From John Murray 29 November [1877]
Summary
Answers CD’s query about payment made to him [for Descent and Forms of flowers] and explains the basis on which it was made. Because of CD’s wish to be paid before editions are sold off, profits must be estimated. If he were willing to accept annual statements of sales, payments based on them, and final accounting when all were sold, there would be no uncertainty. This is JM’s usual practice.
| Author: | John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 Nov [1877] |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 497, DAR 210.11: 12 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11259 |
From H. N. Ridley 15 April 1877
Summary
Sends specimens of Saxifraga tridactylites with insects caught by it. Asks if colour of leaves attracts insects.
| Author: | Henry Nicholas Ridley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Apr 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 86: B10–11 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10930 |
From C. H. Blackley 18 June 1877
Summary
Asks if phosphoric acid could have killed Drosera he received in a matchbox.
| Author: | Charles Harrison Blackley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 June 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 86: B12–13 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11007 |
From J. V. Carus 13 June 1877
Summary
Cites a misprint in Orchids.
Asks how long Forms of flowers will be, and publication date.
| Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 June 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 109 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10997 |
From J. V. Carus 23 December 1877
Summary
A misprint in Variation.
| Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 Dec 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 111 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11286 |
From C. F. Martins 7 June 1877
Summary
All young intelligent French naturalists support CD. But the professors are afraid of being called materialists, atheists, or communists.
A paper of his ["Sur l’origine paléontologique", C. R. Hebd. Acad. Sci. 84 (1877): 534–7] met with silence, except from Bureau. If only France had become Protestant!
| Author: | Charles Frédéric Martins |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 June 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 63 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10990 |
From J. B. Saint-Lager 30 January 1877
Summary
Sends CD parts of the Annales [Soc. Bot. Lyon] in response to his request for a particular article.
States that, despite CD’s work, he does not believe that any plants, including insectivorous ones, can utilise organic material, and that they live solely on mineral elements in the soil and air.
| Author: | Jean Baptiste Saint-Lager |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Jan 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10820 |
From C.-F. Reinwald 9 May 1877
Summary
French translation of Insectivorous plants published.
Climbing plants has not sold well.
| Author: | Charles-Ferdinand Reinwald |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 May 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 106 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10955 |
From Horatio Piggot 13 September 1877
Summary
Criticises passages of Insectivorous plants. Suggests plants be weighed before and after feeding to prove they have gained nourishment.
| Author: | Horatio Piggot |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Sept 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 174: 44 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11138 |
From E. W. Black 20 November 1877
Summary
Gives exceptions to maize being monoecious, as CD claims in Cross and self-fertilisation; reversion may be cause of hermaphrodite flowers observed.
Sends paper on potatoes and asks CD to republish.
| Author: | Evans Willson Black |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Nov 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 191 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11241 |
From C.-F. Reinwald 15 February 1877
Summary
Reports on French translations of Cross and self-fertilisation, Climbing plants, and Insectivorous plants.
| Author: | Charles-Ferdinand Reinwald |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Feb 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 104 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10846 |
From G. G. Bianconi 26 June 1877
Summary
Having just read Climbing plants, wishes CD to have enclosed pamphlets, one on cucumbers from 20 years ago, and another on movement in vegetables, also very old.
| Author: | Giovanni Giuseppe Bianconi |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 26 June 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 183 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11017 |
From C.-F. Reinwald 13 October 1877
Summary
Pleased CD is satisfied with translation of Cross and self-fertilisation.
Sends £20 royalties for Insectivorous plants (700 sold).
| Author: | Charles-Ferdinand Reinwald |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Oct 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 107 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11183 |
From R. D. Fitzgerald 15 March 1877
Summary
Fertilisation of orchids. Believes some plants so constituted as to dispense with cross-fertilisation.
| Author: | Robert David Fitzgerald |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Mar 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 164: 131 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10893 |
From Thomas Meehan 1 July 1877
Summary
Credits himself with stimulating most of the American work on plant cross-fertilisation. Sends his review of Cross and self-fertilisation [in Penn Monthly (June 1877)]. Suggests CD, A. Gray, and TM now agree on the extent of self-fertilisation in nature.
| Author: | Thomas Meehan |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 July 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 112 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11028 |
From W. M. Moorsom 10 September 1877
Summary
In Descent [1: 12] CD discusses intoxication among animals. South African elephants reportedly eat a plant that makes them wild.
| Author: | Warren Maude Moorsom |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Sept 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 234 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11132 |
From Otto Zacharias 7 January 1877
Summary
Discusses publication of CD’s essays in three German popular periodicals.
Haeckel is ill.
German translation of George Darwin, "Marriage between first cousins" [1875] has sold 250 copies.
| Author: | Otto Zacharias |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Jan 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 184: 4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10775 |
From Charles Layton 20 March 1877
Summary
Encloses statement of sales for Origin, Expression, Descent and Insectivorous plants and sends a cheque for the balance due to CD.
| Author: | Charles James (Charles) Layton; D. Appleton & Co |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Mar 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: 99 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10907 |
From Hyde Clarke 27 December 1877
Summary
Informs CD of his work on the "unity of language in its development".
| Author: | Henry Hyde (Hyde) Clarke |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 Dec 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 161 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11292 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1875. Researches in prehistoric and protohistoric comparative philology, mythology, and archæology, in connection with the origin of culture in America and the Accad or Sumerian families . London: N. Trübner & Co. Descent 2d ed. : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2d edition. London: John Murray. …
From J. G. F. Riedel 10 March 1877
Summary
Asks CD to publish in Nature JGFR’s observation that natives of Hainan have movable tail bones up to 4 cm long.
| Author: | Johan Gerard Friedrich Riedel |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Mar 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 156 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10887 |
| letter | (23) |
| Reinwald, C.-F. | (3) |
| Carus, J. V. | (2) |
| Bianconi, G. G. | (1) |
| Black, E. W. | (1) |
| Blackley, C. H. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (23) |
| Reinwald, C.-F. | (3) |
| Carus, J. V. | (2) |
| Bianconi, G. G. | (1) |
| Black, E. W. | (1) |
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … I am merely slaving over the sickening work of preparing new Editions …
John Murray
Summary
Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was …
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: 1 hits
- … The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom , published on 10 November …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s view on the kinship between humans and animals had important ethical implications. In …
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: 1 hits
- … In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
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: 1 hits
- … Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's …
St George Jackson Mivart
Summary
In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1874, the Catholic zoologist St George Jackson Mivart caused Darwin and his son George serious …
Movement in Plants
Summary
The power of movement in plants, published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work that Darwin wrote. It was the only work in which the assistance of one of his children, Francis Darwin, is mentioned on the title page. The research for this…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The power of movement in plants , published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical …
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: 1 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and …
Insectivorous Plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Plants that consume insects Darwin began his work with insectivorous plants in the mid 1860s, though his findings would not be published until 1875. In his autobiography Darwin reflected on the delay that…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Plants that consume insects …
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: 1 hits
- … I cannot bear to think of the future The year 1876 started out sedately enough with …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of …
Forms of flowers
Summary
Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species , published in 1877, …
Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics
Summary
On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species , …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began …
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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of …
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: 1 hits
- … The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It …
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: 1 hits
- … In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to …
Insectivorous plants
Summary
Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in the summer of 1860, staying with his wife’s relatives in Hartfield, Sussex, he went for long walks on the heathland and became curious about the large number of insects caught by…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in the summer of 1860, …
