Bad Request
Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
Apache Server at dcp-public.lib.cam.ac.uk Port 443
Search:
in keywords
22 Items
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 20 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The …
- … publisher in the final week of 1866. It would take all of 1867 to correct proofs, and just when …
- … becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in 1867, as he continued to circulate a list of …
- … transmutation theory. Three important new correspondents in 1867 were Hermann Müller and Anton Dohrn …
- … the New Year’s greeting, ‘may you be eupeptic through 1867 & your friends & the world in …
- … publisher, John Murray, he wrote to Murray on 3 January 1867 , ‘I cannot tell you how sorry I am …
- … suppose abuse is as good as praise for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] …
- … to the printer, but without the additional chapter. In a letter written on 8 February [1867] to …
- … books, Descent and Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his …
- … variation of animals and plants under domestication . In a letter to his son William dated 27 …
- … of his brother’s embryological papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although …
- … . Indeed, he told his publisher, John Murray, in a letter of 4 April [1867] , not to send …
- … at what rate your work will be published’ ( letter from J. V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). This hint of …
- … to introduce the work to the German public ( letter from J. V. Carus, 15 April 1867 ). Darwin may …
- … translate my book in preference to you’ ( letter to J. V. Carus, 18 April [1867] ). Darwin was not …
- … the work I shall find it much better done by you than I c d have succeeded in doing’ ( letter to …
- … Douglas Campbell, published The reign of law (G. D. Campbell 1867), a book based on a series of …
- … from T. H. Huxley, [before 7 January 1867] ). In February, Hooker asked whether Darwin had read it …
- … judgement he would subdue; that is yours’ ( letter from J. V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). Darwin …
- … alert (see Correspondence vol. 13, letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] and n. 4). …
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: 16 hits
- … a series of experiments, reporting back to Bornet in August 1867 that all but one of the varieties …
- … ( To Fritz Müller, [late December 1866 and] 1 January 1867 ). The following year, his experiments …
- … to the conditions that might affect his results. In March 1867, he told his close friend Joseph …
- … produced by a cross between two distinct plants’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1867] ). He noted …
- … & so have been rarely crossed’ ( To Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). One of these ‘exotics’ was …
- … of France where Moggridge lived for part of the year ( To J. T. Moggridge, 1 October [1867] ). …
- … ‘I always supposed until lately that no evil effects w d be visible until after several …
- … flower. ‘How utterly mysterious it is’, he reported to Hooker, ‘that there sh d be some …
- … to impotence when taken from the same plant!’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 21 May [1868] ) Pollen tubes, or …
- … Darwin sent specimens of plants he raised from this seed to Hooker, who named it Abutilon darwinii …
- … a new species, & I am honoured by its name’, Darwin told Hooker, ‘It offers an instance, of …
- … the season it becomes capable of self-fertilisation’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 23 July [1871] ). Darwin …
- … with choosing which taxonomic system to follow ( To J. D. Hooker, 17 February 1873 ). Despite also …
- … & I have no idea when it will be published’ ( To J. V. Carus, 8 May [1873] ). Hermann Müller …
- … and not on ‘the evil effects of Interbreeding’ ( To J. V. Carus, 2 August [1873] ). In …
- … A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this letter has been found, but Darwin had long …
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: 14 hits
- … for evaluation, and persuaded his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker to comment on a paper on Verbascum …
- … committed suicide at the end of April; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic …
- … thriving, and when illness made work impossible, Darwin and Hooker read a number of novels, and …
- … having all the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
- … had failed to include among the grounds of the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus …
- … his letters to Darwin, and Darwin responded warmly: ‘Your letter is by far the grandest eulogium …
- … may well rest content that I have not laboured in vain’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 6 January [1865] …
- … always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 February [1865] …
- … for our griefs & pains: these alone are unalloyed’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 February 1865 …
- … Sic transit gloria mundi, with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). …
- … know it is folly & nonsense to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). He …
- … and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] ). In …
- … ‘able to write about an hour on most days’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 December [1865] ). …
- … in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Scott 1867), and Darwin summarised them in …
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: 19 hits
- … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
- … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
- … observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
- … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
- … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
- … Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] Darwin asks his niece, …
- … of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to Darwin, E., [8 November1872] …
- … Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to Darwin, [17 December 1872] …
- … little treatise”. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 March 1864] …
- … Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to Darwin, [8 August 1867] Sutton, the keeper of the …
- … and orangs. Letter 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von to Darwin, [4 December 1867] …
- … in a marble tablet”. Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John …
- … at Maer Hall, Staffordshire. Letter 1219 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, [3 February …
- … The experiments were carried out “at the suggestion of Dr Hooker” and what little he has ascertained …
- … Women: Letter 2345 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [20 October 1858] Darwin …
- … style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [11 May 1859] Darwin …
- … Letter 5585 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [26 July 1867] Darwin praises Henrietta’s …
- … Letter 2475 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [2 July 1859] Darwin returns the manuscript of …
- … Letter 5403 - Darwin to Carus, J. V. [17 February 1867] Darwin thanks Carus for his …
Scientific Networks
Summary
Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…
Matches: 13 hits
- … and colonial authorities. In the nineteenth-century, letter writing was one of the most important …
- … tapping into the networks of others, such as Joseph Dalton Hooker and Asa Gray, who were at leading …
- … in times of uncertainty, controversy, or personal loss. Letter writing was not only a means of …
- … of face-to-face contact. His correspondence with Joseph Hooker and Asa Gray illustrates how close …
- … The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. Hooker. The second is between Darwin …
- … to Hooker “it is like confessing a murder”. Letter 736 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
- … wide-ranging genera. Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
- … Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] Darwin catches up on personal …
- … Letter 5457 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Mar 1867 Müller explains how Origin …
- … 5471 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, H. L. H., 29 Mar [1867] Darwin learns that German botanist …
- … Letter 5481 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 1 Apr [1867] Müller thanks Darwin for the …
- … Letter 5657 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Oct 1867 Müller thanks Darwin for the …
- … Letter 5585 — Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, H. E., 26 July [1867] Darwin writes to his daughter …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 20 hits
- … writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring Gray Louis Agassiz, Adam …
- … this actor uses the words of Jane Loring Gray, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Hugh Falconer, Louis Agassiz, …
- … of natural selection to his friend, the botanist, Joseph D Hooker GRAY: 3 Charles …
- … year 1839, and copied and communicated to Messrs Lyell and Hooker in 1844, being a part of …
- … DARWIN: 7 January 1844. My dear Hooker. I have been …engaged in a very presumptuous work …
- … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
- … the opportunity I enjoyed of making your acquaintance at Hooker’s three years ago; and besides that …
- … sheet of note-paper! DARWIN: 11 My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind …
- … be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy it… His letter does strike me as most uncommonly …
- … on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year …
- … 22 Hurrah I got yesterday my 41st Grass! Hooker is younger than Darwin and Gray by …
- … species before… DARWIN: 24 My dear Hooker… you cannot imagine how pleased I am …
- … on your bowels of immutability. Darwin passes to Hooker a brace of letters 25 …
- … might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing …
- … there is a little rap for you. GRAY: 26 Hooker [is] dreadfully paradoxical to …
- … Atlantic. HOOKER: 28 Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which …
- … notions of natural Selection and would see whether it or my letter bears any date, I should be very …
- … 55 My good dear friend, forgive me. This is a trumpery letter influenced by trumpery feelings. …
- … C DARWIN, 18–19 AUGUST 1862 149 C DARWIN TO J. D. HOOKER 26 JULY 1863 150 …
- … A GRAY 15 AUGUST 1868 177 TO A GRAY 15 APRIL 1867 178 C DARWIN TO JD …
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 18 hits
- … on publishers, decried on one occasion by Joseph Dalton Hooker as ‘Penny-wise Pound foolish, …
- … Fuller consideration of Darwin’s work was given by Hooker in an evening speech on insular floras at …
- … able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
- … once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
- … see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 …
- … work doing me any harm—any how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
- … production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January …
- … continued to refine his hypothesis in 1866. He wrote to Hooker on 16 May [1866] , ‘I … am at work …
- … it was too big. ‘You must congratulate me’, he wrote to Hooker, ‘when you hear that I have sent M.S. …
- … Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] ). When …
- … of Darwin’s closest scientific friends and correspondents. Hooker’s research on alpine floras, Henry …
- … more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] ). Darwin …
- … ‘Your father … entered at the same time with Dr B. J. who received him with triumph. All his friends …
- … me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). Darwin himself …
- … then went for ¾ to Zoolog. Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 April 1866] ). …
- … tell him the truth how little exertion I can stand. I sh d like very much to see him, though I …
- … began work on the new translation (Bronn and Carus trans. 1867), incorporating the revisions Darwin …
- … & admit how little is known on the subject’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 and 4 August [1866] ). …
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: 20 hits
- … Were women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
- … Tollet for proofreading and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. …
- … her to read to check that she can understand it. Letter 7312 - Darwin to Darwin, F. …
- … from all but educated, typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E …
- … he seeks her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 …
- … in order to minimise impeding general perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, …
- … he uses to avoid ownership of indelicate content. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to …
- … so as not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
- … which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to …
- … Darwin’s female readership Letter 5391 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [6 February …
- … of the Manchester Ladies Literary Society . Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to …
- … the chapter on pangenesis, which is a revelation. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. …
- … Darwin assumes that 'A. B. Blackwell' is a man. Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to …
- … him to the psychology of Herbert Spencer. Letter 7624 - Bathoe, M . B. to Darwin …
- … his statements on a lack of reasoning in animals. Letter 7644 - Barnard, A. to …
- … with her father. Letter 7651 - Wedgwood, F. J. to Darwin, H. E., [1 April 1871] …
- … be suitable. Letter 7411 - Pfeiffer, E. J. to Darwin, [before 26 April 1871] …
- … Letter 5712 - Dallas, W. S. to Darwin, [8 December 1867] Translator and author …
- … patience and care. Letter 6110 - Samuelson, J. to Darwin, [10 April 1868] …
- … is a revelation. Letter 9633 - Nevill, D. F. to Darwin, [11 September 1874] …
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: 20 hits
- … in satisfying female preference in the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864, …
- … of changing the races of man’ (Correspondence vol. 12, letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May 1864] ). …
- … book would take the form of a ‘short essay’ on man ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 3 July 1868 ). But …
- … as well say, he would drink a little and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868] ) …
- … the accursed Index-maker’, Darwin wrote to Joseph Dalton Hooker on 6 January . Darwin had sent …
- … Record. Dallas had begun the work in November 1867 and had expected to complete it in a fortnight. …
- … would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s angry letter to Murray crossed one from Dallas to …
- … of labour to remuneration I shall look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). …
- … if I try to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). …
- … away’ that sparked the most discussion. Darwin wrote to Hooker on 23 February , ‘did you look at …
- … thought it was by Gray himself, but Darwin corrected him: ‘D r Gray would strike me in the face, …
- … editor of the London and Westminster Review . When Hooker later tried to refute the claims of the …
- … a scamp & I begin to think a veritable ass’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868] ). …
- … on 17 April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d C. Darwin M.d’; Binstead evidently …
- … (from ?, 6 April 1868). On 21 May , Darwin complained to Hooker, ‘I am bothered with heaps of …
- … information on colour changes in the canary (letters from J. J. Weir, [26] March 1868 and 3 …
- … added, ‘for it is clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). Sexual …
- … role of colour, sound, and smell in attracting females. J. J. Weir reported on 14 April 1868 …
- … Wallace that he had begun the previous year, writing to Hooker on 21 May , ‘I always distrust …
- … emotional expression. His questionnaire, first sent out in 1867, was circulated to remote parts of …
Scientific Practice
Summary
Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…
Matches: 19 hits
- … | Microscopes | Collecting | Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of …
- … with detailed correspondence about barnacles. Letter 1514 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. …
- … of one idea. – cirripedes morning & night.” Letter 1480 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, …
- … on embryological stages than Huxley thinks. Letter 1592 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H …
- … and difficulties of botanical experimentation. Letter 4895 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J …
- … thinks seems probable. Letter 5173 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. R., 2 Aug 1866 …
- … to be dichogamous. Letter 5429 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. R., 4 Mar 1867 …
- … of other species. Letter 5480 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. R., 1 Apr 1867 …
- … Letter 5551 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 26 May [1867] Darwin thanks Müller for …
- … Letter 207 — Darwin, C. R. to Fox, W. D., 23 May 1833 Darwin tells Fox to buy a microscope. …
- … to geology. Letter 1018 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., [6 Nov 1846] Darwin …
- … full of observations on barnacles and he would like to meet Hooker in London. Letter 1166 …
- … Owen might discuss the topic [in his contribution to J. F. W. Herschel, ed., Manual of scientific …
- … superior”. Letter 1174 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 10 May 1848 Darwin …
- … result of applying it to cirripede sexual systems. He tells Hooker that he sent Owen an account of …
- … C. R. to Gould, A. A., 20 Aug [1849] Darwin thanks J. D. Dana for cirripede specimens. Darwin …
- … This collection of letters, written between Darwin and Hooker whilst Darwin was preparing his …
- … history. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] Darwin writes …
- … to specific name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 3 Feb 1849 Hooker …
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: 11 hits
- … From J. D. Hooker 26[–7] February 1868 Kew Feby 26 th /68 Dear …
- … Next morning — After rereading all this vaporous letter I shall try to answer your last page in a …
- … Pangenesis as I have my crudity. Ever yr affec | J D Hooker …
- … please return it.—as I have no time to copy it.— J H. CD …
- … some] ‘(5)’ added before blue crayon Top of letter : ‘London— Athen. Lewes’ f10 blue …
- … of Variation in the Athenæum to Richard Owen (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 February [1868] …
- … by a graduate of the University of Cambridge ([Beverley] 1867) was reviewed in the Athenæum , 8 …
- … Chronicle , 22 February 1868, p. 184, in his letter to Hooker of 23 February [1868]. f4 …
- … f10 These annotations are for CD’s reply. See letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 February [1868] and nn. …
- … Letter details From Hooker, J. D. To Darwin, C. R. …
- … Tries to answer question on last page of CD’s letter anent sexuality. …
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: 19 hits
- … & I am sick of correcting’ ( Correspondence vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868 …
- … he remarked to his best friend, the botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, ‘If I lived 20 more years, & …
- … Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). …
- … Darwin sent a manuscript of his response (now missing) to Hooker, remarking: ‘I should be extremely …
- … made any blunders, as is very likely to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). …
- … principle (Nägeli 1865, pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide Darwin with botanical …
- … Jenkin. Darwin had been very impressed by Jenkin’s 1867 review, which argued that any variation in …
- … than I now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , …
- … is strengthened by the facts in distribution’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Darwin …
- … retrench that position following criticism from his friend Hooker, by admitting that the survival of …
- … tropical species using Croll’s theory. In the same letter to Croll, Darwin had expressed …
- … do fairly well, though if I had read you first, perhaps I d have been less deferential towards …
- … males & females, cocks & hens.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 November [1869] ). Yet …
- … & contempt—almost hatred—’ ( from Asa Gray and J. L. Gray, 8 and 9 May [1869] ). James …
- … by Wallace’s assertions: ‘If you had not told me I d have thought that they had been added by …
- … on the previous German edition (Bronn and Carus trans. 1867), as well as on the German translation …
- … [her] to translate “Domestic Animals”’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 November [1869] ). Angered by …
- … poured boiling oil over the bumptious man’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 7 September 1869 ). Huxley …
- … suggestions to its publisher, Macmillan ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 November 1869 ). Darwin …
Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 17 hits
- … of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] , Darwin …
- … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
- … As Darwin explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of 30 November [1864] , ‘the …
- … observations indoors ( Correspondence vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin …
- … gradation by which leaves produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). …
- … peduncles to test sensitivity, and in his request to Hooker for another specimen: ‘I want it …
- … matters which routinists regard in the light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 …
- … plant morphology. Many of his other correspondents, such as Hooker and Gray, had grown accustomed to …
- … the Lythrum paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] …
- … letter of 22 October [1864] , Darwin triumphantly wrote to Hooker: ‘I will fight you to the death, …
- … with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] ). …
- … often at odds with one another: ‘Gardeners are the very d—l, & where two or three are gathered …
- … enough to play your part over them’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 April 1864] ). …
- … … they do require very careful treatment’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 8 April 1864 ). Nevertheless …
- … that in giving I am hastening the fall’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 April 1864 ). In his …
- … a first-class cabin for the journey ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 August 1864] ). Darwin …
- … he thought him ‘sanguine & unsafe’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 February 1864 ). Hooker …
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: 21 hits
- … him as a bitter enemy. Darwin and Sedgwick Letter 2525 — Darwin, C. R. to …
- … of a spirit of bravado, but a want of respect. Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, …
- … of brotherly love and as his true-hearted friend. Letter 2555 — Darwin, C. R. to …
- … classes of facts”. Darwin and Owen Letter 2526 — Owen, Richard to Darwin, C. …
- … the nature of such influences as “heterodox”. Letter 2575 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
- … his book “the law of higgledy-piggledy”. Letter 2580 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, …
- … his views now depends on men eminent in science. Letter 2767 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
- … prevail without such aggressive tactics. Letter 5500 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. …
- … reader to take the side of the attacked person. Letter 5533 — Haeckel, E. P. A. to …
- … of the matter, a vigorous attack is essential. Letter 5544 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, …
- … between Darwin and his close friends, Joseph Dalton Hooker and Charles Lyell, show that Darwin, who …
- … political, and religious differences. Letter 2285 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 18 …
- … MS, but Darwin will offer to send it to journal. Letter 2294 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
- … his views from anything Darwin wrote to him. Letter 2295 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
- … he does not feel this alters the justice of case. Letter 2299 — Hooker, J. D. & …
- … reasons for arranging the joint presentation. Letter 2306 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
- … is now planning a 30-page abstract for a journal. Letter 2337 — Wallace, A. R. to …
- … paper public unaccompanied by his own views. Letter 6024 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. …
- … of minute variations and sexual selection. Letter 6033 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, …
- … George Darwin’s notes on Wallace’s argument. Letter 6045 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. …
- … and form new species without being isolated. Letter 6058 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. …
Sexual selection
Summary
Although natural selection could explain the differences between species, Darwin realised that (other than in the reproductive organs themselves) it could not explain the often marked differences between the males and females of the same species. So what…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Variation under domestication, neared completion in 1867, that he systematically sought more …
- … Typical is his query to Fritz Müller in February 1867 : Do you know of any lowly …
- … later quoted at length in Descent . Darwin (whose letter to Brent is missing) seems to …
- … as an argument in favour of Divine creation (Campbell 1867, pp. 203–4). Brent gave it as his …
- … females are worn not by men but women, and he joked with Hooker about the consequences of both …
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: 20 hits
- … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
- … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
- … François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20 …
- … quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January …
- … probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
- … we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He …
- … of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
- … find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
- … sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
- … leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
- … on the summit, whence it rolls down the sides’ ( letter from J. F. Simpson, 7 January 1882 ). The …
- … light on it, which would have pleased me greatly’ ( letter from J. H. Gilbert, 9 January 1882, …
- … annelid seemed to have rather the best of the fight’ ( letter from G. F. Crawte, 11 March 1882 ). …
- … desires, grant us this our modest request!’ ( letter from J. L. Ambrose, 3 April 1882 ). Darwin …
- … news to his closest friends. She wrote to Joseph Dalton Hooker the day after Darwin’s death. ‘Our …
- … were never very violent’ ( letter from Emma Darwin to J. D. Hooker, [20 April 1882] ). In …
- … of your objections to my views, when we meet’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 29 January [1860] ). …
- … Lyell had been a strong advocate of common descent. In 1867, Lyell expressed his enthusiasm for …
- … of the organic world ( letter from Charles Lyell, 16 July 1867 ). In the same year, Darwin made a …
- … property’ ( letter to George Warington, 11 October [1867] ). Respecting the privacy of …
Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours
Summary
Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…
Matches: 22 hits
- … & stigmas’, Darwin remarked to Joseph Dalton Hooker on 25 January . He had been troubling …
- … of respect and affection’. He hinted as much in his letter of 4 June : ‘you will see I have done …
- … it is not likely that more than a few hundred copies w d . be sold’. His publisher knew from …
- … He requested a large number of plants from Hooker on 25 May , adding, ‘I often wish that I could …
- … to Down if it lay in my power and you thought it w d . help you.’ ‘I declare had it not been for …
- … warned Thiselton-Dyer, who seems to have shared Hooker’s suspicion of ambitious gardeners ( letter …
- … method of recording leaf motion for extended periods. In a letter to Thiselton-Dyer of 11 October …
- … … tap one of the young leaves with a delicate twig’ ( letter to R. I. Lynch, 14 September 1877 ). …
- … fuller’s teasel ( Dipsacus sylvestris , a synonym of D. fullonum ). He thought that the …
- … to the Royal Society of London by Darwin, who confessed to Hooker on 25 January , ‘I know that it …
- … of its being printed in the R. Soc. Transactions, (sh d . the referees so order) would stimulate …
- … , or to the vibratory flagella of some Infusoria’ ( letter from F. J. Cohn, 5 August 1877 ). …
- … in July 1877 (F. Darwin 1877b), and Darwin sent Cohn’s letter vindicating his son’s research to …
- … his sense of form and of motion was exact and lively’ ( letter from W. E. Gladstone, 23 October …
- … the Westphalian Provincial Society for Science and Art. In a letter to Darwin written before 16 …
- … as butter’ ( letter to C. E. Norton, 16 March 1877 ). Hooker was asked repeatedly by the emperor …
- … & offer himself you & me to dejeuner!!!’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 June 1877 ). …
- … the old story to be horsewhipped by a duke!’ ( letter to J. M. Rodwell, 3 June 1877 ). Back home, …
- … blending and swamped within a larger population ([Jenkin] 1867). Darwin had addressed this criticism …
- … not give up Pangenesis with wicked imprecations’ (Trollope 1867; letter to G. J. Romanes, [1 and 2 …
- … the ceremony. ‘They are going to formally offer you the L.L.D degree’, George wrote before 28 May …
- … without lying down to rest’, he explained ( letter to J. W. Clark, 12 November 1877 ). …
Was Darwin an ecologist?
Summary
One of the most fascinating aspects of Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the extent to which the experiments he performed at his home in Down, in the English county of Kent, seem to prefigure modern scientific work in ecology.
Matches: 9 hits
- … Despite the difference in language between Darwin’s letter and the modern scientific paper quoted …
- … daresay very well, & for coining new words.’ See the letter The word first appeared …
- … for atheism, but as Darwin himself acknowledged in a letter to Mary Boole, it was more satisfactory …
- … as a result of the direct intervention of God. See the letter We may contrast Darwin’s …
- … sucks it, must have! It is a very pretty case.’ See the letter Darwin was confident …
- … nature as she really is.’ It seems from Haeckel’s letter that what most struck him about …
- … of his great discovery is by contrast extremely modest. In a letter written in 1864 and …
- … statesman and author. Campbell, George Douglas. 1867. The reign of law. London: Alexander …
- … Further reading Campbell, George Douglas. 1867. The reign of law . London: Alexander …
Beauty and the seed
Summary
One of the real pleasures afforded in reading Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the discovery of areas of research on which he never published, but which interested him deeply. We can gain many insights about Darwin’s research methods by following these …
Matches: 8 hits
- … about Darwin’s research methods by following these ‘letter trails’ and observing how correspondence …
- … Towards the end of September 1866 Darwin received a letter from Fritz Müller, a German naturalist …
- … had begun to correspond with Darwin only a year earlier. The letter is now incomplete; Darwin had …
- … composite of letter from Müller to Darwin, 2 Aug 1866, in Darwin’s experimental notebook"," …
- … a striking one. Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 25 Sept [1866] This letter …
- … brilliant red pearls. By the time he received Darwin’s letter he had found yet more examples and …
- … by our Jacús ( Penelope ) or other birds.’ ( see the letter ) By this time Darwin had already …
- … John Scott, who duly experimented and replied in September 1867 that his sulphur-crested cockatoo …
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: 7 hits
- … & yet all the genera have 1/2 a dozen synonyms’ ( letter to H. E. Strickland, [4 February 1849] …
- … and explicit in the work of contemporary naturalists. In a letter to his friend Joseph Hooker, he …
- … I believe, from trying to define the undefinable’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1856] ). …
- … whether sterility could be ‘selected’. In 1862, he told Hooker, ‘I am now strongly inclined to …
- … fertility would not be 'selected'. ( Variation 2: 186–7). One of the reasons that …
- … of hybrids might be produced by natural selection ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 1 March 1868 ). …
- … to ‘say no more but leave the problem as insoluble’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). …
