …
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: 10 hits
- … Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H., [30 January 1868] Darwin asks Thomas Huxley to …
- … 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S. E., [9 November 1868] Darwin’s nephew, Edmund, …
- … - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9 November 1868] Darwin’s nephews, Edmund …
- … Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868] Doubleday responds to Darwin’s …
- … Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments …
- … Letter 6083 - Casparay, J. X. R. to Darwin, [2 April 1868] Casparay details his …
- … Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868] Naturalist Henry Doubleday …
- … Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments …
- … Letter 6066 - Weir, H. W. to Darwin, [28 March 1868] Harrison Weir passes on …
- … Letter 6081 - Darwin to Bowman, W., [2 April 1868] Darwin requests surgeon and …
Descent
Summary
There are more than five hundred letters associated with the research and writing of Darwin’s book, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex (Descent). They trace not only the tortuous route to eventual publication, but the development of Darwin’s…
Matches: 6 hits
- … in two volumes in 1871, yet as late as the summer of 1868 Darwin thought it would be only a ‘ short …
- … writing it up as a separate publication in early February 1868 , wading through a ‘ mass of …
- … Variation was finally off his hands at the beginning of 1868, the volume of his correspondence …
- … are more than 260 surviving letters from February and March 1868 alone, two or three times the usual …
- … the details of the experiment were discussed in March 1868 , it seems the original suggestion of …
- … & sexual selection’ Darwin wrote to Wallace in September 1868, but although he had ‘ oscillated …
Inheritance
Summary
It was crucial to Darwin’s theories of species change that naturally occurring variations could be inherited. But at the time when he wrote Origin, he had no explanation for how inheritance worked – it was just obvious that it did. Darwin’s attempt to…
William Winwood Reade
Summary
On 19 May 1868, an African explorer and unsuccessful novelist, William Winwoode Reade (1838–1875) offered to help Darwin, and started a correspondence and, arguably, a collaboration, that would last until Reade's death. After a first 1861 tour of…
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: 4 hits
- … vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868] ). He may have resented the interruption to his …
- … on the German translation of Variation (Carus trans. 1868). The French translation proved …
- … the French edition of Variation (Moulinié trans. 1868), and CD now extended his permission for …
- … Scientific Opinion , launched towards the end of 1868, was one of several periodicals begun in …
Darwin and the Church
Summary
The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It shows another side of the man who is more often remembered for his personal struggles with faith, or for his role in large-scale controversies over the…
Matches: 4 hits
- … a cow and a red deer (letter from J. B. Innes, 7 December 1868 ). Innes had a tendency to tease …
- … he left behind (letter from S. J. O’H. Horsman, 2 June [1868] ). Among the reasons justifying his …
- … the church’s organ fund (letter to J. B. Innes, 15 June [1868] ). So embroiled in this process …
- … the Down parish church (letter to J. B. Innes, 1 December 1868 ). Darwin wrote of the next …
Darwin's life in letters
Summary
For all his working life, Darwin used letters as a way both of discussing ideas and gathering the ‘great quantities of facts’ that he used in developing and supporting his theories. They form a fascinating collection from many hundreds of correspondents,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … letters. ( Darwin to John Jenner Weir, [6 March 1868] ) For all his working life …
Women as a scientific audience
Summary
Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…
Matches: 7 hits
- … Letter 5861 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [11 February 1868] Zoologist Edward Blyth sends …
- … Letter 5928 - Gray, A. to Darwin, [25 February 1868] American naturalist Asa Gray …
- … Letter 6040 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [23 March 1868] Haeckel informs Darwin …
- … Letter 6110 - Samuelson, J. to Darwin, [10 April 1868] James Samuel, editor of …
- … Letter 6126 - Binstead, C. H. to Darwin, [17 April 1868] Charles Binstead, “an …
- … Letter 6237 - Bullar, R. to Darwin, [9 June 1868] Rosa Bullar reports a case of a …
- … Letter 6335 - Innes, J. B. to Darwin, [31 August 1868] John Innes reports that he has …
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 …
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: 6 hits
- … Letter 6167 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 8 May [1868] Darwin writes to Gray about his review …
- … 6223 — Horsman, S. J. H. to Darwin, C. R., 2 June [1868] Horsman attempts to convince Darwin …
- … Letter 6241 — Innes, J. B. to Darwin, C. R., 13 June 1868 J. B. Innes, vicar of Down writes …
- … Letter 6486 — Darwin, C. R. to Innes, J. B., 1 Dec 1868 Darwin writes to J. B. Innes, vicar …
- … Letter 6492 — Innes, J. B. to Darwin, C. R., 4 Dec 1868 J. B. Innes, vicar of Down provides …
- … Letter 6501 — Innes, J. B. to Darwin, C. R., 12 Dec 1868 J. B. Innes, vicar of Down is …
Species and varieties
Summary
On the origin of species by means of natural selection …so begins the title of Darwin’s most famous book, and the reader would rightly assume that such a thing as ‘species’ must therefore exist and be subject to description. But the title continues, …or…
Matches: 4 hits
- … selection ( Origin 4th ed., pp. 323–6). However, by 1868, in The variation of animals and …
- … discussion of the issue with Alfred Wallace in the spring of 1868. Wallace had sent a concise …
- … natural selection ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 1 March 1868 ). Darwin turned to his son George, a …
- … as insoluble’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). Ultimately, Darwin’s view was …
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: 6 hits
- … Letter 6024 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 19 Mar 1868 Wallace writes to Darwin with a …
- … Letter 6033 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., [21 Mar 1868] Darwin lets Wallace know he has …
- … Letter 6045 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 24 Mar [1868] Wallace returns George Darwin’s …
- … Letter 6058 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., 27 Mar [1868] Darwin writes to Wallace saying …
- … Letter 6095 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., 6 Apr [1868] Darwin writes to Wallace on the …
- … Letter 6104 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 8 [Apr] 1868 Wallace says if Darwin is not …
