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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: 19 hits

  • on publishers, decried on one occasion by Joseph Dalton Hooker asPenny-wise Pound foolish, …
  • Fuller consideration of Darwins work was given by Hooker in an evening speech on insular floras at
  • me any harmany how I cant be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). Towards
  • continued to refine his hypothesis in 1866. He wrote to Hooker on 16 May [1866] , ‘Iam 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. Plantsto Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] ). When
  • of Darwins closest scientific friends and correspondents. Hookers research on alpine floras, Henry
  • have survived and appear in this volume), drawing Darwin, Hooker, and the botanist Charles James Fox
  • bigotted to the last inch, & will not yield’, he wrote to Hooker, who attached greater weight to
  • same temperate species on distant mountains, and remarked to Hooker on his strong preference for
  • more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] ). Darwin
  • … ‘Your fatherentered 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
  • original contract between Darwin and the New York publisher D. Appleton and Co. in 1860. …
  • … & admit how little is known on the subject’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 and 4 August [1866] ). …
  • see how differently we look at every thing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 August [1866] ). Yet both
  • same thing in a different light from you’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 7 August 1866 ). The two

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

  • the accursed Index-maker’, Darwin wrote to Joseph Dalton Hooker on 6 January . Darwin had sent
  • … ). Darwin sympathised, replying on 14 January , ‘I sh d  have a very bad heart, as hard as
  • to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). But such
  • awaythat 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 tothe 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
  • kind almost heroic, in you to sacrifice your hair and pay 3 d  in the cause of science
  • information on colour changes in the canary (letters from J. J. Weir, [26] March 1868 and 3
  • … , ‘almost heroic, in you to sacrifice your hair and pay 3 d  in the cause of science.’ Darwin
  • added, ‘for it is clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). Sexual
  • as ofvictorious males getting wives’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 25 February [1868] ). Yet a
  • 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
  • circulated to remote parts of the world. A correspondent of Hookers distributed it in Japan ( …
  • the Linnean Society of London on 19 March. In a letter to Hooker on 21 May , he enthused over an
  • and self fertilisation , pp. 11920. He also enlisted Hooker to identify grasses that had grown
  • the previous year by James Philip Mansel Weale ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [20 May 1868] ). …

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: 20 hits

  • exclaimed to his close friend, the botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker: ‘Hurrah! I have been 52 hours
  • 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin wrote to Hooker: ‘The only approach to work which
  • by which  leaves  produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). Darwins
  • …  peduncles to test sensitivity, and in his request to Hooker for another specimen: ‘I want it
  • 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, …
  • and 249). When Darwin requested orchid specimens from Hooker in November, he said that he did
  • certain difficult & tedious points’, Darwin asked Hooker about the possibility of Scotts
  • 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 dl, & 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
  • you have bearded this lion in his den’ ( letter to B. D. Walsh, 4 December [1864] ). Walsh also
  • he spoke out on the modification of species ( letter to B. D. Walsh, 21 October [1864] ). …
  • he thought himsanguine & unsafe’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 February 1864 ). Hooker
  • correct if they contradicted the Bible ( see letter from J. D. Hooker, [19 September 1864] ). When
  • Lyell 1865] I shall recant for fifth time’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 October [1864] ). Lyell

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: 15 hits

  • correcting’ ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868] ). He may have
  • 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
  • blunders, as is very likely to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). Hooker
  • principle (Nägeli 1865, pp. 289). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide Darwin with botanical
  • retrench that position following criticism from his friend Hooker, by admitting that the survival of
  • 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
  • … & contemptalmost hatred—’ ( from Asa Gray and J. L. Gray, 8 and 9 May [1869] ). James
  • by Wallaces assertions: ‘If you had not told me I d  have thought that they had been added by
  • commentary (Royer trans. 1870). Darwin complained to Hooker, ‘Besides her enormously long & …
  • … [her] to translateDomestic Animals”’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 November [1869] ). Angered by
  • by Anglican clergymen in the biology section of the meeting. Hooker described the session with some
  • suggestions to its publisher, Macmillan ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 November 1869 ).  Darwin

Darwin in letters, 1851-1855: Death of a daughter

Summary

The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. The period opens with a family tragedy in the death of Darwin’s oldest and favourite daughter, Anne, and it shows how, weary and mourning his dead child,…

Matches: 7 hits

  • in zoological matters, just as he did on Joseph Dalton Hookers in botany. Moreover, this circle of
  • in his health was indicated by his comment in a letter to Hooker on 29 [May 1854] : ‘Very far
  • also drawing the botanist Miles Joseph Berkeley, his friend Hooker, and various readers of the
  • such speculative, large-scale geological changes. As he told Hooker in a letter of 5 June [1855] …
  • arguments for the dispersal of animals and plants with Hooker who, with Charles Lyell and Edward
  • out his species essay in full. In 1850, he had written to Hooker ( Correspondence  vol. 4, …
  • is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But, whether

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: 0 hits

Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'

Summary

The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…

Matches: 14 hits

  • of Darwins findings had been spread by the publication by J. S. Henslow and Adam Sedgwick of
  • results of the  Beagle  voyage. With the help of J. S. Henslow, William Whewell, and other
  • by Adam White; infusoria by C. G. Ehrenberg; fungi by M. J. Berkeley; and corals by William Lonsdale
  • were neglected. During the voyage Darwin had expected that J. S. Henslow would describe his
  • the end of 1843, he increasingly hoped that William Jackson Hooker or his son Joseph might be
  • were discovered that contain lists of Darwins plants (see D. M. Porter 1981). Charles Lyell
  • … . . . on the origin & variation of species” ( Letter to J. S. Henslow, [November 1839] ).   …
  • filled, with facts It is true that, until he took J. D. Hooker into his confidence in
  • to convince anyone that he had a sound solution to what J. F. W. Herschel in a letter to Lyell had
  • clearly  under sub-laws.' To his cousin, W. D. Fox, [25 January 1841] , he wrote: & …
  • this field and on friends like Henslow, T. C. Eyton, and W. D. Fox, who were knowledgeable about
  • distributed ( Correspondence vol. 2, Appendix V). As P. J. Vorzimmer has pointed out (Vorzimmer
  • … [20 February 1840] , ‘as usual has been my enemybut D r . Holland tells me he thinks it is only
  • so-calledscience of morphology’, first set forth by J. W. von Goethe. Though widely accepted in

Hunt for new letters: last chance!

Summary

Think you know of a letter to or from Darwin that we haven’t found? Let us know! Although we already know of more than 15,000 letters that Darwin exchanged with nearly 2000 correspondents around the world, letters continue to come to light in both…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Think you know of a letter to or from Darwin that we haven’t found? Let us know! Although …

Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles

Summary

Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…

Matches: 15 hits

  • Darwin wrote to his friend and confidant Joseph Dalton Hooker: ‘I hope this next summer to finish my
  • my species-work’ ( Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November 1845] ). …
  • Of special interest are the nine letters from Joseph Dalton Hooker written during his expedition in
  • and frequently dangerous travels through the mountains. Hooker writes of the complicated geology of
  • of the Sikkim Himalaya. In the midst of all this activity, Hooker responds to Darwins particular
  • other. Geology, and geological controversy Hookers letters illuminate the role of the
  • Herschel, to write the chapter on geology ( letter to J. F. W. Herschel, 4 February [1848] ). …
  • that such a monograph was adesideratum’ ( letter to J. L. R. Agassiz, 22 October 1848 ), was
  • are clearly expressed in his letters; he also pointed out to Hooker that it was his species theory
  • of the sexes from an ancestral hermaphrodite in his Notebook D ( Notebooks ) and had subsequently
  • or pistils ( Correspondence  vol. 2, letter from J. S. Henslow, 21 November 1840 ). The sexual
  • this importance comes through in his happy protestations to Hooker: ‘But I can hardly explain what I
  • you say, my species theory is all gospel.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 May 1848 ). Once
  • to H. E. Strickland, 29 January [1849] . As Darwin wrote to J. D. Hooker, who had warned him
  • probable that Darwin inherited at least £45,000 (Keith, p. 225), making his personal wealth

List of correspondents

Summary

Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent.    "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…

Matches: 22 hits

  • Abbot, F. E. (17) Abernethy, J. W. (1) …
  • Allen, Grant (13) Allen, J. A. (b) (1) …
  • Allen, Thomas (2) Allman, G. J. (4) …
  • Isaac (17) Andersson, C. J. (3) …
  • Ansell, G. F. (1) Ansted, D. T. (8) …
  • … (2) Arruda Furtado, Francisco d’ (10) …
  • Athenæum (11) Atkin, J. R. (1) …
  • Ayres, W. P. (1) B. J. Edwards & Co. (1) …
  • Balch, C. L. (3) Baldwin, J. D. (2) …
  • Barnes, K. S. (1) Barr, J. G. R. (1) …
  • Barrett, W. F. (1) Barrois, J. H. (2) …
  • Brooks, W. C. (1) Brown, D. J. (1) …
  • Dudley (1) Campbell, G. D. (3) Canby
  • … & Galpin (1) Caton, J. D. (9) …
  • Mary (1) Conway, M. D. (9) Conybeare
  • B. A. E. (1) Cooper, J. D. (2) …
  • James (40) Crick, W. D. (11) Crier, …
  • Crotch, G. R. (4) Crotch, W. D. (5) …
  • Curzon, A. N. H. (1) D. Appleton & Co (30) …
  • Damseaux, A. (1) Dana, J. D. (32) …
  • … (1) Fox, W. D. (225) Francis, George
  • Holub, Emil (3) Hooker, F. H. (12) …