Bad Request
Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
Apache Server at dcp-public.lib.cam.ac.uk Port 443
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: 14 hits
- … that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
- … were himself, Hooker, Huxley, Alfred Russel Wallace, and John Lubbock. Honours abroad …
- … 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 botanical subjects, the crossing experiments that Scott had begun on the primrose family after …
- … correspondence in 1863. Darwin eventually communicated Scott’s Primula work to the Linnean …
- … the results of which were published in 1868 ( see letter to John Scott, 25 and 28 May [1863] ). …
- … hoped would counteract Huxley’s criticism ( letter from John Scott, 23 July [1863] ). Darwin …
- … that your paper will have permanent value’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ). Scott received …
- … the “Origin” is not at all palatable!’ ( letter from John Scott, [3 June 1863] ). Darwin’s …
- … a position offered in Darjeeling, India ( see letter from John Scott, 22 May 1863 , and letter …
- … 1860; it continued to capture his attention ( see letter to John Scott, 12 April [1863] ). …
- … to Malvern the following week. Three letters in August from John Goodsir, professor of anatomy at …
- … of all such matters as your stomach’ ( see letter from John Goodsir, 21 August [1863] ; letter …
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: 29 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. …
- … 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) …
- … J. A. H. de (11) Bostock, John (1) …
- … Bridgman, W. K. (3) Brigg, John (1) …
- … Busch, Otto (1) Bush, John (3) Busk, …
- … Caton, J. D. (9) Cattell, John (3) …
- … the Exchequer (1) Chapman, John (4) …
- … Coe, Henry (6) Coghlan, John (2) …
- … Colburn, Henry (3) Colby, John (3) …
- … Colgate, Robert (1) Collier, John (2) …
- … Craig, J. S. (2) Crawfurd, John (3) …
- … Crick, W. D. (11) Crier, John (1) …
- … Davis, J. E. (1) Davy, John (6) …
- … Denny, Henry (13) Denny, John (6) …
- … Downie, Mr (1) Downing, John (3) …
- … Evans, E. G. (2) Evans, John (b) (3) …
- … Farn, A. B. (1) Farr, John (2) Farr, …
- … Fisher, J. F. (2) Fiske, John (14) …
- … Richard (1) Fordyce, John (2) Forel, …
- … Fox, H. S. (3) Fox, John & Sons (1) …
- … Gaertner, Albin (2) Gage, John (1) …
- … Gibbs, George (1) Gibbs, John (2) …
- … Scotsman (1) Scott, John (96) Scott, …
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: 18 hits
- … 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 …
- … 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 …
- … ‘I am never idle when I can do anything’ ( letter to John Murray, 2 June [1865] ). It was not …
- … questions and suggesting new lines of research. John Scott A similar, though not so …
- … effort took place in the beginning of the year when John Scott, a protégé of Darwin’s whom Darwin …
- … his experiments on Verbascum. Darwin had suggested to Scott in 1862, when Scott was working at …
- … varieties (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter to John Scott, 19 November [1862] ). Darwin had …
- … 9, letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 September [1861] ). Scott had evidently started his crossing …
- … 1864, despite suffering from sea-sickness ( letter from John Scott, 21 July 1865 ). This may have …
- … by him as a ‘scientific arithmetician’, found errors in Scott’s calculations, and Hooker announced …
- … and ‘awfully tedious to read’, though he praised Scott’s ‘industry & ability’ ( letter from J. …
- … would take up the work again when he had time ( letter from John Scott, 21 July 1865 ); at the …
- … serenity of the Christian world’ (Brewster 1862, p. 3). John Hutton Balfour, though he had sent …
- … 1862 ). According to Hooker, Balfour’s prejudice against John Scott, who had worked under Balfour …
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: 16 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 …
- … 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] ). …
- … Lyell, 14 October [1862] ). Moreover, when the physicist John Tyndall, fresh from a summer in the …
- … 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 …
- … about the antiquity of the human species ( see letter from John Lubbock, 6 January 1862 ). …
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: 21 hits
- … 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 …
- … of the orchid Acropera . Darwin communicated one of Scott’s papers on the orchid Oncidium to …
- … a number of topics for him to work on. Darwin encouraged Scott to publish his results independently, …
- … by a steady stream of suggestions and support from Darwin, Scott produced a paper on the Primulaceae …
- … are the most troublesome In March, Darwin and Scott’s typically technical and detailed …
- … as foreman of the propagating department for five years. Scott felt that his superiors, James McNab …
- … and no hope of attaining a foreign appointment. Convinced of Scott’s talent and his ‘burning zeal …
- … points’, Darwin asked Hooker about the possibility of Scott’s conducting experiments at Kew on …
- … noted, for example, the jealousies that would be provoked by Scott’s position, suggesting that the …
- … reference from Balfour that suggested that while Scott was a good worker and showed great promise as …
- … duties as a gardener. Balfour also raised doubts about Scott’s abilities to work either in a …
- … 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 …
- … 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 …
- … that a Neanderthal race once extended across Europe. John Lubbock mentioned his forthcoming volume …
- … of the Royal Society, Edward Sabine, to the geologist John Phillips revealed Sabine’s fears that in …
- … ever so little degree the Council’s award’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 21 December [1864] ). In …
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: 4 hits
- … Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter. London; John. Murray. You can download the …
- … Darwin, Charles. 1875. Insectivorous Plants. London: John Murray. Chapters 17 and 18 …
- … Plants Letter 3853 - Charles Darwin to John Scott, 11 December 1862 This …
- … 28 September 1860 Darwin writes to his friend John Stevens Henslow about his …
Natural Science and Femininity
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters A conflation of masculine intellect and feminine thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity. Working from the private domestic comfort of their homes and exercising…
Matches: 3 hits
Darwin as mentor
Summary
Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…
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: 10 hits
- … 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 — …
- … found in flowers did not become fertilised when pollinated. Scott suggests Acropera has both …
- … 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 …
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…
Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story 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…
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: 24 hits
- … 1697] Sportsman’s repository 4 to . [W. H. Scott 1820]— contains much on dogs …
- … The Highlands & Western Isl ds letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824] at Maer? W. F. …
- … Lee Scot’s Narrative of Shipwreck in China [J. L. Scott 1841] Lockarts Life of Burns …
- … The Emigrant, Head [F. B. Head 1846] St. John’s Highlands [C. W. G. Saint John 1846] …
- … B.M. 6. 6. Black Edin. Longman [Ramsay 1848] St. John’s Nat. Hist. of Sutherlanshire, Murray …
- … Liebigs Lectures on Chemistry [Liebig 1851]. Sir John Davies. China during the War and Peace …
- … Mitchells Australia [Mitchell 1838] Walter Scott’s life [Lockhart 1837–8] 1 st 2 nd …
- … well skimmed 1839 Jan 10 All life of W. Scott [Lockhart 1837–8] except 5 th vol …
- … life of Cicero. 2 Vols [Middleton 1741] 15 th W. Scott’s life of Swift [W. Scott 1814].— …
- … of Gibbons History [Gibbon 1776–88] Octob 1 st . Scott’s life of Dryden [W. Scott 1808] …
- … d . Series. vol 3. p. 1 to 312 30 th Colquhoun (John) The Moor & the Loch [Colquhoun …
- … Buffon [Milne-Edwards 1834–40]. March 5 th St. John’s Highlands [Saint John 1846] 8 …
- … May 6 th . Scotts Narrative of Shipwreck on China [J. L. Scott 1841] —— 20 Eyres Travels in …
- … Tone Autobiography [Tone 1826] very amusing March 10 John Galt Autobiography [Galt 1833] poor …
- … 1848] Madam Malguet [Torrens] 1848] —— Lives of John & Alex. Belthune [?Bethune 1840 and …
- … Ireland [Thompson 1849–56]. Vol. I. II & 3 May. St. John’s Tour in Sutherlandshire [Saint …
- … Translation [Sévigné 1801] Quentin Durward [W. Scott] 1823]. Veronica [Zschokke 1845b]. G. …
- … 171] Pagets Travels in Hungary & Transylvania [John Paget 1839]— account of Dogs like …
- … Empire [Huc 1855] Feb 16 th Pagets Hungary [John Paget 1839] —— Bechsteins …
- … 23] 1858 Life of Montaigne by B. St. John [B. Saint John 1858].— Miss …
- … in the Botanist , 5 vols. (1837–41), edited by John Stevens Henslow and B. Maund. 37 …
- … . Edinburgh. 119: 7a, 13a Bowerbank, James Scott. 1840. A history of the fossil fruits …
- … Letters on natural magic, addressed to Sir Walter Scott, Bart. London. [Other eds.] 119: 21b …
- … ——. 1837–8. Memoirs of the life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart . 7 vols. Edinburgh and London. …
Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, by John Clunies Ross. Transcription by Katharine Anderson
Summary
[f.146r Title page] Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle Supplement / to the 2nd 3rd and Appendix Volumes of the First / Edition Written / for and in the name of the Author of those / Volumes By J.C. Ross. / Sometime Master of a…
Matches: 6 hits
- … has in fact occurred in 1841 to the British ship – John Orton of Liverpool – a new Vessel on her …
- … leave England – his (Mr H's) brothers house – (Messrs R. Scott Fairlie & co.) holding many …
- … J n & J n Hare bankers in the house of Rob t ^ Scott^ Fairlie and Co in London, and he …
- … to Bencoolen and Cape Good Hope with Mr Hare – his brother John Hare – and these Malays – as already …
- … the Olivia he had been offered by his friends (Messrs Deans, Scott and Co of Java) and at Mr Hare’s …
- … not only imitate Punch’s Mrs Caudle but also at mealtimes Scott’s borderess’ warning “Hough’s in the …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Matches: 6 hits
- … to Darwin, [1873] Ellen Lubbock, wife of naturalist John Lubbock, responds to Darwin’s …
- … in a marble tablet”. Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John …
- … - 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 …
- … editorial criticism of a paper written by English naturalist John Lubbock. In addition to offering …
- … - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments he is undertaking …
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: 18 hits
- … 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 …
- … the sale was agreed in April for £300 ( letter from John Lubbock, 2 April 1874 ), a high price …
- … for about a week ( letter from E. E. Klein, 14 May 1874 ). John Burdon Sanderson sent the results …
- … of other insect-eating plants. The surgeon and botanist John Ralfs sent Utricularia from …
- … in order to work on its difficult structures ( letter to John Ralfs, 13 July [1874] ). The …
- … a printed appeal for funds, raising £860 ( Circular to John Lubbock, P. L. Sclater, Charles Lyell, …
- … from E. A. Darwin, 17 [March 1874] ). He tried to persuade John Murray to publish a second edition …
- … authority on marriage customs in Descent ( see letter John Murray, 9 May [1874] ). He …
- … for Darwin’s last years. The young physiologist George John Romanes wrote a long letter to Herbert …
- … established by Michael Foster. He then studied under John Scott Burdon Sanderson at University …
- … August in Belfast, several papers featured Darwin’s work. John Tyndall asked Darwin to glance over …
- … seems to me excellent, & as clear as light’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 12 August [1874] ). …
Discussion Questions and Essay Questions
Summary
There are a wide range of possibilities for opening discussion and essay writing on Darwin’s correspondence. We have provided a set of sample discussion questions and essay questions, each of which focuses on a particular topic or correspondent in depth.…
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: 9 hits
- … Thomas Lauder Brunton, a specialist in pharmacology, and John Scott Burdon Sanderson, a professor at …
- … “for Heaven knows when it will be ready” ( letter to John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). Keeping …
- … with leading physiologists such as David Ferrier and John Hughlings Jackson. Darwin declined to …
- … Instinct In February, Darwin received a letter from John Traherne Moggridge on the nature of …
- … A group of Huxley’s close friends, including Hooker, John Lubbock, Herbert Spencer, John Tyndall, …
- … your own power & usefulness”, citing the examples of John Stuart Mill and Charles Lyell, who …
- … from Ernst Meitzen, 17 January 1873 ). A poor-law officer, John Farr, wrote: “Faith like Species, …
- … more permanent than species are permanent” ( letter from John Farr, 7 July 1873 ). Further …
- … closer to home, when he was graced by an invitation from John Jenner Weir to act as a patron of the …
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?
Summary
'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…
Matches: 8 hits
- … to spread my views’, he wrote to his publisher, John Murray, on 30 January , shortly after …
- … Hooker’s cause was taken up by his friends, in particular John Lubbock and John Tyndall, as one …
- … to Gladstone a week later ( enclosure to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, 20 June 1872 …
- … photographic plates with his overseas publishers, and with John Murray’s assistant, the excitable …
- … of the booksellers, encouraged an originally cautious John Murray to gamble on the book’s success: & …
- … attractive dishes in his `Literary Banquet’ (letters from John Murray, 6 November [1872] and 9 …
- … to supply comparative observations, and Darwin’s protégé John Scott, now employed as a curator in …
- … a copy of Expression to another old Cambridge friend, John Maurice Herbert, who when they were …
