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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: 25 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 beenutterly  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] …
  • natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19
  • Lyell are some of the most fascinating in the volume. George Henry Kendrick Thwaites
  • considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
  • naturalists because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). …
  • two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like
  • tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 3 April [1860] ). By the
  • favour of change of form’, namely those of embryology ( letter to Asa Gray, 10 September [1860] ). …
  • his study of the geographical distribution of species ( see letter from T. H. Huxley, 6 August 1860
  • … ‘man is in same predicament with other animals’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] )— he
  • book had becometopics of the dayat the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. …
  • Darwinmaster of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other
  • thatthis row is best thing for subject.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). Further
  • …  rather than against Darwins book per se . Prodded by Henslows defence of the integrity of
  • if the whole were already proved) to his own views.—’ ( letter from J. S. Henslow to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … ‘how differently different opposers view the subject’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February [1860] …
  • serve a purpose in Britain. He immediately wrote to Gray on 10 September after studying the first
  • that these visits have led to changed structure.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 27 April [1860] ). …
  • several months later, ‘just as at a game of chess.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 [July 1860] ). …

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: 16 hits

  • … he had witnessed man in his most "primitive wildness" ( letter to Henslow, 11 April 1833 …
  • … mentor, the professor of botany at Cambridge, John Stevens Henslow. Letter 204 : …
  • … 1833 which took effect in the following year. Letter 206 : Darwin to Darwin, E. C., 22 …
  • … of the polygenist theory of human descent. Letter 4933 : Farrar, F. W. to Darwin, …
  • … about the state of civilization of the natives. Letter 5617 , Darwin to Weale, J. P. M …
  • … wonderful fact in the progress of civilization" Letter 5722 , Weale, J. P. M. to …
  • … of Species , Darwin discussed his views on progress in a letter to Charles Lyell, insisting that …
  • … of life" ( Origin , 6 th ed, p. 98). Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C …
  • … not profit it, there would be no advance.— " Letter 6728 : from Charles Lyell, 5 …
  • … but may guide the forces & laws of Nature." Letter 6866 : From Federico Delpino …
  • … in this inner principle, inborn in all things." Letter 8658 : to Alpheus Hyatt, 4 …
  • … Wallace, and the philosopher William Graham. Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C., …
  • … the less intellectual races being exterminated." Letter 3439 : Darwin to Kingsley, …
  • … race, viewed as a unit, will have risen in rank." Letter 4510 : Darwin to Wallace, …
  • … entirely on intellectual & moral qualities. Letter 13230 : Darwin to Graham, …
  • … as Anthropologist. Cambridge University Press 1989. George Stocking, George. Race, Culture, …

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: 28 hits

  • … and popular publications. A lengthy discussion written by George Douglas Campbell, duke of Argyll, …
  • … 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] …
  • … 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 Jones’s diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] …
  • … he was ‘able to write about an hour on most days’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 December [1865] ). …
  • … others very forward, except the last & concluding one’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 March [1865] …
  • … my book will be ready for the press in the autumn’ ( letter to John Murray, 4 April [1865] ). In …
  • … however, ‘I am never idle when I can do anything’ ( letter to John Murray, 2 June [1865] ). It was …
  • … finished hearing it read aloud ( letter to Fritz Müller, 10 August [1865] ). Over the next few …
  • … ( see letter from Fritz Müller, [12 and 31 August, and 10 October 1865] ; since it is impossible …
  • … similarly coloured varieties (see  Correspondence  vol. 10, letter to John Scott, 19 November …
  • … ‘industry & ability’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [10 March 1865] ). Scott took these …
  • … societies and in the popular press. In December 1864, George Douglas Campbell, the duke of Argyll, …
  • … of transmutation to humans (see  Correspondence  vol. 10, letter from J. H. Balfour, 14 January …
  • … ( Correspondence vol. 11, letter from J. D. Hooker, 10 June 1863 ). However, probably …
  • … visits. William was working as a banker in Southampton. George was at Trinity College, Cambridge; in …
  • … Cresy, 7 September [1865] , and letter from Edward Cresy, 10 September 1865 ). Francis and …
  • … from his description, was something of a thriller, and George Eliot’s  The mill on the Floss , …
  • … met. The last two months of the year also saw letters from George Henslow, the son of Darwin’s …

Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life

Summary

1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time.  And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth.  All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…

Matches: 28 hits

  • … ‘my wife … poor creature, has won only 2490 games’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876 ). …
  • … suffered a serious concussion from a riding accident, and George Darwin’s ill-health grew worse, …
  • … quantity of work’ left in him for ‘new matter’ (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). The …
  • … to a reprint of the second edition of Climbing plants ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 23 February …
  • … & I for blundering’, he cheerfully observed to Carus. ( Letter to J. V. Carus, 24 April 1876. …
  • … provided evidence for the ‘advantages of crossing’ (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). Revising …
  • … year to write about his life ( Correspondence vol. 23, letter from Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg, 20 …
  • … however, continued to be raised in various ways. On 10 January, Charles O’Shaughnessy , an Irish …
  • … nowadays is evolution and it is the correct one’ ( letter from Nemo, [1876?] ). …
  • … ignore the accusation made by the comparative anatomist St George Jackson Mivart in his Lessons …
  • … him ‘basely’ and who had succeeded in giving him pain ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 17 June 1876 ). …
  • … down completely until Mivart made a slanderous attack on George Darwin in late 1874 in an anonymous …
  • … fearful that Mivart still had the capacity to damage George’s reputation. ‘I care little about …
  • … disgrace’ of blackballing so distinguished a zoologist ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 29 January 1876 ) …
  • … must have been cast by the ‘poorest curs in London’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [4 February …
  • … the Vivisec. Commissions recommendation this bill is’, George Darwin declared to his father on 31 …
  • … Burdon Sanderson was keen for the society’s secretary, George Romanes, to write articles for the …
  • … them to such extent?’ enthused Hermann Hoffmann on 10 January , while on 23 June, Auguste Forel …
  • … her questions were ‘too silly to deserve an answer’ ( letter from S. B. Herrick, 12 February 1876 …
  • … on Dionaea ‘to test the insect eating theory’ ( letter from Peter Henderson, 15 November 1876 …
  • … of plant digestion further, had already reported on 10 January that he had confirmed the ‘more …
  • … Pangenesis v. perigenesis The young zoologist George Romanes was also carrying out …
  • … is a good lesson which will last for my life’, he told George Stokes, secretary of the society, on …
  • … Horace, however, who was the first to type a letter, telling George on 1 May (in the only script the …
  • … been Darwin’s strong point, and he was reliant on his son George and cousin Francis Galton for the …
  • … Caroline home, they had experienced a further calamity. On 10 May, William suffered serious …
  • … mentioned his oldest daughter Annie, who died at the age of 10 in 1851, but William, who was 11 …
  • … December 1876 ). In England, the clergyman botanist George Henslow, son of John Stevens Henslow, …

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

  • Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August
  • silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to
  • observations of catsinstinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
  • 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., …
  • expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
  • is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
  • of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
  • briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
  • birds, insects or plants on Darwins behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to
  • of an angry pig and her nieces ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
  • that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28
  • on her experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9426 - Story
  • Asa Gray about the observations of orchids made by his son, George. He details Georges findings and
  • Letter 385  - Wedgwood, S. E. & J. to Darwin, [10 November 1837] Emmas sister, …
  • to look for more samples. Letter 4928  - Henslow, G. to Darwin, [11 November 1865] …
  • Men: Letter 378  - Darwin to Henslow, J. S., [20 September 1837] Darwin
  • the second edition of  Descent  to Darwin's son George. The work is tedious and Wallace
  • editing the second edition of  Descent  to his son, George. Darwin warns George that it will
  • Letter 347  - Darwin to Whewell, W., [10 March 1837] Darwin seeks to decline the
  • editing the second edition of  Descent  to his son, George. Darwin warns George that it will

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: 14 hits

  • … self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom , published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a …
  • … of the young plants is highly remarkable’ ( To Asa Gray, 10 September [1866] ). By early December, …
  • … 17 March [1867] ). He noted another factor in a letter to Gray, remarking, ‘I am going on with my …
  • … on 30 January 1868. In April 1868, Darwin informed George Bentham, ‘I am experimenting on a …
  • … of orchids are quite intelligible to me’ ( To George Bentham, 22 April 1868 ). A month later, he …
  • … great measure my further working’ ( From Hermann Müller, 10 June 1873 ). Darwin, in turn, had …
  • … [1873] ). In September, Darwin wrote a long letter to Nature commenting on a seemingly …
  • … had ‘begun to prepare for press observations continued for 10 years on the effects of crossing …
  • … heights would be useful. He asked his mathematician son George whether it would be ‘an easy …
  • … ( To G. H. Darwin, 8 January [1876] ). George explained the difficulties of lumping different …
  • … 12 November 1876 ). The book was published on 10 November 1876. Within days, Darwin received …
  • … A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this letter has been found, but Darwin had long …
  • … Most published reviews that appeared were also positive, but George Henslow, in his review in …
  • … of rye and wheat that he had studied ( From A. W. Rimpau, 10 December 1877 ). By the end of …

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: 25 hits

  • … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
  • … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
  • … respectively. In January, Darwin corresponded with George John Romanes about new varieties of …
  • … 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 ). …
  • … find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
  • … sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
  • … leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
  • … This was confirmed by one of his correspondents. A clerk, George Frederick Crawte, recounted a …
  • … transit of Venus on an expedition to Queensland, Australia. George’s recent work had been highly …
  • … Robert Stawell Ball that was printed in Nature declared George ‘the discoverer of tidal …
  • … the great judges think highly of the work … I believe that George will some day be a great …
  • … family and close friends grew worried. Letters were sent to George, who was soon to return from …
  • … ‘ slight attack’ (Darwin pocket diary, 1882, 6, 7, 10 April 1882). Some days he was able to walk …
  • … 3 April 1882 ). He sent a cheque for a memorial to the late George Rolleston ( letter to H. N. …
  • … carried him off the next day. Henrietta immediately wrote to George, who had visited Down on 11 …
  • … 20 years, & it is a consolation to me to think that the last 10 or 12 years were the happiest …
  • … in tenderness’ (letter from Emma Darwin to W. E. Darwin, 10 May 1882 (DAR 219.1: 150)). …
  • … I am able to work’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [ c . 10 April 1864] ). To the physician Henry …
  • … a rare declaration on the origins of life to the chemist George Warington, who was keen to reconcile …
  • … to remain each man’s private property’ ( letter to George Warington, 11 October [1867] ). …
  • … One of Darwin’s other great loves, dogs, was indulged by George Cupples, a writer and experienced …

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: 4 hits

  • … ( Beagle diary , p. 143). He was delighted to receive a letter from an African correspondent …
  • … and Progress Key letters: Letter to J. S. Henslow, 11 April 1833 …
  • … in Society and History 45: 815–42. Stocking, George. 1868. Race, culture, and evolution: …
  • … Correspondence with women Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February …

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: 23 hits

  • … Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But …
  • … able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
  • … of coffee to two cups a day, since coffee, with the ‘10 drops of Muriatic acid twice a day (with …
  • … once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
  • … see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 …
  • … work doing me any harm—any how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
  • … production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January …
  • … of “Domestic Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
  • … good deal I think, & have come to more definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December …
  • … ‘I quite follow you in thinking Agassiz glacier-mad’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8[–9] September …
  • … ten times more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] …
  • … past few years. Emma described the Royal Society event in a letter to George: ‘Your father … entered …
  • … you—& told me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). …
  • … 3 calls! & then went for ¾ to Zoolog. Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 April 1866 …
  • … whom he had known previously only through correspondence. George Henslow, the son of his Cambridge …
  • … delighted to come on those terms so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [  c . 10 May …
  • … very much to see him, though I dread all exertion’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [12 May 1866] ). …
  • … to Madeira. His visit to Down House is described in a letter from Henrietta to George: ‘when first …
  • … most magnificent eulogium which it has ever received’ ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 18 August [1866] …
  • … like myself weak in his Greek, is something dreadful’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1866] …
  • … know how to begin’ ( letter to Fritz Müller, [before 10 December 1866] ). The intrusion of …
  • … other German states and Austria in June and July. Writing on 10 May from Württemberg, one of the …
  • … the last day of the year, reporting the success of his son George, who had recently won a …

Darwin in letters, 1861: Gaining allies

Summary

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

Matches: 26 hits

  • … will do me & Natural Selection, right good service’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 26–7 Februrary [1861] …
  • … review published in the July issue of the  Zoologist  by George Maw, for example, singled out …
  • … ‘barometer’ of scientific opinion, Charles Lyell ( see letter to Charles Lyell, 20 July [1861] ). …
  • … selection could not be ‘directly proved’ ( see second letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 [April 1861] ). …
  • … was ‘the only one proper to such a subject’ ( letter from Henry Fawcett, 16 July [1861] ). Mill in …
  • … or against some view if it is to be of any service!’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] …
  • … chapter on the imperfection of the geological record ( see letter to George Maw, 19 July [1861] ). …
  • … he planned to report ‘at a favourable opportunity’ ( letter from Joseph Leidy, 4 March [1861] ). …
  • … laboratory where Nature manufactures her new species’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 28 March [1861] ) …
  • … study of natural history was evident. He told Darwin in his letter of [1 December] 1861: …
  • … by insect enemies from which the other set is free’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 30 September 1861 ) …
  • … be a ‘very valuable contribution to Nat. History.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 4 April [1861] ). He …
  • … causes &c’, and ‘Monkeys,—our poor cousins.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 3 December [1861] ). …
  • … a view to obtaining ‘large distribution’ for the work ( letter to H. W. Bates, 25 September [1861] …
  • … him on producing ‘a complete and awful smasher’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 January [1861] ). Ever …
  • … but he and Owen would ‘never be friends again’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 January [1861] ). …
  • … fully believe a better man never walked this earth’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 [May 1861] ). …
  • … could perhaps ‘throw some light on Hybridisation’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 September [1861] ). …
  • … the diversity & perfection of the contrivances.–-’ ( letter of [28 July–10 August 1861] ). …
  • … had ‘some direct bearing on the subject of species’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] …
  • … whether I am not doing a foolish action in publishing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1861] …
  • … ‘it is such tedious work comparing skeletons—’ ( letter to Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefage de Bréau …
  • … on the subject had been ‘one long gigantic blunder’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 September [1861] …
  • … £800, and would so ‘be at once an almost rich man’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, [26 May 1861] ). The …
  • … of what was thought to be ‘a form of typhus fever’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 11 May 1860 ). This …
  • … to take up his new position. William’s description, in his letter of [17 November 1861], of his …

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: 26 hits

  • Marcel de Serres Cavernes dOssements 7 th  Ed. 10  8 vo . [Serres 1838] good to trace Europ. …
  • worth studying in a metaphys. point of view Henslow has list of plants of Mauritius with
  • on wheat [Le Couteur 1836] Bechstein on Caged Birds. 10 s  6 d . translated by Rennie
  • … [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
  • … [Gaertner 178891] (Plates on all seeds) R. Soc Henslow says there is a grand book with
  • Von. J. Metzger. Heidelberg 1841 [Metzger 1841] Read Henslow in Botanist 36  has written on
  • Soc read Prichards. Nat: History of Man. Bailliere. 1.10 [Prichard 1843must be studied . …
  • Des ). De leur Anatomie, Reproduction et Culture. 4to. Avec 10 planches. Amsterdam, 1768. 12 s . …
  • M rs  Frys Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleays letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • G. Browne 1799]— well skimmed 1839 Jan 10 All life of W. Scott [Lockhart 18378] …
  • Voyage of Kolff to the Molucca Sea [Kolff 1840] 10 th  Surville-Marion [Crozet 1783]. …
  • 1839]. References at end. chiefly on instincts 10 th . Blackwalls Researches in Zoology
  • 183940]. references at end.— Maer  (June 10 to Nov. 14. 1840) Smellies Buffon 3 d
  • … ] 4. Vol. references at End Feb. 23 rd . Henslow Pamph. on Wheat [Henslow 1841]— fact about
  • or Review in a Medical Journal which Hooker has & lent to Henslow Huxley [DAR *128: 178
  • Notes to Jardine & Jesses Selbourne [E. Jesse ed. 1849] Georges Copy Aug. St. Hilaire. …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • L. Ossoy [Walpole 1848] 1 st  vol. —— History George III [Walpole 1845]. 1. vol. —— …
  • May 28 th . Delineations of the Ox Tribe &c by George Vasey. 1851 [Vasey 1851]. May 28. …
  • of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to
  • 1841 . Oxford119: 13b Atkinson, Henry George and Martineau, Harriet. 1851Letters
  • etc.  2 vols. London.  *119: 12v. Bennett, George. 1860Gatherings of a naturalist in
  • Edinburgh and London. [Other eds.] 128: 9 Bentham, George. 1826Catalogue des plantes
  • ou peu connues . Paris.  *128: 159 Berkeley, George. 1784The works of George Berkeley

Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'

Summary

The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…

Matches: 18 hits

  • findings had been spread by the publication by J. S. Henslow and Adam Sedgwick of excerpts from his
  • results of the  Beagle  voyage. With the help of J. S. Henslow, William Whewell, and other
  • neglected. During the voyage Darwin had expected that J. S. Henslow would describe his botanical
  • the other on the Keeling Island flora. Darwins letters to Henslow show a gradual realisation that
  • knowledge of plant distribution and classification (see Henslow 1837a and 1838; W. J. Hooker and G. …
  • 1845, 1846, 18535, and 1860). In 1980, two notebooks in Henslows hand were discovered that contain
  • letters have suffered an even more severe loss. In a letter to Lyells sister-in-law, Katharine
  • The letters show that at least five of his friendsLyell, Henslow, Jenyns, Waterhouse, and his
  • that he had a sound solution to what J. F. W. Herschel in a letter to Lyell had called themystery
  • about searching for evidence to support his hypothesis. In a letter to Lyell, [14] September [1838
  • mainly on literature in this field and on friends like Henslow, T. C. Eyton, and W. D. Fox, who were
  • just the same, though I know what I am looking for' ( Letter to G. R. Waterhouse, [26 July
  • taxa as they were worked out at the time. As the late George Gaylord Simpson pointed out: ‘What
  • there were no doubts as to how one ought to act’ ( Letter from Emma Darwin, [  c.  February 1839] …
  • interpretations of phenomena. Schweber (1977, pp. 30410) sees a growing agnosticism in the
  • sometimes months, at a time. In September 1837 he told Henslow that doctors had recommended that he
  • for several months (See  Correspondence  vol. 1, letter to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 , …
  • notebook). See also Allan 1977, pp. 12830). The letter, onDouble flowersto the  …

Books on the Beagle

Summary

The Beagle was a sort of floating library.  Find out what Darwin and his shipmates read here.

Matches: 22 hits

  • … Captain FitzRoy in the  Narrative  (2: 18). CD, in his letter to Henslow, 9 [September 1831] , …
  • … . . . There will be  plenty  of room for Books.’ (Letter from Robert FitzRoy, 23 September 1831 …
  • … CD. According to Keith Thompson (1975), the cabin measured 10 feet by 11 feet. The books in …
  • … the ‘immense stock’ which CD mentions may be had from a letter FitzRoy wrote to his sister during an …
  • … on board the  Beagle §  —  mentioned in a letter or other source as being on board …
  • … they were on board is to be found in them § Anson, George.  A voyage round the world, in the …
  • … Naturelle  3 (1834): 84–115. (DAR 37.1: 677v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 12 July 1835). * …
  • … d’histoire naturelle . 17 vols. Paris, 1822–31. (Letter from J. S. Henslow, 15–21 January [1833]). …
  • … a report of the proceedings . .  . Cambridge, 1833.  (Letter to Charles Whitley, 23 July 1834). …
  • … of the 2d meeting . . . Oxford, 1832 . London, 1833.  (Letter to J. S. Henslow, March 1834 and …
  • … notebook , p. 86). Darwin Library–Down †. Byron, George Anson, 7th Baron.  Voyage of H.M.S. …
  • … also Hawkesworth, John). (DAR 32.2: 89v.; Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the South African Christian …
  • … round the world.  London, 1697. ( Red notebook , pp. 8e, 10;  ‘Beagle’ diary , p. 407). …
  • … § Euclid.  Elements of geometry.  (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 30 October 1831). ‡ Falkner, …
  • … tracts’, Darwin Library–CUL †. Greenough, George Bellas.  A critical examination of the …
  • … of essays.  London, 1819. (DAR 32.2: 77) Greenough, George Bellas. Anniversary address (1834 …
  • … (Vols. 1 and 2, in one, 3d edition, inscribed from J. S. Henslow to CD ‘on his departure’, September …
  • …  2d ed. London, n.d. [1802]. (Letter to Robert FitzRoy, [10 October 1831]). DAR 196.2 †. * …
  • … polypiers.  Paris, 1821. (DAR 30.1: 13v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November 1834). …
  • … . 1832’; vol. 3 (1833): ‘C. Darwin’; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November 1834). Darwin …
  • … 1773. (DAR 31.2: 362v.; 38.1: 887). Scrope, George Julius Poulett.  Considerations on …
  • … history and botany.  London, 1822. Vancouver,George.  A voyage of discovery to the North …

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: 28 hits

  • Were women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
  • Tollet for proofreading and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. …
  • her to read to check that she can understand it. Letter 7312 - Darwin to Darwin, F. …
  • from all but educated, typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E
  • he seeks her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28
  • in order to minimise impeding general perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, …
  • he uses to avoid ownership of indelicate content. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to
  • so as not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
  • which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to
  • Darwins female readership Letter 5391 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [6 February
  • of the Manchester Ladies Literary Society . Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to
  • the chapter on pangenesis, which is a revelation. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. …
  • Darwin assumes that 'A. B. Blackwell' is a man. Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to
  • him to the psychology of Herbert Spencer. Letter 7624 - Bathoe, M . B. to Darwin
  • his statements on a lack of reasoning in animals. Letter 7644 - Barnard, A. to
  • during a visit to an asylum with her father. Letter 7651 - Wedgwood, F. J. to
  • on any comments that she feels might be suitable. Letter 7411 - Pfeiffer, E. J. to
  • and beauty in the process of sexual selection. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, …
  • of a womans natural thinking”. Letter 8778 - Forster, L. M . to Darwin, H. …
  • and the showing of teeth in Expression . Letter 10072 - Pape, C. to
  • and hopes Darwin will complete her questionnaire. Letter 10390 - Herrick, S. M. B. …
  • of questions which she hopes arent too silly. Letter 10415 - Darwin to Herrick, S. …
  • and is pleased that his work has interested her. Letter 10508 - Treat, M. to Darwin
  • it nearly all night before she could lay it down. Letter 13547 - Tanner, M. H. …
  • involving worms which occurred in her garden. Letter 13650 Kennard, C. A. to Darwin
  • Reading Variation Letter 5712 - Dallas, W. S. to Darwin, [8 December 1867] …
  • array of factscontained in the work. Letter 5861 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [11
  • Letter 6110 - Samuelson, J. to Darwin, [10 April 1868] James Samuel, editor of

Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep

Summary

In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…

Matches: 30 hits

  • … Hooker, ‘or as far as I know any scientific man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1878] ). …
  • … or arched.… Almost all seedlings come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). …
  • … when he finds out that he missed sensitiveness of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] …
  • … Darwin complained. ‘I am ashamed at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). …
  • … accursed German language: Sachs is very kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June …
  • … have nobody to talk to, about my work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] …
  • … but it is horrid not having you to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). …
  • … determine whether they had chlorophyll, Francis reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 …
  • … ‘There is one machine we must have’, Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July …
  • … ‘He seems to me to jump to conclusions rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] …
  • … the pot-plant every day & never the bedded out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July …
  • … ‘I have borrowed Cieselski & read him,’ he reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [22 June 1878 …
  • … books & red-wine which is here the cure for all evils’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [24 and 25 …
  • … is very sweet & pretty,’ he added a week later ( letter to Francis Darwin, 14 July [1878] ). …
  • … in a booboo, whereas I ought to have said a gee-gee’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 17 July [1878] ). …
  • … dear no”’. Darwin shared some of his observations with George John Romanes, who was engaged in his …
  • … close down on the object, but he will always do so’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 20 August [1878] ). …
  • … idiot, a deaf-mute, a monkey & a baby in your house!’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 2 September …
  • … that I want to play the part of a thieving wasp’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 21 June 1878 ). …
  • … than zoology, where his work had been more controversial ( letter from J.-B. Dumas and Joseph …
  • … me Dr Darwin, the title seems to me quite ridiculous’ ( letter to John Price, 2 April [1878] ). …
  • … of the “imperfection of the Geological Record”’ ( letter from Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvár, 28 …
  • … science our atlas would not have come together’ ( letter from Arnold Dodel-Port, 18 June 1878 ). …
  • … or religious prejudice. An engineer in Bohemia addressed his letter to ‘the inspired hermit of Down’ …
  • … (letters from Carl Kraus, [31?] January 1878 and 10 February 1878 ). Darwin learned that his …
  • … in Germany, as if they had been school-boys’ ( letter to Karl von Scherzer, 1 April 1878 ). …
  • … of evolutionary progress was raised by the portrait-painter George Arthur Gaskell, who suggested …
  • … preferred to engage with critics through correspondence, George asked his father’s advice on …
  • … Society of London by Samuel Haughton. ‘If I do write’, George worried, ‘I’m pretty sure to get in …
  • … crop (see Correspondence vol. 3, letter to J. S. Henslow, 28 October [1845] ). He was aware …

Volume appendices

Summary

Here is a list of the appendices from the print volumes of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin with links to adapted online versions where they are available. Appendix I in each volume contains translations of letters in foreign languages and these can…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … and these can be accessed online by searching for a letter and clicking on the translation tab on …
  • … 8 V Patrick Matthew's letter to the Gardeners’ Chronicle …
  • … to the lower animals’ 10 VI Notes on the …
  • … 22 V St George Jackson Mivart, George Howard Darwin, and the Quarterly …

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: 28 hits

  • … in satisfying female preference in the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864, …
  • … of changing the races of man’ (Correspondence vol. 12, letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May 1864] ). …
  • … book would take the form of a ‘short essay’ on man ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 3 July 1868 ). But …
  • … as well say, he would drink a little and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868] ) …
  • … would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s angry letter to Murray crossed one from Dallas to …
  • … of labour to remuneration I shall look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). …
  • … if I try to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). …
  • … in three parts in the  Pall Mall Gazette , was by George Henry Lewes, well-known in London’s …
  • … reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from the Isle of Wight on the formation …
  • … would strike me in the face, but not behind my back’ ( letter to John Murray, 25 February [1868] ) …
  • … ignorant article… . It is a disgrace to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] …
  • … ‘he is a scamp & I begin to think a veritable ass’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868] …
  • … wrote of the colour of duck claws on 17 April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d  C. …
  • … proved very fruitful. On 1 May , Darwin received a letter from George Cupples, who was encouraged …
  • … with the enthusiastic breeder, who apologised in a letter of 11–13 May 1868 for his ‘voluminuous …
  • … of science On 27 February , Darwin sent a letter of thanks to the naturalist and …
  • … he later added, ‘for it is clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). …
  • … to various classes, a dim ray of light may be gained’ ( letter to H. T. Stainton, 21 February [1868 …
  • … as well as of ‘victorious males getting wives’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 25 February [1868] ). …
  • … of females was remarked upon by other entomologists ( letter from Roland Trimen, 20 February 1868 …
  • … and Coleoptera on 9 September . Darwin annotated a letter sent on 3 April by Henry Doubleday …
  • … advice from the entomologist and librarian at Cambridge, George Robert Crotch, writing to his mother …
  • … Darwin passed Wallace’s pages over to his son George, now a Cambridge-trained mathematician, who …
  • … the expression of natives faces as I meet them,’ wrote George Henry Kendrick Thwaites on 1 April …
  • … for fellowship of the Linnean Society ( letter from George Bentham, [after 29 September 1868] ). …
  • … am not sure’, Darwin reflected in a letter dated [8–10 September 1868] , ‘whether it w d  not …
  • … walked with village girls at night ( letter to J. B. Innes, 10 December [1868] ). ‘The Church will …
  • … now in life’. In January, the family learned the news that George’s performance on the mathematical …

Darwin in letters, 1844–1846: Building a scientific network

Summary

The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but he broadened his continuing investigations into the nature and origin of species. Far from being a recluse, Darwin was at the heart of British scientific society,…

Matches: 11 hits

  • Government grant was exhausted ( Correspondence  vol. 2, letter to A. Y. Spearman, 9 October 1843, …
  • neglected either, as the correspondence with Charles Lyell, George Robert Waterhouse, John Stevens
  • are not (it is like confessing a murder) immutable’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [11 January 1844] ). …
  • the essay of 1844 to read (see  Correspondence  vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 [February 1847]) …
  • himself: as he told his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of [24 April 1845] , he felt he
  • Natural selection Perhaps the most interesting letter relating to Darwins species theory, …
  • possible editors: at first he proposed any one of Lyell, Henslow, Edward Forbes, William Lonsdale, …
  • The names of Lonsdale, Forbes, and Owen were deleted, Henslows was queried, and J. D. Hookers was
  • Darwin not only used his personal notes and records but, by letter, marshalled the resources of
  • by Darwin, even though he had collected plants extensively. Henslow, who had undertaken to describe
  • of the laws of creation, Geographical Distribution’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 February 1845] ) …

Origin

Summary

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

Matches: 6 hits

  • … make a large-sized pamphlet. ’ On the 4 October, in a letter to T. C. Eyton explaining his change …
  • … buoyed up in January 1859, when he received a (now lost) letter from Wallace, expressing …
  • … chapters was sufficient for Murray to confirm his offer on 10 April . But then there was a slip …
  • … Quarterly Review, Whitwell Elwin, and that of his friend George Frederick Pollock. The former, in …
  • … ‘Abstract on Origin of species’ had taken 13 months and 10 days ( Darwin's Journal ). The …
  • …   Reference: Haynes, E. S. P. 1916. Master George Pollak. Cornhill Magazine n.s. …

Living and fossil cirripedia

Summary

Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … year on cirripede anatomy, Darwin wrote a rather reflective letter to his former professor and …
  • … of multiplying species; his botany professor John Stevens Henslow had alerted his students to the …
  • … his conclusions about larval-adult homologies in a letter to Dana in December 1853 . …
  • … proof-sheets from August to November and reported that the 10 plates for the volume were ready for …