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Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 25 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The …
- … publisher in the final week of 1866. It would take all of 1867 to correct proofs, and just when …
- … and animals ( Expression ), published in 1872. Although Darwin had been collecting material and …
- … A global reputation The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly …
- … who might best answer the questions, with the result that Darwin began to receive replies from …
- … Variation would be based on proof-sheets received as Darwin corrected them. Closer to home, two …
- … Charles Fleeming Jenkin, challenged different aspects of Darwin’s theory of transmutation as …
- … orchids are fertilised by insects ( Orchids ). While Darwin privately gave detailed opinions of …
- … capable hands of Alfred Russel Wallace. At the same time, Darwin was persuaded by some German …
- … were becoming counterproductive. Throughout the year, Darwin continued to discuss now …
- … transmutation theory. Three important new correspondents in 1867 were Hermann Müller and Anton Dohrn …
- … the New Year’s greeting, ‘may you be eupeptic through 1867 & your friends & the world in …
- … publisher, John Murray, he wrote to Murray on 3 January 1867 , ‘I cannot tell you how sorry I am …
- … for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] ). A week later, Darwin had …
- … the additional chapter. In a letter written on 8 February [1867] to his close friend, Joseph …
- … Darwin’s time. The first proof-sheets arrived on 1 March 1867 and the tedious work of correction …
- … . In a letter to his son William dated 27 [March 1867] , he admitted, ‘I fear the book is by no …
- … papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although he described some of Alexander …
- … see your second volume on “The Struggle for Existence &c.” for I doubt if we have a sufficiency …
- … “supplemental remarks on expression”’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [12–17] March [1867] ). Darwin’s …
- … aviary to see whether this was the case ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1867] ). He also …
- … level. In his response to Wallace ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 26 February [1867] ), Darwin defended …
- … to the work I shall find it much better done by you than I c d have succeeded in doing’ ( letter …
- … I have not a word to say against it but such a view c d hardly come into a scientific book’ ( …
- … Wallace published a long article, ‘Creation by law’ (A. R. Wallace 1867c), which responded to Jenkin …
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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…
Matches: 25 hits
- … When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect …
- … expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to …
- … was the collection of observations on a global scale. Darwin was especially interested in peoples …
- … cultural and conventional, or instinctive and universal. Darwin used his existing correspondence …
- … and with the mouth a little drawn back at the corners?” Darwin’s questionnaire was an extension of …
- … was also carefully devised so as to prevent the feelings of Darwin’s remote observers from colouring …
- … and not the susceptibilities of a moral nature.” Darwin did not typically countenance such …
- … the collection of information to its display in print. After Darwin received all of the replies to …
- … except “yes” or “no.” “The same state of mind” Darwin would later assert in Expression of the …
- … uniformity.” Table of Correspondence about Darwin’s Questionnaire (click on the letter …
- … Barber, Mary E. [after Feb 1867] [Grahamstown, Cape …
- … nodding vertically Blair, R.H. 11 July …
- … Bowker, J.H. [10 Dec 1867] [Cape of Good Hope (South …
- … Bowman, William 5 Aug 1867 5 Clifford St, London, …
- … Fuegians Brooke, C.A.J. 30 Nov 1870 …
- … Dyaks Brooke, C.A.J. 30 April 1871 …
- … Darwin, Francis 20 June 1867 Unknown? …
- … Erskine, H. N. B. 1 Nov 1867 [Ahmednuggur, Bombay, …
- … Gaika, Christian 7 July 1867 Bedford [Cape of Good …
- … Geach, F.F. June 1867 Johore, Malaysia …
- … Gibbs, George 31 March 1867 Smithsonian Institution, …
- … Gray, Asa 26 March 1867 Cambridge, Massachusetts, …
- … Haast, J.F.J. von 12 May - 2 June 1867 Christchurch, …
- … Reade, Winwood W. [c.8 or 9 Apr 1870] Accra, West …
- … in Hottentots Smyth, R. Brough 13 Aug 1868 …
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Cross and self fertilisation
Summary
The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom, published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells us, in the most emphatic manner, that she abhors…
Matches: 23 hits
- … the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells …
- … on plants with two or three different forms of flowers, Darwin had focused on the anatomical and …
- … of different forms of pollen. Although many plants that Darwin observed had flowers with adaptations …
- … rates, growth, and constitutional vigour. Although Darwin was no stranger to long months and years …
- … … is highly remarkable’ In September 1866, Darwin announced to the American botanist …
- … several years ( To Édouard Bornet, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin began a series of experiments, …
- … access to flowers was only the tip of the iceberg. Darwin next focused on the California …
- … conditions’ ( From Fritz Müller, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin’s interest was piqued and he described …
- … ( To Fritz Müller, [late December 1866 and] 1 January 1867 ). The following year, his experiments …
- … when self-fertilised, although fewer than crossed plants. Darwin sent some of these seeds to Müller, …
- … [1868] ). Müller, in turn, sent seeds from his plants to Darwin and both men continued to …
- … Müller remarked, on receiving a new batch of seeds from Darwin, ‘that it was ‘curious to see, on …
- … ( From Fritz Müller, 15 June 1869 ). By May 1870, Darwin reported that he was ‘rearing crossed …
- … From a fairly early stage in his experimental programme, Darwin began to pay more attention to the …
- … seeds of Ipomœa. I remember saying the contrary to you & M r Smith at Kew. But the result is …
- … two distinct plants’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1867] ). He noted another factor in a letter to …
- … & so have been rarely crossed’ ( To Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). One of these ‘exotics’ was …
- … for part of the year ( To J. T. Moggridge, 1 October [1867] ). Darwin was beginning to suspect …
- … simply did not exist in Britain. During a visit to Darwin in May 1866, Robert Caspary, a …
- … by the former ( From Robert Caspary, 18 February 1868 ). Darwin eagerly requested seed from both …
- … I am already plagued by foreign Translators, Reviewers, &c.’ ( To John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). …
- … the set of all my works, I would suggest 1,500’ ( To R. F. Cooke, 16 September 1876 ). In the …
- … of hybrids, has not yet been produced’ ( From A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this …
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: 23 hits
- … | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a …
- … community. Here is a selection of letters exchanged between Darwin and his workforce of women …
- … Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August 1849] Darwin …
- … peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to Darwin, [29 October …
- … in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [6 June 1864] …
- … Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to Darwin, [after February 1867] Mary Barber responds to …
- … Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] Darwin …
- … Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 May 1870] …
- … Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to Darwin, [8 August 1867] Sutton, the keeper of the …
- … 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von to Darwin, [4 December 1867] Explorer and geologist Haast …
- … the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9 …
- … Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris …
- … in Llandudno. Letter 4823 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, H. E., [May 1865] …
- … Letter 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] Darwin asks his niece, …
- … Lychnis diurna. Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] …
- … lawn. Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin …
- … Letter 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, [22 August 1874] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, …
- … Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris …
- … garden ”. Letter 6083 - Casparay, J. X. R. to Darwin, [2 April 1868] …
- … Letter 5585 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [26 July 1867] Darwin praises Henrietta’s …
- … Letter 7858 - Darwin to Wa llace, A. R., [12 July 1871] Darwin tells Wallace that …
- … Letter 5403 - Darwin to Carus, J. V. [17 February 1867] Darwin thanks Carus for his …
- … 5410 - Darwin to Muller, J. F. T., [22 February 1867] Darwin thanks Muller for …
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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: 14 hits
- … human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the …
- … he first began to reflect on the transmutation of species. Darwin’s correspondence reveals the scope …
- … he exchanged information and ideas. Letter 346: Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, C. S., 27 Feb 1837 …
- … one stock.” Letter 2070: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, C. R., [before 29 Sept 1857] …
- … because we can trace the elements into Latin, German &c. but I see much the same sort of thing …
- … down of former continents.” Letter 3054: Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 2 Feb [1861] …
- … that languages, like species, were separately created. Darwin writes to the geologist Charles Lyell …
- … I tell him is perfectly logical.” Letter 5605: Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 15 Aug …
- … Letter 7040: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, C. R., [1868-70?] As Darwin began to work on …
- … growing to such a stage” Letter 8367: Darwin, C. R. to Wright, Chauncey, 3 June [1872] …
- … altering the breed. Letter 8962: Darwin, C. R. to Max Müller, Friedrich, 3 July 1873 …
- … Letter 10194: Max Müller, Friedrich to Darwin, C. R., 13 Oct [1875] For Müller, human and …
- … […]” Letter 9887: Dawkins, W. B. to Darwin, C. R., 14 Mar 1875 The relationship …
- … […]” Letter 11074: Sayce, A. H. to Darwin, C. R., 27 July 1877 Darwin’s study of …
Women as a scientific audience
Summary
Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…
Matches: 8 hits
- … Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those …
- … a broad variety of women had access to, and engaged with, Darwin's published works. A set of …
- … women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
- … that his views are original and will appeal to the public. Darwin asks Murray to forward the …
- … and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [11 May 1859] …
- … typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] …
- … Letter 5391 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [6 February 1867] Lydia Becker thanks Darwin …
- … Letter 5712 - Dallas, W. S. to Darwin, [8 December 1867] Translator and author …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 23 hits
- … Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig …
- … as the creator of this dramatisation, and that of the Darwin Correspondence Project to be identified …
- … correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring …
- … Actor 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin Actor 3 – In the dress of a modern day …
- … Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart Mill, Emma Darwin, Horace Darwin… and acts as a sort …
- … the play unfolds and acting as a go-between between Gray and Darwin, and between the audience and …
- … this, he sends out copies of his Review of the Life of Darwin. At this time in his life, Asa …
- … friends in England, copies of his ‘Review of the Life of Darwin’… pencilling the address so that it …
- … Joseph D Hooker GRAY: 3 Charles Darwin… made his home on the border of the little …
- … are kept in check by a constitutional weakness. DARWIN: A plain but comfortable brick …
- … by every blessing except that of vigorous health… DARWIN: 4 My confounded stomach …
- … pursuits and the simplicity of his character. DARWIN: 5 I am allowed to work now …
- … own house, where he was the most charming of hosts. DARWIN: 6 My life goes on …
- … being a part of [an unpublished] manuscript. Darwin settles down to write. His tone is …
- … THE CONCURRENCE OF BOTANISTS: 1855 In which Darwin initiates a long-running correspondence …
- … gossip about difficult colleagues (Agassiz). Gray realizes Darwin is not revealing all of his …
- … man, more formally attired and lighter on his feet than Darwin. He has many more demands on his time …
- … catches his attention. He opens the letter. DARWIN: 8 April 25 th 1855. My …
- … filled up the paper you sent me as well as I could. DARWIN: 10 My dear Dr Gray. I …
- … is condensed in that little sheet of note-paper! DARWIN: 11 My dear Hooker… What …
- … paragraph, in which I quote and differ from you[r] 178 doctrine that each variation has been …
- … ARTS AND SCIENCES, PROCEEDINGS XVII, 1882 4 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 10 MAY 1848 …
- … A GRAY 15 AUGUST 1868 177 TO A GRAY 15 APRIL 1867 178 C DARWIN TO JD …
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Matches: 20 hits
- … Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with …
- … in beetles. The unity of human species Darwin believed that the same process of sexual …
- … gradually increase those features over long periods of time. Darwin’s theory was based partly on the …
- … seemed to prevail across the globe. In Descent , Darwin also addressed widely held beliefs …
- … of ‘species’, ‘varieties’, and ‘races’. Darwin argued forcefully for the unity of the human species, …
- … Gender and civilisation In his early notebooks, Darwin remarked that survival value or …
- … , B74). In his later writings on plants and animals, Darwin remained consistent on this point, and …
- … improvement, or design. However, when it came to humans, Darwin reintroduced the structure of …
- … and present, on the basis of their ‘civilization’. Here Darwin drew on contemporary anthropology, …
- … colonial conquests and expansion abroad. Thus, while Darwin’s views on race differed widely …
- … in the success of nations’ ( Descent 1: 239). For Darwin, the civilising process was essentially …
- … taken from their homeland in Tierra del Fuego to England, Darwin wrote: ‘in contradiction of what …
- … were often crossed in practice ( see correspondence with C. Kennard, below ). The implications of …
- … Letter to J. S. Henslow, 11 April 1833 Letter to C. R. Lyell, 11 October [1859] …
- … 1865 Letter to J. P. M. Weale, 27 August [1867] Letter from J P. M. Weale, [10 …
- … Press. Desmond, Adrian and James Moore. 2009. Darwin's sacred cause . London: Allen …
- … of Science 6: 9–23 [in a special issue on ‘Descent of Darwin: race, sex, and human nature’]. …
- … . New York: The Free Press. Voss, Julia. 2007, Darwin’s pictures: views of evolutionary …
- … women Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] Letter …
- … 28 January 1882 Further Reading: Darwin, Descent of man (1871), 2: 326–9. …
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: 16 hits
- … activities for building and maintaining such connections. Darwin's networks extended from his …
- … when strong institutional structures were largely absent. Darwin had a small circle of scientific …
- … section contains two sets of letters. The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. …
- … Hooker’s thoughts. Letter 729 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., [11 Jan 1844] …
- … confessing a murder”. Letter 736 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 23 Feb [1844] …
- … Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 25 Apr [1855] Darwin …
- … species. Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. R., 22 May 1855 Gray recalled …
- … flora in the USA. Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 20 July [1857] Darwin …
- … information exchange. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] …
- … name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 3 Feb 1849 In this gossipy …
- … Letter 5457 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Mar 1867 Müller explains how Origin …
- … 5471 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, H. L. H., 29 Mar [1867] Darwin learns that German botanist …
- … Letter 5481 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 1 Apr [1867] Müller thanks Darwin for the …
- … Letter 5657 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Oct 1867 Müller thanks Darwin for the …
- … Letter 5585 — Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, H. E., 26 July [1867] Darwin writes to his daughter …
- … Letter 5745 — Barber, M. E. to Darwin, C. R., [after Feb 1867] In this letter, naturalist, …
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Controversy
Summary
The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…
Matches: 10 hits
- … the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely variable. Many of …
- … was itself an important arena of debate, one that Darwin greatly preferred to the public sphere. …
- … and support sustained in spite of enduring differences. Darwin's correspondence can thus help …
- … Disagreement and Respect Darwin rarely engaged with critics publically. Letters exchanged …
- … Richard Owen, the eminent comparative anatomist, show how Darwin tried to manage strong disagreement …
- … were less severe, the relationship quickly deteriorated and Darwin came to regard him as a bitter …
- … Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, C. R., 24 Nov 1859 Adam Sedgwick thanks Darwin for …
- … aggressive tactics. Letter 5500 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. A., 12 Apr [1867] …
- … Letter 5533 — Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, C. R., 12 May 1867 Haeckel thanks Darwin for the …
- … 5544 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. A., 21 May [1867] Darwin discusses his previous …
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…
Matches: 13 hits
- … Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, …
- … set of selected letters is followed by letters relating to Darwin's 1881 publication …
- … throughout Variation . Letter 2395 - Darwin to Holland, Miss, [April 1860] …
- … anonymised and masculinised. Letter 3316 - Darwin to Nevill, D. F., [12 November …
- … Nevill is referenced by name for her “kindness” in Darwin’s Fertilisation of Orchids . …
- … science critic. Letter 4370 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [April - May 1865] …
- … as “friends in Surrey”. Letter 4794 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [25 March 1865] …
- … to state that the information was “received through Sir C. Lyell” or received from “Miss. B”. …
- … in the final publication. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [9 June 1867 - …
- … in Expression . Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H., [30 January 1868 …
- … at him. Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] Darwin’s …
- … near his house. Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] …
- … worm castings . Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] …
Scientific Practice
Summary
Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…
Matches: 8 hits
- … the work of collecting, and the construction of theory. Darwin was not simply a gentleman naturalist …
- … of the most advanced laboratory methods and equipment. Darwin used letters as a speculative space, …
- … Specialism and Detail Darwin is usually thought of as a gentleman naturalist and a …
- … across and drew together different fields of knowledge. But Darwin also made substantial …
- … discussion was often the starting point for some of Darwin's most valuable and enduring …
- … Letter 5429 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. R., 4 Mar 1867 Müller reports observations on …
- … Letter 5480 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. R., 1 Apr 1867 Müller cites cases of difference …
- … 5551 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 26 May [1867] Darwin thanks Müller for information …
Religion
Summary
Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…
Matches: 11 hits
- … the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same …
- … nineteenth century were different in important ways. Many of Darwin's leading supporters were …
- … their religious beliefs with evolutionary theory. Darwin's own writing, both in print and …
- … much as possible. A number of correspondents tried to draw Darwin out on his own religious views, …
- … political contexts. Design Darwin was not the first to challenge …
- … on the controversial topic of design. The first is between Darwin and Harvard botanist Asa Gray, …
- … Origin . The second is a single letter from naturalist A. R. Wallace to Darwin on design and …
- … Darwin and Wallace Letter 5140 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 2 July 1866 …
- … Darwin and Graham Letter 13230 — Darwin, C. R. to Graham, William, 3 July 1881 …
- … Letter 5565 — Kingsley, Charles to Darwin, C. R., 6 June 1867 Clergyman Charles Kingsley …
- … 5648 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., 12–13 Oct [1867] Darwin thinks naturalist A. R. …
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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: 26 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous …
- … for scientific colleagues or their widows facing hardship. Darwin had suffered from poor health …
- … of his scientific friends quickly organised a campaign for Darwin to have greater public recognition …
- … Botanical observation and experiment had long been Darwin’s greatest scientific pleasure. The year …
- … to Fritz Müller, 4 January 1882 ). These were topics that Darwin had been investigating for years, …
- … working at the effects of Carbonate of Ammonia on roots,’ Darwin wrote, ‘the chief result being that …
- … contents, if immersed for some hours in a weak solution of C. of Ammonia’. Darwin’s interest in root …
- … London on 6 and 16 March, respectively. In January, Darwin corresponded with George John …
- … letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 28 December 1881 ). Darwin had a long-running interest in such …
- … experiments had been conducted to lend support to Darwin’s theory of pangenesis (see …
- … He was eager to write up the results on Brazilian cane, with Darwin providing a detailed outline: ‘I …
- … at the Linnean Society on 4 May, but not published. Darwin carried on with botanical work in …
- … which are asymmetric, thus facilitating cross-fertilisation. Darwin’s aim, he said, was just to …
- … 3 April 1882 ). Earthworms and evolution Darwin’s last book, Earthworms , had been …
- … Appendix V). The conservative Quarterly Review , owned by Darwin’s publisher John Murray, carried …
- … themselves’ ( Quarterly Review , January 1882, p. 179). Darwin commented at length on the review …
- … is a young man & a worker in any branch of Biology,’ Darwin continued, ‘he will assuredly sooner …
- … our homes, would in this case greatly suffer’ ( letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). Kennard …
- … judged, intellectually his inferior, please ( letter from C. A. Kennard, 28 January 1882 ). …
- … dull aching in the chest’ (Emma Darwin to G. H. Darwin, [ c . 28 March 1882] (DAR 210.3: 45)). …
- … to some Estancia,’ wrote Hughes, ‘as the scenery &c. will amply repay your trouble’ ( letter …
- … where he had witnessed an earthquake in 1835 ( letter from R. E. Alison, [March–July 1835 ]). …
- … will be months before I am able to work’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [ c . 10 April 1864] ). To …
- … Lyell had been a strong advocate of common descent. In 1867, Lyell expressed his enthusiasm for …
- … of the organic world ( letter from Charles Lyell, 16 July 1867 ). In the same year, Darwin made a …
- … property’ ( letter to George Warington, 11 October [1867] ). Respecting the privacy of …
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Race, Civilization, and Progress
Summary
Darwin's first reflections on human progress were prompted by his experiences in the slave-owning colony of Brazil, and by his encounters with the Yahgan peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh conditions, privation, poor climate, bondage and servitude,…
Matches: 23 hits
- … Letters | Selected Readings Darwin's first reflections on human progress were …
- … human progress or cause degeneration. In the "Fuegians", Darwin thought he had witnessed …
- … several years earlier as part of a missionary enterprise. Darwin was struck by the progress that had …
- … been returned to their native land. After the voyage, Darwin began to question the …
- … After the publication of Origin of Species , many of Darwin's supporters continued to …
- … or extermination of other peoples and cultures. When Darwin wrote about the human races and …
- … on human and animal behavior accumulated over three decades. Darwin argued forcefully for the unity …
- … and beyond. Letters Darwin’s first observations of the peoples …
- … Cambridge, John Stevens Henslow. Letter 204 : Darwin to Henslow, J. S., 11 April 1833 …
- … Charles wrote to his sister, Emily Catherine Darwin, about witnessing slavery in the Portuguese …
- … effect in the following year. Letter 206 : Darwin to Darwin, E. C., 22 May [– 14 July] …
- … descent. Letter 4933 : Farrar, F. W. to Darwin, 6 November 1865 "so …
- … this a very strong argument for the Polygenist?" Darwin asked the English settler …
- … of replies from the South African native, Christian Gaika. Darwin was impressed by Gaika039;s …
- … of civilization of the natives. Letter 5617 , Darwin to Weale, J. P. M., 27 August …
- … civilization" Letter 5722 , Weale, J. P. M. to Darwin, [10 December 1867] …
- … Just prior to the publication of Origin of Species , Darwin discussed his views on progress in a …
- … structure. This remained a point of dispute between many of Darwin’s scientific supporters, …
- … Alpheus Hyatt. In the last edition of Origin (1872), Darwin tried to clarify his position: " …
- … , 6 th ed, p. 98). Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C., 11 October [1859] …
- … William Graham. Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C., 11 October [1859] I …
- … in rank." Letter 4510 : Darwin to Wallace, A. R., 28 [May 1864] "Now …
- … . New York: The Free Press, 1968. Robert J. C. Young, Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, …
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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: 24 hits
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If any …
- … he ought to do what I am doing pester them with letters.’ Darwin was certainly true to his word. The …
- … and sexual selection. In Origin , pp. 87–90, Darwin had briefly introduced the concept of …
- … process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864, Darwin claimed that sexual selection was ‘the …
- … to the stridulation of crickets. At the same time, Darwin continued to collect material on …
- … his immediate circle of friends and relations. In July 1868 Darwin was still anticipating that his …
- … which was devoted to sexual selection in the animal kingdom. Darwin described his thirst for …
- … in January 1868. A final delay caused by the indexing gave Darwin much vexation. ‘My book is …
- … Record. Dallas had begun the work in November 1867 and had expected to complete it in a fortnight. …
- … the text. This increased the amount of work substantially. Darwin asked Murray to intervene, …
- … … though it would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s angry letter to Murray crossed one from …
- … it was by Gray himself, but Darwin corrected him: ‘D r Gray would strike me in the face, but not …
- … . It is a disgrace to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] ). The review was …
- … April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d C. Darwin M.d’; Binstead evidently assumed …
- … I did not see this, or rather I saw it only obs[c]urely, & have kept only a few references.’ …
- … as life he wd find the odour sexual!’ ( letter to A . R. Wallace, 16 September [1868] ). Francis …
- … south of France to Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood on 9 Novembe r, describing sphinx moths that were …
- … question of the “Origin of Species”’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 4 October 1868 ). …
- … hands of the enemies of Nat. Selection’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). …
- … emotional expression. His questionnaire, first sent out in 1867, was circulated to remote parts of …
- … mission stations in Victoria, Australia ( letter from R. B. Smyth, 13 August 1868 ); lengthy …
- … of her two-month old daughter Katherine ( letter from C. M. Hawkshaw to Emma Darwin, 9 February …
- … rest mostly on faith, and on accumulation of adaptations, &c) … Of course I understand your …
- … who wished to pay ‘his devotions at the shrine of D r . Darwin’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 …
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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: 22 hits
- … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now …
- … and also a meeting with Herbert Spencer, who was visiting Darwin’s neighbour, Sir John Lubbock. In …
- … all but the concluding chapter of the work was submitted by Darwin to his publisher in December. …
- … hypothesis of hereditary transmission. Debate about Darwin’s theory of transmutation …
- … alleged evidence of a global ice age, while Asa Gray pressed Darwin’s American publisher for a …
- … for the Advancement of Science. Fuller consideration of Darwin’s work was given by Hooker in an …
- … frustrations were punctuated by family bereavement. Two of Darwin’s sisters died, Emily Catherine …
- … from painful illness. Diet and exercise Among Darwin’s first letters in the new year …
- … every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). Darwin had first consulted Jones in July …
- … ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). Darwin began riding the cob, Tommy, on 4 …
- … day which I enjoy much.’ The new exercise regime led to Darwin’s being teased by his neighbour, John …
- … John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 ). More predictably, however, Darwin immediately converted his renewed …
- … you go on, after the startling apparition of your face at R.S. Soirèe—which I dreamed of 2 nights …
- … so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [ c . 10 May 1866] ). Henrietta’s …
- … teleological development ( see for example, letter to C. W. Nägeli, 12 June [1866] ). Also in …
- … began work on the new translation (Bronn and Carus trans. 1867), incorporating the revisions Darwin …
- … common broom ( Cytisus scoparius ) and the white broom ( C. multiflorus ) in his botanical …
- … and June on the subject of Rhamnus catharticus (now R. cathartica ). Darwin had become …
- … of separate sexes. William gathered numerous specimens of R. catharticus , the only species of …
- … replied with a modified list, adding Fritz Müller’s Für Darwin , and a recent fossil discovery in …
- … selection, and with special creation ( letter from W. R. Grove, 31 August 1866 ). Hooker later …
- … indeed at poor Susan’s loneliness’ ( letter from E. C. Langton to Emma and Charles Darwin, [6 and 7 …
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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: 26 hits
- … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of …
- … appeared at the end of 1866 and had told his cousin William Darwin Fox, ‘My work will have to stop a …
- … material on emotional expression. Yet the scope of Darwin’s interests remained extremely broad, and …
- … plants, and earthworms, subjects that had exercised Darwin for decades, and that would continue to …
- … Carl von Nägeli and perfectibility Darwin’s most substantial addition to Origin was a …
- … a Swiss botanist and professor at Munich (Nägeli 1865). Darwin had considered Nägeli’s paper …
- … principal engine of change in the development of species. Darwin correctly assessed Nägeli’s theory …
- … in most morphological features (Nägeli 1865, p. 29). Darwin sent a manuscript of his response (now …
- … are & must be morphological’. The comment highlights Darwin’s apparent confusion about Nägeli’s …
- … ‘purely morphological’. The modern reader may well share Darwin’s uncertainty, but Nägeli evidently …
- … pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide Darwin with botanical examples he could use …
- … problems of heredity Another important criticism that Darwin sought to address in the fifth …
- … prevailing theory of blending inheritance that Jenkin and Darwin both shared, would tend to be lost …
- … ( Origin 5th ed., pp. 103–4). The terminology that Darwin and others employed in these matters ( …
- … ‘I must have expressed myself atrociously’, Darwin wrote to Alfred Russel Wallace on 2 February , …
- … now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , and …
- … of information which I have sent prove of any service to M r . Darwin I can supply him with much …
- … & proximate cause in regard to Man’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). More …
- … and the bird of paradise (Wallace 1869a; letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 March [1869] ), and …
- … an injustice & never demands justice’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). …
- … species that Darwin had investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February 1869 ). In a …
- … genus that he had studied in the early 1860s ( letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March 1869 ). This …
- … on the previous German edition (Bronn and Carus trans. 1867), as well as on the German translation …
- … Sweetland Dallas’s edition of Fritz Müller’s Für Darwin (Dallas trans. 1869). The book, an …
- … creation, if he is not completely staggered after reading y r essay’. The work received a …
- … whole meeting was decidedly Huxley’s answer to D r M c Cann. He literally poured boiling oil …
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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: 18 hits
- … In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
- … letters on climbing plants to make another paper. Darwin also submitted a manuscript of his …
- … protégé, John Scott, who was now working in India. Darwin’s transmutation theory continued to …
- … Argyll, appeared in the religious weekly, Good Words . Darwin received news of an exchange of …
- … Butler, and, according to Butler, the bishop of Wellington. Darwin’s theory was discussed at an …
- … in the Gardeners’ Chronicle . At the end of the year, Darwin was elected an honorary member of …
- … year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend of …
- … in August. There was also a serious dispute between two of Darwin’s friends, John Lubbock and …
- … jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). Darwin was ready to submit his paper on …
- … a sudden illness. Falconer was 56, almost the same age as Darwin himself. Falconer had seconded …
- … supported his candidacy, and had tried hard to persuade Darwin to accept the award in person (see …
- … the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus Alvey Darwin, 3 January 1865 ). Erasmus …
- … Darwin had received a copy of Müller’s book, Für Darwin , a study of the Crustacea with reference …
- … in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Scott 1867), and Darwin summarised them in …
- … … inheritance, reversion, effects of use & disuse &c’, and which he intended to publish in …
- … He wrote to Hooker, ‘I doubt whether you or I or any one c d do any good in healing this breach. …
- … Hooker’s behalf, ‘He asks if you saw the article of M r . Croll in the last Reader on the …
- … ‘As for your thinking that you do not deserve the C[opley] Medal,’ he rebuked Hooker, ‘that I …
Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours
Summary
Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…
Matches: 30 hits
- … Ever since the publication of Expression , Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The …
- … of these projects would culminate in a major publication. Darwin’s botany was increasingly a …
- … assisted his father’s research on movement and bloom, and Darwin in turn encouraged his son’s own …
- … The year 1877 was more than usually full of honours. Darwin received two elaborate photograph albums …
- … from Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. Closer to home, Darwin received an honorary Doctorate of …
- … sites for possible earthworm activity. Now in his 69th year, Darwin remained remarkably productive, …
- … no controversy. In his autobiographical reflections, Darwin remarked: ‘no little discovery of …
- … (‘Recollections’, p. 419). During the winter and spring, Darwin was busy preparing the manuscript of …
- … and presented to the Linnean Society of London. In the book, Darwin adopted the more recent term …
- … as dimorphic without comparing pollen-grains & stigmas’, Darwin remarked to Joseph Dalton …
- … measurements of the size and number of pollen-grains, Darwin compared the fertility of individual …
- … primrose and purple loosestrife. In the course of his work, Darwin found a number of other …
- … dreadful work making out anything about dried flowers’, Darwin complained to Asa Gray on 8 March …
- … which include heterstyled species. This pleases me.’. Darwin dedicated the book to Gray, ‘as a small …
- … separate publications together into a larger whole enabled Darwin to advance more speculative views …
- … both pollen and seeds’ ( Forms of flowers , p. 344). Darwin was typically pessimistic about the …
- … be sold’. His publisher knew from previous experience that Darwin was a poor judge of sales, and …
- … after completing his manuscript of Forms of flowers , Darwin took up the problem of ‘bloom’ in …
- … characteristic whose purpose was little understood. Darwin had begun studying bloom in August 1873, …
- … exchanged between Down and Kew over the next six months. Darwin corresponded most often with the …
- … one of the young leaves with a delicate twig’ ( letter to R. I. Lynch, 14 September 1877 ). …
- … but I think the great honour of its being printed in the R. Soc. Transactions, (sh d . the …
- … larger aim was announced in the subtitle: Zeitschrift für einheitliche Weltanschauung auf Grund …
- … ‘but found him as soft & smooth as butter’ ( letter to C. E. Norton, 16 March 1877 ). Hooker …
- … I hope it may remain for centuries to come’ ( letter from C. C. Graham, 30 January 1877 ). Graham …
- … of Siebold’s study of medical monstrosity ( letter from C. T. E. Siebold, 10 October 1877 ). An …
- … blending and swamped within a larger population ([Jenkin] 1867). Darwin had addressed this criticism …
- … not give up Pangenesis with wicked imprecations’ (Trollope 1867; letter to G. J. Romanes, [1 and 2 …
- … any recognition by any public bodies of England & that y r . own University w d . like to be …
- … at the Senate House yesterday, with a suspended monkey &c; but I believe the cheering was more …