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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: 25 hits

  • On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that heBegan by Lyells advice  writing
  • more for the sake of priority than anything elseDarwin was reluctant to squeeze his expansive
  • Natural selection . Determined as he was to publish, Darwin nevertheless still felt cautious
  • specialist in Madeiran entomology, Thomas Vernon Wollaston. Darwin also came to rely on the caustic
  • in London. Natural Selection Not all of Darwins manuscript on species has been
  • of information about his preoccupations during 1856 and 1857. They reveal little noticed aspects of
  • of pigeons, poultry, and other domesticated animals. As Darwin explained to Lyell, his studies, …
  • an illustration of how selection might work in nature ( letter from Charles Lyell, 12 May 1856, n. …
  • the real structure of varieties’, he remarked to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 September [1856
  • can William Bernhard Tegetmeier continued to help Darwin acquire much of the material for
  • on domestic animals in India and elsewhere. William Darwin Fox supplied information about cats, dogs
  • mastiffs. The disparate facts were correlated and checked by Darwin, who adroitly used letters, …
  • … ‘& I mean to make my Book as perfect as ever I can.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 8 February [1857] …
  • plants, he asked Asa Gray, vary in the United States ( letter to Asa Gray, 2 May 1856 )? What
  • the alpine plants pretty effectuallycomplained Darwin in 1857 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [2 May
  • John Lubbock that his method of calculation was wrong ( letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1857] ). …
  • … ‘Darwin, an absolute & eternal hermaphrodite’ ( letter to to T. H. Huxley, 1 July [1856] ), …
  • experiments on plants through the summers of 1856 and 1857, particularly with garden vegetables like
  • Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette  in October 1857, to be followed by a second notice in 1858. …
  • …  not a bird be killed (by hawk, lightning, apoplexy, hail &c) with seeds in crop, & it would
  • which the bird had naturally eaten have grown well.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1856] …
  • find the work: am I not a kind Father?’ Darwin wrote in 1857, soon followed by the complaintYou
  • to end!’ (letters to W. E. Darwin, [17 February 1857] and 21 [July 1857] ). The problem of
  • he wrote to Syms Covington in New South Wales ( letter to Syms Covington, 9 March 1856 ). …
  • his work on species and the preparation of his manuscript ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 1 May 1857 ) …

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: 10 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. Darwins correspondence reveals the scope
  • whom he exchanged information and ideas. Letter 346Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, C. S., 27 Feb
  • Caucasian languages separated from one stock.” Letter 2070Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, …
  • because we can trace the elements into Latin, German &c. but I see much the same sort of thing
  • is the grinding down of former continents.” Letter 3054Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 2
  • former,—which I tell him is perfectly logical.” Letter 5605Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. …
  • whilst young, do they scream & make loud noise?” Letter 7040Wedgwood, Hensleigh to
  • speech from gradually growing to such a stageLetter 8367Darwin, C. R. to Wright, …
  • altering the breed. Letter 8962Darwin, C. R. to Max Müller, Friedrich, 3 July 1873

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: 20 hits

  • Re: DesignAdaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and othersby 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 1Asa Gray Actor 2Charles Darwin Actor 3In the dress of a modern day
  • Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart Mill, Emma Darwin, Horace Darwinand 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 hisReview of the Life of Darwin’… pencilling the address so that it
  • his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention
  • 11   My dear HookerWhat a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my
  • be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy itHis letter does strike me as most uncommonly
  • on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year
  • a brace of letters 25   I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received
  • might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing
  • Atlantic. HOOKER:   28   Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which
  • the Origin of Species…’ FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH: 1857-1858 In which Gray and Hooker
  • paragraph, in which I quote and differ from you[r178   doctrine that each variation has been
  • ARTS AND SCIENCES, PROCEEDINGS XVII, 1882 4  C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 10 MAY 1848
  • JUNE 1855 20  C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 1 JANUARY 1857 21  A GRAY TO C DARWIN, …
  • MARCH 1862 35  C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 1 JANUARY 1857 36  A GRAY TO C DARWIN

Darwin’s study of the Cirripedia

Summary

Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. Coming between his transmutation notebooks and the Origin of species, it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwin’s species work. Yet…

Matches: 23 hits

  • Darwins work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed
  • … , it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwins species work. Yet when this study
  • anomalous. Moreover, as the letters in this volume suggest, Darwins study of cirripedes, far from
  • classification using the most recent methods available, Darwin was able to provide a thorough
  • his views on the species question (Crisp 1983).    Darwins interest in invertebrate zoology
  • Robert Edmond Grant. In his Autobiography (pp. 4950), Darwin recalled: ‘Drs. Grant and
  • voyage. Darwin expressed his current enthusiasm in a letter to William Darwin Fox, 23 May 1833 ( …
  • such questions as yours,—whether number of species &c &c should enter as an element in
  • from common stocksIn this view all relations of analogy &c &c &, consist of those
  • metamorphoses, as we shall see presently in Hippoboscus &c  states that in Crust, antennæ & …
  • 1852) or elevating it to a separate class altogether (R. Owen 1855). Milne-Edwards and Owen also
  • as a distinct class between the Crustacea and the Annelida (R. Owen 1855).^7^ Darwin, however, with
  • was challenged in 1859 by August Krohn. As he admitted in a letter to Charles Lyell, 28 September
  • … (as Darwin called it in his Autobiography and in his letter to Lyell), was more than a matter of
  • Toward the end of his study of Balanus , in a letter to Hooker on 25 September [1853] ( …
  • a high compliment when he touched upon this matter in his 1857 lecture on cirripedes. In his praise
  • and not an anatomist ex professo .’ (T. H. Huxley 1857, p. 238 n.).    While Darwins
  • latter instrument suited his purposes well; he reported in a letter to Richard Owen, 26 March 1848
  • and mounting his specimens is well demonstrated by a letter he wrote to Charles Spence Bate, 13
  • spirits  Every cirriped that I dissect I preserve the jaws &c. &c. in this manner, which
  • Informing Darwin about the award ( Correspondence vol. 5, letter from J. D. Hooker, [4 November
  • it was empirically invalid ( Calendar nos. 2118 and 2119, letter to T. H. Huxley, 5 July [1857] …
  • CDs specimen has remained unique. (The editors thank Drs R. W. Ingle and G. Boxshall of the British

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: 9 hits

  • book appeared.   You can now see examples of letters to Darwin from nearly 250 different people, and
  • Lyell , and Joseph Hooker , the two men who arranged for Darwins and Wallaces ideas to be made
  • Asa Gray who was an important sounding board for Darwins emerging ideas, and Thomas Huxley
  • … ’s appearance, but there is a fascinating scrap from 1857 comparing his views on species to
  • the less well-known scientific collaborators who became Darwin's correspondents, Mary Treat
  • was co-opted as an observer in WalesLucy Wedgwood , Darwins neice, was one of those who
  • of water thrown over me on rising William Darwin Fox , Charless cousin and another
  • W. T. Thiselton-Dyer George Cupples H. C. Watson J. J. Weir H. W. Bates
  • Frederick Smith A. G. Butler John Lubbock R. I. Lynch J. B. Burdon Sanderson

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: 21 hits

  • … |  Editors and critics  |  Assistants Darwins correspondence helps bring to light a
  • community. Here is a selection of letters exchanged between Darwin and his workforce of women
  • Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August
  • silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to
  • to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to
  • be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to
  • Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L
  • Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
  • Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 May 1870] …
  • 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] Darwins niece, Lucy, …
  • Letter 1701  - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris
  • 2055  - Langton, E. to Darwin,  F., [21 February 1857] Darwins nephew, Edmund, …
  • Letter 2069  - Tenant, J. to Darwin, [31 March 1857] James Tenant, keeper of the
  • garden ”. Letter 6083  - Casparay, J. X. R. to Darwin, [2 April 1868] …
  • Letter 7858 - Darwin to Wa llace, A. R., [12 July 1871] Darwin tells Wallace that

What is an experiment?

Summary

Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…

Matches: 22 hits

  • Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute
  • was of course kept secret and worked upon for decades, as Darwin collectedall kinds of facts’ …
  • and acquire specimens for his own use. A portrait of Darwin in 1849 shows him with a specimen
  • rather than experimentation. According to this view, Darwin was aphilosophical naturalistwhose
  • than morphological affinity. The two-fold division of Darwins science between observation
  • authorities who could do the more advanced work of theory. Darwin contributed to this movement, …
  • institutional heads like Joseph Dalton Hooker and Asa Gray. Darwin adopted a perspective of great
  • publications. The final picture that we then have of Darwin is that of a gentleman naturalist, able
  • a tradition on the wane, and it was gradually eclipsed in Darwins own lifetime by the more
  • is the sharp distinction between observation and theory. Darwin would be the first to defend the
  • men, with a curb on make far the best observers’ ( letter to C. H. L. Woodd , 4 March 1850 ). He
  • speculation there is no good & original observation’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 December
  • that were made to further substantiate evolutionary theory. Darwin was also greatly heartened by the
  • a highly controlled space with specialized equipment. In Darwins day this was by no means the case. …
  • sometimes to refer to naturally occurring phenomena. Darwin clearly regarded many of his domestic
  • miniature (small plots of land). Experimentation in Darwins day was not the monopoly of
  • and poultry fanciers, landowners, architects, and writers. Darwin sought the advice of an engineer
  • Scott). In his choice of correspondents and collaborators, Darwin valued patience, caution, and
  • and Michael Foster. A final feature to note about Darwins experimental life is the pleasure
  • … ‘I have become very fond of little experiments’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [21 March 1857] ; …
  • … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But
  • at Science … & am never happy except when at work’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 25 December [1880

Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species

Summary

Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…

Matches: 11 hits

  • Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwins
  • May 1856, was nearly completed by June 1858. At that point Darwin wasinterrupted’, as he put it, …
  • in theJournaland the chapter headings as supplied by Darwin, followed by the reference of the
  • also given. Chapter 1 is not extant nor was it recorded in Darwin'sJournal’. Chapter 2 is not
  • 4 26 January 1857 Variation under nature (DAR 9; …
  • 5 3 March 1857 The struggle for existence as bearing on
  • 6 31 March 1857 On natural selection (DAR 10.2; …
  • 7 29 September 1857 Laws of variation: varieties & …
  • 8 29 September 1857 Difficulties on the theory of
  • 9 29 December 1857 Hybridism (DAR 12; Natural
  • chapter has been taken from a table of contents to which Darwin added the names of chapters as he

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: 11 hits

  • and colonial authorities. In the nineteenth-century, letter writing was one of the most important
  • when strong institutional structures were largely absent. Darwin had a small circle of scientific
  • in times of uncertainty, controversy, or personal loss. Letter writing was not only a means of
  • section contains two sets of letters. The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. …
  • and he is curious about Hookers thoughts. Letter 729Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., …
  • to Hookerit is like confessing a murder”. Letter 736Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • wide-ranging genera. Darwin and Gray Letter 1674Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • and asks him to append the ranges of the species. Letter 1685Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. …
  • flora in the USA. Letter 2125Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 20 July [1857] Darwin
  • information exchange. Letter 1202Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] …
  • of the ephippium”, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 147 (1857): 79100]. Darwin and Müller

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: 22 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
  • … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
  • of his scientific friends quickly organised a campaign for Darwin to have greater public recognition
  • Botanical observation and experiment had long been Darwins greatest scientific pleasure. The year
  • fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882
  • 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’. Darwins interest in root
  • London on 6 and 16 March, respectively. In January, Darwin corresponded with George John
  • François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20
  • quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January
  • probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
  • we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He
  • of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
  • 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, [MarchJuly 1835 ]). …
  • the Rock’ ( letter to E. W. V. Harcourt, 13 December [1857] ). In May 1857, Darwin wrote to
  • class with Lyell’ ( letter to William Sharpey, 22 May [1857] ). There are a few letters
  • will be months before I am able to work’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [ c . 10 April 1864] ). To

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: 22 hits

  • 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working
  • dispute over an anonymous review that attacked the work of Darwins son George dominated the second
  • and traveller Alexander von Humboldts 105th birthday, Darwin obliged with a reflection on his debt
  • 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
  • Andone looks backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). …
  • Andrew Clark, whom he had been consulting since August 1873. Darwin had originally thought that
  • 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
  • in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
  • that Mr Williams wasa 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 alloweda spirit séanceat his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
  • edition, published in 1842 ( Correspondence  vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17
  • Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 8 January
  • Descent  was published in November 1874 ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Though
  • on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). …
  • in a few hours dissolve the hardest cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. …
  • whether at theclose of the putrefaction of flesh, skin &c, any substance is produced before
  • details of an Australian variety of sundew ( letter from T. C. Copland, 23 June 1874 ). …
  • Sharpe for promotion at the British Museum ( letter to R. B. Sharpe, 24 November [1874] ).  He
  • head that M r  Spencers terms of equilibration &c always bother me & make everything less

Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin

Summary

The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…

Matches: 20 hits

  • 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwins life. From a quiet rural existence
  • he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This
  • the composition and publication, in November 1859, of Darwins major treatise  On the origin of
  • …  exceeded my wildest hopes By the end of 1859, Darwins work was being discussed in
  • has  infinitely  exceeded my wildest hopes.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). …
  • The 'big book' The year 1858 opened with Darwin hard at work preparing hisbig
  • completed his ninth chapter, on hybridism, on 29 December 1857, Darwin began in January 1858 to
  • appropriate. The correspondence shows that at any one time Darwin was engaged in a number of
  • The chapter on instinct posed a number of problems for Darwin. ‘I find my chapter on Instinct very
  • celebrated as a classic example of divine design in nature. Darwin hypothesised that the instinct of
  • on variation under nature. Having learned in the summer of 1857 that his method for deriving
  • as evidence for what actually occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and  …
  • throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have
  • work—& that I confess made me a little lowbut I c d . have borne it, for I have the
  • his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
  • selection. Darwins shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell
  • Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
  • on Charles Lyells endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the
  • with an abstract of his views sent to Asa Gray in September 1857. The correspondence between Darwin, …
  • it is impossible that men like Lyell, Hooker, Huxley, H. C. Watson, Ramsay &c would change their

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: 26 hits

  • In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwins 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. Darwins transmutation theory continued to
  • Argyll, appeared in the religious weeklyGood Words . Darwin received news of an exchange of
  • Butler, and, according to Butler, the bishop of Wellington. Darwins theory was discussed at an
  • in the  GardenersChronicleAt 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 Darwins friends, John Lubbock and
  • The death of Hugh Falconer Darwins 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] …
  • ineffective, and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] …
  • of anything, & that almost exclusively bread & meat’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 August [1865] …
  • better, attributing the improvement to Joness diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] …
  • Darwin had received a copy of Müllers bookFür Darwin , a study of the Crustacea with reference
  • … … 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. …
  • Hookers behalf, ‘He asks if you saw the article of M r . Croll in the last Reader on the
  • How to manage it , a love-story set in the Indian Mutiny of 1857 to 1858 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … ‘As for your thinking that you do not deserve the C[opley] Medal,’ he rebuked Hooker, ‘that I

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

  • In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to
  • … (DAR 119) opens with five pages of text copied from Notebook C and carries on through 1851; the
  • used these notebooks extensively in dating and annotating Darwins letters; the full transcript
  • … *128). For clarity, the transcript does not record Darwins alterations. The spelling and
  • book had been consulted. Those cases where it appears that Darwin made a genuine deletion have been
  • a few instances, primarily in theBooks Readsections, Darwin recorded that a work had been
  • of the books listed in the other two notebooks. Sometimes Darwin recorded that an abstract of the
  • to be Read [DAR *119: Inside Front Cover] C. Darwin June 1 st . 1838
  • … [DAR *119: 2v.] Whites regular gradation in man [C. White 1799] Lindleys
  • 8 vo  p 181 [Latreille 1819]. see p. 17 Note Book C. for reference to authors about E. Indian
  • in brutes Blackwood June 1838 [J. F. Ferrie 1838]. H. C. Watson on Geog. distrib: of Brit: …
  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824
  • 183440]: In Portfolio ofabstracts34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm
  • M rs  Frys Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … [Fellows 1839] Catherine 48 Life of Collins R.A. [Collins 1848] Phases of Faith
  • Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleays letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • 112 Jukes. “Students Manual of Geology” [Jukes 1857]— published a few years ago, good on
  • Lucas lHeredite Naturelle [Lucas 184750] 1857 Nov. 15. Andersson Lake Gnami
  • Thackeray English Humourists [Thackeray 1853] 1857 Jan. Cockburn life of Selby [ …
  • 1848Memoirs of the life of William   Collins, Esq., R.A.  2 vols. London.  *119: 23; 119: …
  • by Richard Owen.  Vol. 4 of  The works of John Hunter, F.R.S. with notes . Edited by James F. …
  • Robert. 1843Memoirs of the life of John   Constable, R.A., composed chiefly of his letters. …
  • Peacock, George. 1855Life of Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.S.  London.  *128: 172; 128: 21

Before Origin: the ‘big book’

Summary

Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…

Matches: 23 hits

  • Darwin begansorting notes for Species Theoryon 9 September 1854, the
  • day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles ( Darwin's Journal ). He had long
  • to paper in a more substantial essay. By this point, Darwin had also admitted to his close friend
  • he acknowledged, ‘ like confessing a murder ’. While Darwin recognised he had far more work to do
  • reaction to the transmutation theory it contained convinced Darwin that further evidence for the
  • of Vestiges to him. It took another ten years before Darwin felt ready to start collating his
  • six months before he started sorting his species notes, Darwin had worried that the process would
  • I shall feel, if I when I get my notes together on species &c &c, the whole thing explodes
  • immutability of species ’, he told his cousin William Darwin Fox. Experimental work
  • set up to provide crucial evidence for his arguments. Fox, Darwin assumed, would have bred pigeons
  • intensely bred to exaggerate particular characters, would, Darwin believed, clearly exhibit the
  • to the entire natural history community by sending a letter to the GardenersChronicle , …
  • ago’, he wrote to the American botanist Asa Gray in July 1857, it occurred to me that
  • geograph. distribution, geological historyaffinities &c &c &c.. And it seems to me, …
  • staggered about the permanence of species.— By 1857, Darwin had found the confidence to
  • And this much acceleration I owe to you. ’ In February 1857, the rate of this acceleration was
  • the way facts fall into groups ’, he told Fox in February 1857. Trials of strength
  • in theory of the descent of species ’. In December 1857, Darwin had expressed his satisfaction that
  • there is no good & original observation ’. In 1857, Darwin recorded in his journal that
  • varieties differ from each other’, he told Wallace in May 1857, before statingI am now preparing
  • it adequately. On 18 June 1858, Darwin received a now lost letter from Wallace enclosing his essay
  • I had, however, quite resigned myself & had written half a letter to Wallace to give up all
  • and a half chapters were edited and published in 1975 by R. C. Stauffer under the title Charles