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Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Matches: 12 hits
- … whom he exchanged information and ideas. Letter 346: Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, C. S., 27 Feb …
- … Caucasian languages separated from one stock.” Letter 2070: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, …
- … is the grinding down of former continents.” Letter 3054: Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 2 …
- … were separately created. Darwin writes to the geologist Charles Lyell about the views of the Harvard …
- … former,—which I tell him is perfectly logical.” Letter 5605: Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. …
- … whilst young, do they scream & make loud noise?” Letter 7040: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to …
- … speech from gradually growing to such a stage” Letter 8367: Darwin, C. R. to Wright, …
- … & thus unconsciously altering the breed. Letter 8962: Darwin, C. R. to Max Müller, …
- … judge of the arguments opposed to this belief[.]” Letter 10194: Max Müller, Friedrich to …
- … want, at least in the Science of Language […]” Letter 9887: Dawkins, W. B. to Darwin, C. R. …
- … hold that language is not a test of race […]” Letter 11074: Sayce, A. H. to Darwin, C. R., …
- … of wanting to eat, for this movement makes a sound like the letter m.” “For some time past I have …
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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: 5 hits
- … Russel Wallace , co-discoverer of natural selection; Charles Lyell , and Joseph Hooker , the …
- … letters from family and friends, including letters between Charles and his wife Emma, and several of …
- … parish of Down in Kent, and a lifelong friend of both Charles and Emma, sent information on …
- … over me on rising William Darwin Fox , Charles’s cousin and another friend, compared …
- … H. C. Watson J. J. Weir H. W. Bates Hensleigh Wedgwood J. S. Henslow C …
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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: 22 hits
- … learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January …
- … the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
- … he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] …
- … his theory would have been ‘ utterly smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A …
- … from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
- … a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
- … phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
- … evidence. Several correspondents, such as his cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood and Heinrich Georg Bronn, …
- … current knowledge could not illuminate this ‘mystery’. Charles Lyell worried, among other things, …
- … natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19 …
- … 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 …
- … considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
- … 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 …
- … is in same predicament with other animals’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] )— he and …
- … of the scientifically literate clergymen Baden Powell and Charles Kingsley attested. Moreover, …
- … (like Lyell) to retract their support altogether (letters to Charles Lyell, 1 June [1860] and …
- … 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 …
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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: 19 hits
- … be done by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August …
- … pleasures of shooting and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ). Such …
- … And … one looks backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). …
- … was an illusory hope.— I feel very old & helpless’ ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] …
- … inferred that he was well from his silence on the matter ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 26 October …
- … at Erasmus’s house. The event was led by the medium Charles E. Williams, and was attended by George …
- … in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
- … Williams séance was held at the home of Darwin’s cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood. Those present included …
- … that Mr Williams was ‘a cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). …
- … his, ‘& that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874 …
- … Darwin had allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
- … edition, published in 1842 ( Correspondence vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17 …
- … 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 …
- … raising £860 ( Circular to John Lubbock, P. L. Sclater, Charles Lyell, W. B. Carpenter, and Michael …
- … 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 …
- … 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 ). …
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Journal of researches
Summary
Within two months of the Beagle’s arrival back in England in October 1836, Darwin, although busy with distributing his specimens among specialists for description, and more interested in working on his geological research, turned his mind to the task of…
Matches: 11 hits
- … FitzRoy ’. In contrast, when Darwin’s cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood and his wife Fanny read the …
- … ‘I am not in general a good reader of travels’, Hensleigh confessed, ‘ but I found no part of yours …
- … length of the journal kept during the voyage, while another Wedgwood cousin continued to encourage …
- … attending the renowned Birmingham Music Festival with his Wedgwood cousins. ‘ To write a book, I do …
- … Chapter’, Darwin wrote to his sister Caroline, adding that Charles Lyell ‘ says it beats all the …
- … get lost as part of three-volume set. In September 1838, Charles Lyell reported that his father …
- … of his work, and especially appreciated the positive view of Charles Lyell Sr, claiming that ‘ to …
- … Alexander von Humboldt, who wrote a long and appreciative letter about the ‘ excellent et admirable …
- … from Colburn, Darwin had few scruples when, in 1845, at Lyell’s suggestion, he asked whether the …
- … German edition produced in 1844, needed to be returned. ‘ Lyell recommended me to write to the …
- … however, not least because it would have been anathema to Charles Lyell, to whom Darwin dedicated …
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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: 24 hits
- … In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
- … dispute between two of Darwin’s friends, John Lubbock and Charles Lyell . These events all inspired …
- … The death of Hugh Falconer Darwin’s first letter to Hooker of 1865 suggests that the family …
- … 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 …
- … gas.— Sic transit gloria mundi, with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). …
- … added, ‘I know it is folly & nonsense to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
- … claimed, important for his enjoyment of life. He wrote to Charles Lyell on 22 January [1865] , …
- … ineffective, and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] …
- … 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 …
- … human antiquity, adding a note to his preface asserting that Lyell in his Antiquity of man , …
- … 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, …
- … set up to support FitzRoy’s children ( see letter from Charles Shaw, 3 October 1865 ). …
- … a long holiday at Hengwrt, a house in Wales rented by the Hensleigh Wedgwoods for the summer, and …
- … Correspondence vol. 13, CD’s ‘Journal’, Appendix I). Wedgwood and Darwin relatives visited Down …
- … are letters commenting on Origin , including two from Charles Lyell, who had been sent the proof …
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: 24 hits
- … and colonial authorities. In the nineteenth-century, letter writing was one of the most important …
- … in times of uncertainty, controversy, or personal loss. Letter writing was not only a means of …
- … botanist Asa Gray. Darwin and Hooker Letter 714 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
- … and he is curious about Hooker’s thoughts. Letter 729 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., …
- … 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, …
- … and asks him to append the ranges of the species. Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. …
- … and relationships of alpine flora in the USA. Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
- … and their approach to information exchange. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D …
- … first describer’s name to specific name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., …
- … extract anything valuable from his letters to Darwin and Lyell for Athenæum . He mentioned Darwin …
- … perpetuity of names in species descriptions. Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
- … ends with a discussion of lamination of gneiss. Letter 1319 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, …
- … up his doubts about Darwin’s doctrines. In his second letter he talks about his visit with Falconer. …
- … was on the Beagle voyage and afterwards. Letter 152 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. …
- … is Henslow’s “bounden duty to lecture me”. Letter 196 — Henslow, J. S. to Darwin, C. R. …
- … sends home a copy of his notes on the specimens. Letter 249 — Henslow, J. S. to Darwin, …
- … sends news of Cambridge and mutual friends. Letter 251 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S …
- … illness and specimens are sent to Henslow. Letter 272 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S. …
- … collection and plans to cross the Cordilleras. Letter 1189 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, …
- … Hermann Müller. Darwin and Lubbock Letter 1585 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, …
- … and it has reawakened his passion for entomology. Letter 1720 — Darwin, C. R. to …
- … day with Henslow; much had to be done. His friend, Alexander Charles Wood, has written to Capt. …
- … well as sister Catherine’s and his own. He also notes that Hensleigh [Wedgwood] thinks he has …
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Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 18 hits
- … On 8 January , he told Hooker: ‘I will write a savage letter & that will do me some good, if I …
- … to the Editor … Poor Murray shuddered again & again’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 January …
- … and part of a circle of philanthropists that included Hensleigh and Frances Wedgwood. She had …
- … offered to pay the costs for printing an additional 250 ( letter to John Murray, 3 May 1875 ). …
- … the form of a poem: From the Insects to their friend, Charles Darwin We are very …
- … & bless the day That ever you were born (letter from E. F. Lubbock, [after 2 …
- … that the originally red half has become wholly white’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [before 4 …
- … pp. 188–90). He drew attention to this discussion in a letter to George Rolleston, remarking on 2 …
- … Darwin wrote, ‘I beg ten thousand pardon & more’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [ c . February …
- … signed himself, ‘Your affect son … the proofmaniac’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, 1 and 2 May [1875 …
- … local vicar George Sketchley Ffinden resurfaced. In 1873, Charles and Emma Darwin and the Lubbocks …
- … both critical and reverential. On 16 July he received a letter from an advocate of women’s …
- … her presentation copy of Insectivorous plants ( letter to D. F. Nevill, 15 July [1875] ). Such …
- … of my house within the short time I can talk to anyone’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 3 May [1875] ). …
- … and had agreed to see him at Down with Thiselton-Dyer ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 7 July 1875 …
- … including one of his oldest and dearest friends, Charles Lyell. Darwin had learned of Lyell’s …
- … lay of hair in eyelashes and on arms, a typically lengthy letter full of personal observations, …
- … examination it was pronounced to be of a ‘high type’ ( letter from Woodward Emery, 17 September …
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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: 28 hits
- … by H. W. Rutherford ( Catalogue of the library of Charles Darwin now in the Botany School, …
- … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
- … Louisiana [darby 1816] & Finch Travels [Finch 1833]. (Lyell) Maximilian in Brazil [Wied …
- … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34 —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
- … of Mexico [W. H. Prescott 1843], strongly recommended by Lyell (read) Berkeleys Works …
- … M rs Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
- … 1844] L d Cloncurry Memm [Lawless 1849] Lady Lyell Sir J Heads Forest scenes in …
- … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
- … round world 1803–6 [Lisyansky 1814]— nothing Lyell’s Elements of Geology [Lyell 1838] …
- … J 57 Browne’s Religio Medici [T. Browne 1643] Lyell’s Book III 5th Edit 58 [Lyell 1837] …
- … —— 30 th Lyells Principles. 3. Vol. 6 th Edit [Lyell 1840]— references at end.— April 6 …
- … abstracted 22 d Lyells Elem. 2 d Edit. [Lyell 1841] d[itt]o.— Jan 3 d . …
- … Miserable Aug. 5 th Lyells Travels in N. America [Lyell 1845] Oct. Cosmos [A. von …
- … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
- … 1859] } Fanny The Woman in White [Collins 1860] } Hensleigh [DAR *128: 151] …
- … 1859]. (goodish) 1 The personal library of Charles Stokes from whom CD borrowed books …
- … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
- … (Liebig 1851). 50 Probably Elizabeth Wedgwood. 51 This note is a …
- … ( Notebooks , pp. 319–28). 55 The letter was addressed to Nicholas Aylward Vigors …
- … to William Jackson Hooker. See Correspondence vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
- … with ‘X’ in brown crayon. 101 Fanny Hensleigh, i.e., Frances Mackintosh Wedgwood. …
- … Erskine. 2 vols. London. *119: 14 Babington, Charles Cardale. 1839. Primitiæ floræ …
- … of Useful Knowledge.) London. *119: 13 Badham, Charles David. 1845. Insect life . …
- … [Abstract in DAR 205.3: 180.] 119: 21a Bell, Charles. 1806. Essays on the anatomy of …
- … of the London Clay . London. *119: 12v. Brace, Charles Loring. 1852. Hungary in 1851: …
- … life from 1838 to the present time . Edited by John Charles Templer. 3 vols. London. 128: 9 …
- … . 3 vols. Edinburgh and London. 128: 25 Bunbury, Charles James Fox. 1848. Journal of a …
- … nature of virtue . Cambridge. *119: 13 Buxton, Charles. 1848. Memoirs of Sir Thomas …