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The Lyell–Lubbock dispute

Summary

In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…

Matches: 17 hits

… In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
… some of whom took immediate action to mediate a solution. Charles Darwin had close ties with both …
… his views were generally derided. 1 In 1859, Lyell visited several sites in France …
… belief that these were indeed implements of early humans (C. Lyell 1859). In September 1860 he …
… such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. 3; …
… Lubbock reviewed the literature on the topic and noted that Charles Adolphe Morlot had summarised, …
… Prehistoric times (Lubbock 1865). By 1860, Lyell had begun work on a sixth edition of …
… Antiquity of man (see below, ‘Textual changes made to C. Lyell 1863c’). On 6 February 1863, …
… also added the following note on page 11: *Mr. John Lubbock published, after these sheets …
… his celebrated work on the ‘ Antiquity of man ,’ Sir Charles Lyell has made much use of my earlier …
… me from any such inference. The statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in a note to page 11 of his …
… wrote to Henrietta Emma Darwin, ‘whereas after talking to John, he thought him not wrong, after …
… avoiding any mention of the note in the preface (letter to John Lubbock, 11 June [1865] ). No …
… it therefore did not ‘justify so severe an attack on Sir Charles Lyell’. 32 Darwin’s …
… on page 11, C. Lyell 1863c (original version) *Mr. John Lubbock published, after these sheets …
… Stocking 1987, and Van Riper 1993. 2. Letter from Charles Lyell to John Lubbock, 20 …
… 5. For two interpretations of Hugh Falconer’s attack on Charles Lyell, see Bynum 1984 and L. G. …

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: 27 hits

… child of God" (1) Abberley, John (1) …
… Adams, A. L. (1) Addison, John (1) …
… Allen, J. A. (b) (1) Allen, John (1) …
… C. J. (3) Andrews, John (1) Ann. …
… Edwards & Co. (1) Babbage, Charles (10) …
… Balfour, J. H. (7) Ball, John (5) …
… Becher, A. B. (1) Beck, John (2) …
… Beckhard, Martin (1) Beddoe, John (3) …
… C. H. (8) Blackwall, John (4) …
… Bond, Frederick (2) Boner, Charles (5) …
… J. A. H. de (11) Bostock, John (1) …
… Edward (1) Bradlaugh, Charles (2) …
… Brayley, E. W. (1) Breese, Charles (1) …
… Samuel (b) (14) Buxton, Charles (2) …
… Chapman, John (4) Charles, R. F. (2) …
… Crawfurd, John (3) Crawley, Charles (2) …
… Virginius (3) Dallas, Charles (1) …
… Dixie, Florence (3) Dixon, Charles (1) …
… Symington (1) Griffin, Charles (1) …
… Albert (64) Günzbourg, Charles (1) …
… Science-Gossip (1) Hardy, Charles (3) …
… Hinrichs, G. D. (4) Hinton, Charles (1) …
… King, P. P. (1) Kingsley, Charles (18) …
… Lane, E. W. (1) Langstaff, Charles (2) …
… Layard, E. L. (3) Layton, Charles (12) …
… Commissioners (1) Lovegrove, Charles (3) …
… Lydekker, R. (1) Lyell, Charles (277) …

John Lubbock

Summary

John Lubbock was eight years old when the Darwins moved into the neighbouring property of Down House, Down, Kent; the total of one hundred and seventy surviving letters he went on to exchange with Darwin is a large number considering that the two men lived…

Matches: 23 hits

… John Lubbock was eight years old when the Darwins moved into the neighbouring …
… two men lived as close neighbours for most of their lives. Lubbock's father, John William …
… banking family, and the family seat of High Elms, which Lubbock inherited in 1865, was at the heart …
… and wide-ranging studies in anthropology and prehistory, John Lubbock’s childhood interest in …
… mountain must come some Sunday to Mahomet. ( to John Lubbock, 26 March [1867] ) …
… meetings leave in the documentary record, it is clear that John Lubbock played a significant part in …
… and strategist. As early as 1857 Darwin wrote to thank Lubbock for saving him from a ' …
… on variation. Darwin made constant requests of Lubbock, bombarding him with questions and …
… with me on general issue, or against me. ( to John Lubbock, 14 December [1859] ) …
… In the weeks immediately after publication, Darwin wrote to Lubbock not once but twice demanding to …
… , ‘but for the opinion of men like you & Hooker & Huxley & Lyell’. Lubbock spoke …
… Darwin's supporters) in 1864. Pre-historic Times (1865), Lubbock's account of human …
… to humans. After his election as MP for Maidstone in 1870, Lubbock tried at Darwin’s request to …
… such as James Torbitt's research into potato blight. Lubbock was one of those consulted on …
… Descent In Descent of man , Darwin referred to Lubbock’s published work on the secondary …
… (see Descent p. 94). But the most important aspect of Lubbock’s work for Darwin was the support …
… from a single common ancestor ( Descent p. 233). Lubbock’s Origin of civilisation , …
… much interest for the good of my internal viscera’ ( to John Lubbock, 21 July [1870] ). It seems …
… a daughter? or scrupled to carry off anothers wife? ( from John Lubbock, 18 March [1871] ). …
… complained that he remained 'not a little in the dark' ( to John Lubbock, 26 March [1867] …
… in a banking career, and Darwin's last known letter to John Lubbock, sent shortly before …
… children were strained. ‘I am afraid our feeling to Sir John ’ Francis Darwin later wrote ‘did not …
… He signed himself, with unusual formality, “My dear Sir John , yours sincerely”. By this stage …

Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad

Summary

At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…

Matches: 22 hits

… At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
… that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
… by the publication in February of books by his friends Charles Lyell, the respected geologist, and …
… Britain’s scientific circles following the publication of Lyell’s and Huxley’s books. Three …
… Origin had (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). In the …
… with animals now extinct had been rapidly accumulating. Lyell’s argument for a greater human …
… as well as on evidence collected earlier in the century. Lyell’s Antiquity of man and Huxley’s …
… arguments for species change. In this context, Lyell’s discussion of the origin of species …
… that of inferior animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). Darwin …
… out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
… you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
… stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). The …
… letter to J. D. Dana, 20 February [1863] , and letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
… book’ from which he had ‘gained nothing’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 12–13 March [1863] ). …
… that the Public shall see how far you go’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 April [1863] ). …
… were himself, Hooker, Huxley, Alfred Russel Wallace, and John Lubbock. Honours abroad …
… international interest in his theory ( see letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). In January …
… from Hooker that the French botanists Joseph Decaisne and Charles Naudin thought little of his …
… of the Royal Society ( see letter from Edward Sabine to John Phillips, 12 November 1863 ). …
… year with the Hertfordshire nurseryman Thomas Rivers. John Scott Darwin had found a …
… of hybridity and sterility at the end of the previous year. John Scott, a gardener at the Royal …
… the results of which were published in 1868 ( see letter to John Scott, 25 and 28 May [1863] ). …

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: 21 hits

… On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species , …
… the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January [1860] ). By …
… . Fawcett asserted that Darwin’s theory accorded well with John Stuart Mill’s exposition of the …
… current knowledge could not illuminate this ‘mystery’. Charles Lyell worried, among other things, …
… did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19 February 1860] ). To …
… of reasoning about global change. Darwin also knew that Lyell was a powerful potential ally. Indeed, …
… plant species and varieties than from animal breeding. With Lyell also questioning how interbreeding …
… perfected structure as the eye. As Darwin admitted to Lyell, Gray, and others, imagining how …
… Certainly this was a major difficulty standing in the way of Lyell’s acceptance of the theory, as …
… explicitly in Origin — only one sentence, he told Lyell, showed that he believed ‘man is in same …
… to hear Samuel Wilberforce, the bishop of Oxford, reply to John William Draper’s paper giving a …
… Darwin about further, less dramatic incidents, including John Lubbock’s retort to Wilberforce on the …
… of the scientifically literate clergymen Baden Powell and Charles Kingsley attested. Moreover, …
… any new converts or even cause earlier proponents (like Lyell) to retract their support altogether …
… different opposers view the subject’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February [1860] ); later he …
… better fun observing is than writing.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 12 September [1860] ). Despite …
… & not amuse myself with interludes.—’ (letters to Charles Lyell, 24 November [1860] , and to …
… daughter Anne’s fatal illness never far from their minds, Charles and Emma did whatever they could …
… I shall improve the Book considerably.—’ ( letter to John Murray, 5 December [1860] ). Although he …
… to convert people under 20 year,’ he told his friend John Innes, ‘though firmly convinced now …
… good judge coming some little way with me.’ ( letter to John Innes, 28 December [1860] ). …

Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments

Summary

1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…

Matches: 18 hits

… of sterility between varieties of Verbascum . When John Scott, foreman of the propagating …
… Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ). …
… to publish on Linum ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), writing up his …
… buy it. When he submitted the manuscript to his publisher, John Murray, he boasted: ‘I can say with …
… in the least , whether the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] ). To his …
… paper for the Natural History Review ( see letter to John Lubbock, 16 [December 1862] ). Aware …
… in the preparation of translations of his books. When Charles Edouard Brown-Séquard informed him …
… also sent presentation copies of his botanical studies to Charles Naudin, a botanist at the Muséum d …
… of the old Beagle crew, Bartholomew James Sulivan, John Clements Wickham, and Arthur Mellersh, …
… of this, he prescribed strict conditions for a meeting with John Lubbock: ‘if you could … let me go …
… at 9 o clock I do not think it would hurt me’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 23 October [1862] ). …
… on botany. Even at the start of their correspondence he told John Scott: ‘Botany is a new subject to …
… odds & ends of botany & you know far more’ ( letter to John Scott, 19 November [1862] ). …
… Darwin was glad that Glen Roy was ‘settled’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 22 August [1862] ), he …
… of Darwin’s circle was in Switzerland in the summer: John Lubbock briefly met up with Tyndall and …
… discovered prehistoric lake-dwellings ( see letter from John Lubbock, 23 August 1862 ). Lubbock …
… to view the prehistoric sites near Amiens ( see letter from John Lubbock, 15 May 1862 ), and he …
… palaeontologist who believes in immutability’, he told Lyell ( letter to Charles Lyell, 1 October …

Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'

Summary

In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…

Matches: 18 hits

… On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that he ‘Began by Lyell’s advice writing …
… by the preparation of this manuscript. Although advised by Lyell to publish only a brief outline …
… material into such a small compass and soon abandoned Lyell’s idea in favour of a full-length work …
… this process. Still prominent in his immediate circle were Charles Lyell and Joseph Dalton Hooker, …
… and other domesticated animals. As Darwin explained to Lyell, his studies, particularly those on …
… of how selection might work in nature ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. 10 ). He was …
… acknowledged when told by his neighbour and young protégé John Lubbock that his method of …
… using a statistically valid method explained to him by Lubbock. The origin of sex Such …
… to William Erasmus Darwin, [26 February 1856] and to Charles Lyell, 3 May [1856] ). …
… 21 [July 1857] ). The problem of careers for his six boys (Charles Waring Darwin, the sixth and …
… Athenæum Club. Several letters touch on the publication of John Tyndall’s theory concerning the …
… phenomenon of cleavage, still unresolved in 1856, with John Phillips and entered into a useful …
… writing in part to establish his priority in this area, for Charles Lyell thought that Wallace’s …
… All the available material seems to indicate that it was Lyell rather than Darwin who feared the …
… Darwin’s manuscript on species was begun only after Lyell had urged him to publish a preliminary …
… given on an occasion other than the one previously supposed. Charles and Mary Elizabeth Lyell …
… opportunity to explain his theory of natural selection to Lyell. Yet the suggestion of composing a …
… not embrace the whole Lamarckian doctrine.’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. 7 ). The …

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: 17 hits

… In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
… on a paper on Verbascum (mullein) by CD’s protégé, John Scott, who was now working in India. …
… also a serious dispute between two of Darwin’s friends, John Lubbock and Charles Lyell . These …
… claimed, important for his enjoyment of life. He wrote to Charles Lyell on 22 January [1865] , …
… Appendix II). In May, he invited a new doctor, John Chapman, to Down and began a course of Chapman’s …
… Variation . In March Darwin wrote to his publisher, John Murray, ‘Of present book I have 7 …
… forward, except the last & concluding one’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 March [1865] ). In …
… will be ready for the press in the autumn’ ( letter to John Murray, 4 April [1865] ). In early …
… and those of Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, and Charles Bonnet; Darwin wrote back: ‘I do …
… the Royal Society of Edinburgh criticising Origin . Like Charles Lyell, who wrote to Darwin on …
… for existence (ibid., pp. 276–81). Darwin responded to Lyell’s account in some detail ( see letter …
… the correspondence. At the end of May, the dispute between Charles Lyell and John Lubbock over …
… Natural History Review . He also cited a statement by Lyell in Antiquity of man that the pages …
… inadvertence’. Though Lubbock had raised the matter with Lyell before publishing, this statement, …
… sent to Darwin and its enclosures have not been found, so Lyell’s letter to Hooker, which must have …
… set up to support FitzRoy’s children ( see letter from Charles Shaw, 3 October 1865 ). …
… are letters commenting on Origin , including two from Charles Lyell, who had been sent the proof …

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: 17 hits

… at Erasmus’s house. The event was led by the medium Charles E. Williams, and was attended by George …
… friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder …
… at a much reduced price of nine shillings, in line with Charles Lyell’s Student’s elements of …
… Quarterly Review discussing works on primitive man by John Lubbock and Edward Burnett Tylor. It …
… of anonymous reviews. Its proprietor was none other than John Murray, Darwin’s publisher. So …
… to review me in a hostile spirit’ ( letter to John Murray, 11 August 1874 ). Darwin was …
… number of the Review & in the same type’ ( letter from John Murray, 12 August 1874 ). George …
… anonymous reviews. While staying with Hooker over Christmas, John Tyndall, professor at and …
… as ‘the natural outflow of his character’ ( letter from John Tyndall, 28 December 1874 ). …
… to purchase the wooded land, which he had been renting from John Lubbock, led to a straining of …
… with lawyers over a doubt that it may have been included in Lubbock’s marriage settlements, the sale …
… printed appeal for funds, raising £860 ( Circular to John Lubbock, P. L. Sclater, Charles Lyell, W. …
… Sharpe, 24 November [1874] ). He wrote in admiration of Charles Lyell’s plan to leave a bequest to …
… of the English editions. Darwin’s French publisher, Charles Reinwald, engaged new translators to …
… Tyndall, 12 August [1874] ). Hooker reported that ‘Lubbock’s Lecture went off admirably— but …
… connotations of both Huxley’s and Tyndall’s addresses, Charles Lyell, who had spent his career …
… may be fairly said to have had an ovation’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1 September 1874 ). …

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: 16 hits

… The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now …
… of scientific admirers at Down, among them Robert Caspary, John Traherne Moggridge, and Ernst …
… regime led to Darwin’s being teased by his neighbour, John Lubbock, about the prospect of riding to …
… with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 ). More …
… On 21 February Darwin received notification from John Murray that stocks of the third edition of …
… Henry Walter Bates’s article on mimetic butterflies, Lubbock’s observations of diving Hymenoptera …
… in correspondence throughout the year, as in his remark to Lyell, ‘I quite follow you in thinking …
… in this volume), drawing Darwin, Hooker, and the botanist Charles James Fox Bunbury into the …
… [28 February 1866] ). Darwin also ventured to inform Lyell that he did not support Lyell’s theory …
… George Henslow, the son of his Cambridge mentor, John Stevens Henslow, stayed for two days in April …
… In June, Darwin was visited by the orchid specialist John Traherne Moggridge, whose work on the self …
… fresh opportunity for intense debate. As Darwin remarked to Lyell earlier in the year: ‘a squabble …
… good, & we have been at it many a long year’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February [1866] ). …
… had been a subject of long discussion in previous years with Lyell, Gray, and Hooker. Wallace …
… out, ‘business would be totally paralysed’. Similarly, John Murray gave as a reason for his decision …
… loneliness’ ( letter from E. C. Langton to Emma and Charles Darwin, [6 and 7? January 1866] ), and …

The "wicked book": Origin at 157

Summary

Origin is 157 years old. (Probably) the most famous book in science was published on 24 November 1859. To celebrate we have uploaded hundreds of new images of letters, bringing the total number you can look at here to over 9000 representing more than…

Matches: 6 hits

… Russel Wallace , co-discoverer of natural selection; Charles Lyell , and Joseph Hooker , the …
… from South Africa, and the Scottish gardener John Scott conducted experiments in Edinburgh and …
… letters from family and friends, including letters between Charles and his wife Emma, and several of …
… of fish , but also about the origins of language . John Brodie Innes , vicar of the Darwins’ …
… over me on rising William Darwin Fox , Charles’s cousin and another friend, compared …
… Alfred Newton Frederick Smith A. G. Butler John Lubbock R. I. Lynch J. …

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: 12 hits

… extract anything valuable from his letters to Darwin and Lyell for Athenæum . He mentioned Darwin …
… Mentors Darwin's close relationship with John Stevens Henslow, the professor of botany …
… he mentored. The first is between Darwin and his neighbour, John Lubbock and the second is between …
… Letter 1585 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, [Sept 1854] Darwin sends Lubbock a beetle he …
… Letter 1720 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, 19 [July 1855] Darwin congratulates Lubbock on …
… Letter 1979 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, 27 Oct [1856] Darwin provides detailed …
… expert William Bernard Tegetmeier and the Scottish gardener John Scott, illustrate how the rigid …
… him to publish in his journal. The debate about John Scott Letter 3800 — …
… Letter 3805 — Darwin, C. R. to Scott, John, 12 Nov [1862] Darwin thanks Scott for bringing …
… in the anthers. Letter 4463 — Scott, John to Darwin, C. R., 14 Apr [1864] Scott …
… to Gray, Asa, 13 Sept [1864] Darwin sends abstract of John Scott’s paper [see 4332 ] and …
… day with Henslow; much had to be done. His friend, Alexander Charles Wood, has written to Capt. …

Origin is 160; Darwin's 1875 letters now online

Summary

To mark the 160th anniversary of the publication of Origin of species, the full transcripts and footnotes of nearly 650 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1875 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1875…

Matches: 7 hits

… and footnotes of nearly 650 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1875 are published online …
… of the letters . The year 1875 was a busy one for Charles Darwin; he published a new book, …
… been blackballed by the Linnean Society. John Burdon Sanderson, Edward Emanuel …
… in the vestry of having made false statements ( Letter to John Lubbock, 8 April 1875 ) …
… of Down, George Sketchley Ffinden, continued to be poor. John Lubbock, another local landowner and …
… without much success. Emma Darwin was happy to report to John Brodie Innes, the former vicar, that …
… including one of his oldest and dearest friends, Charles Lyell. Lyell had helped to introduce …

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: 6 hits

… proofs of Descent in December, he wrote to his friend Charles Lyell, ‘thank all the powers above …
… in Paris. Quatrefages had just completed a book, Charles Darwin et ses précurseurs français …
… the mother and foetus during pregnancy. As a case in point, John Jenner Weir described the offspring …
… also discussed recent experiments by Louis Pasteur and John Tyndall that provided evidence for the …
… a memorandum. He asked his neighbour, the naturalist John Lubbock, who was now MP for Maidstone, to …
… reference to mankind of much importance ’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 17 July 1870 ). The motion to …

Darwin in letters, 1861: Gaining allies

Summary

The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. He had weathered the storm that followed the publication of Origin, and felt cautiously optimistic about the ultimate acceptance of his ideas. The letters from this year provide an…

Matches: 19 hits

… presented in Origin . Having learned from his publisher John Murray in November 1860 that a new …
… notably his faithful ‘barometer’ of scientific opinion, Charles Lyell ( see letter to Charles Lyell …
… out for praise in 1861. He had been disappointed to learn of John Frederick William Herschel’s …
… Moreover, Darwin found an important philosophical ally in John Stuart Mill. Through Henry Fawcett, a …
… recommended that Bates offer the manuscript to the publisher John Murray with a view to obtaining …
… like Cuthbert Collingwood and laymen such as the physician Charles Robert Bree and the Scottish …
… consolation to his friend Hooker whose father-in-law, John Stevens Henslow, died after a brief …
… to contribute to Leonard Jenyns’s Memoir of the Rev. John Stevens Henslow (see Correspondence …
… ). Later in the year, he went even further, writing to John Lindley on 17 October: ‘Orchids have …
… volume that would reach a wider public. Having approached John Murray with some hesitation, and …
… and poultry. As he frequently admitted to friends such as Charles Lyell and interested supporters …
… prominently in the correspondence of 1861. Here, it was Charles Lyell who continued to act as Darwin …
… subsidence, and glaciation in Europe. Through his letters, Lyell involved Darwin in his …
… he had published a major paper twenty years earlier. Both Lyell and Darwin encouraged the young …
… the marine theory proposed by Darwin and since propounded by Lyell. Despite his belief that Jamieson …
… had been ‘one long gigantic blunder’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 September [1861] ). The …
… Erasmus. Late in May, Darwin’s young friend and neighbour, John Lubbock, a partner with his father …
… network in support of his son. On 1 August he wrote to Charles Lyell to ask whether he could suggest …
… His old and established friends—Hooker, Gray, Huxley, and Lyell—continued to support his doctrines, …

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: 24 hits

… On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July …
… of Dimorphism’ in Menyanthes ( letter from Emma and Charles Darwin to W. E. Darwin, [20 May …
… of a paper by another of his orchid correspondents, John Traherne Moggridge, who in June sent him …
… of insect pollinators in 1864 and following years. John Scott again Much of Darwin’s …
… plight of another of Darwin’s fellow orchid-experimenters, John Scott. Their correspondence had been …
… five years. Scott felt that his superiors, James McNab and John Hutton Balfour, no longer treated …
… indomitable perseverance, and his knowledge’ ( letter to John Scott, 10 June 1864 ). Hooker met …
… support ‘on the grounds of science’ ( letter to John Scott, 9 April 1864 ), but Scott declined …
… and animal-breeders. As in earlier years, Darwin consulted Charles William Crocker about his …
… curators at a great distance. Gray forwarded a letter from Charles Wright, a plant collector in Cuba …
… Hugh Falconer, 3 November 186[4] ). The French botanist, Charles Victor Naudin, wrote a gracious …
… using such a periodical to defend himself, Hooker and Lyell discouraged him, and he decided to avoid …
… 1864 ). A notably rambling and long letter arrived from John Beck, a Shrewsbury schoolfellow of …
… by a merciful deity for the use of humankind ( letter from John Beck, 6 October 1864 ). …
… his brother Erasmus told him of a subscription fund for John William Colenso, bishop of Natal, South …
… when Colenso was in England in 1864, socialising with Charles Lyell and other members of the London …
… again, to Ramsay’s view for third or fourth time; but Lyell says when I read his discussion in the …
… Huxley’s Evidence as to man’s place in nature and Lyell’s Antiquity of man , and that the …
… that a Neanderthal race once extended across Europe. John Lubbock mentioned his forthcoming volume …
… [May 1864] ). He added that he wished Wallace had written Lyell’s section on humans in Antiquity …
… of the Royal Society, Edward Sabine, to the geologist John Phillips revealed Sabine’s fears that in …
… have been particularly heartened when his former mentor, Lyell, congratulated him by saying that ‘an …
… of moral courage which is so small still’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 4 November 1864 ); in …
… ever so little degree the Council’s award’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 21 December [1864] ). In …

Origin

Summary

Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to establish priority for the species theory he had spent over twenty years researching. Darwin never intended to write Origin, and had resisted suggestions in 1856…

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… While still on the Isle of Wight, Darwin also heard from John Stevens Henslow, his old mentor and …
… men converts. My neighbour & excellent naturalist J. Lubbock is enthusiastic convert. ’ …
… concern now was to find a suitable publisher, and once again Lyell came to his aid. In late March, …
… of Darwin’s work. In light of this, Darwin asked Lyell whether he should ‘tell Murray that my Book …
… you on the same terms as those on which I publish for Sir Charles Lyell ’. Darwin was uneasy. …
… & God knows I have never shirked a difficulty’, he told Lyell on 20 September 1859, ‘ I am …
… in this life. ’ ‘I have just finished your volume’, Lyell told Darwin on 3 October, ‘& right …
… facts on which you ground so many grand generalizations.’ Lyell not only thought Darwin’s book ‘ a …
… 14 to 21 September 1859. Darwin was confident that in time Lyell would be ‘ per verted’, telling …
… Selection is in the main safe ’. Darwin reassured Lyell on 11 October that he was aware that …
… in doing ’. By late October, Hooker assured Darwin that Lyell was becoming a convert. Darwin was …

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

… In January, Darwin corresponded with George John Romanes about new varieties of sugar cane produced …
… Quarterly Review , owned by Darwin’s publisher John Murray, carried an anonymous article on the …
… or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The author …
… Darwin had a less heated discussion with the painter John Collier on the topic of science and art. …
… himself to so dreadful a man, as Huxley’ ( letter to John Collier, 16 February 1882 ). Collier had …
… be the same without my consciousness?’ ( letter from John Collier, 22 February 1882 ; T. H. Huxley …
… to take his daily strolls (Henrietta Emma Litchfield, ‘Charles Darwin’s death’, DAR 262.23: 2, p. 2) …
… and admirers. One of the most touching was from John Lubbock, whose interest in natural history at …
… we adjourned as a small tribute of respect’ (letter from John Lubbock to Francis Darwin, 20 April …
… snakes, centipedes, and spiders. The instructions were from Charles Lawrence Hughes, a fellow pupil …
… Holland, she mentions his warm reception on arrival: ‘Charles is as well as possible & in gayer …
… recommendations for annual medals. He strongly supported Charles Lyell for the Copley, the Royal …
… that the future Historian of the Natural Sciences, will rank Lyell’s labours as more influential in …
… point of view I think no man ranks in the same class with Lyell’ ( letter to William Sharpey, 22 …
… November [1864] ). Writing to the clergyman and naturalist Charles Kingsley, he was more gloomy: …
… men whom I should have liked to have known’ ( letter to Charles Kingsley, 2 June [1865] ). …
… curious to read what you will say on Man & his Races’, Lyell wrote. ‘It was not a theme to be …
… theory for the whole of the organic world ( letter from Charles Lyell, 16 July 1867 ). In the same …
… and I must not make you my father confessor. ( Letter from Charles Lyell, 1 September 1874 .) …
… complete With volume 30, the Correspondence of Charles Darwin is now complete. In the …

Darwin's bad days

Summary

Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:

Matches: 1 hits

… Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …

Women’s scientific participation

Summary

Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…

Matches: 6 hits

… 9 November 1868] Darwin’s nephews, Edmund and Charles, write to Emma Darwin’s sister, …
… 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John Scott responds to Darwin’s queries …
… the Isle of White. Letter 4433 - Wright, Charles to Gray, A., [20, 25, 26 March …
… - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments he is undertaking …
… J., [5 April 1859] Darwin asks his publisher, John Murray, to forward a manuscript copy of …
… - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments he is undertaking …

Darwin Correspondence Project

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