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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: 18 hits

  • …   On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If any …
  • … and sexual selection. In  Origin , pp. 87–90, Darwin had briefly introduced the concept of …
  • … in satisfying female preference in the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 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] ) …
  • … to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). But such …
  • … 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 …
  • … a scamp & I begin to think a veritable ass’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868] ). …
  • … April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d  C. Darwin M.d’; Binstead evidently assumed …
  • … of thanks to the naturalist and customs offcial John Jenner Weir for a paper on apterous Lepidoptera …
  • … collection of materials on sexual selection, and he asked Weir to ‘call to mind any facts bearing on …
  • … Row who was a great authority on the ‘London fancy’. Weir received a ‘Newgate cut’ and much …
  • … added, ‘for it is clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). Sexual …
  • … role of colour, sound, and smell in attracting females. J. J. Weir reported on 14 April 1868 …
  • … of Hooker’s distributed it in Japan ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 5 September 1868 ); Edward Wilson, …
  • … of her two-month old daughter Katherine ( letter from C. M. Hawkshaw to Emma Darwin, 9 February …
  • … the previous year by James Philip Mansel Weale ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [20 May 1868] ). …

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: 24 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
  • observations of catsinstinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
  • to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to
  • in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L to Darwin, [8 & 9 May 1869] …
  • Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] Darwin
  • Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 May 1870] …
  • of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to Darwin, E., [8 November1872] …
  • Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 March 1864] Darwin thanks Hooker for
  • and orangs. Letter 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von to Darwin, [4 December 1867] …
  • the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9
  • in a marble tablet”. Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John
  • Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris
  • 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
  • Men: Letter 385  - Wedgwood, S. E. & J. to Darwin, [10 November 1837] …
  • Hall, Staffordshire. Letter 1219  - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, [3 February 1849] …
  • …  - Henslow, G. to Darwin, [11 November 1865] J. S. Henslows son, George, passes on the
  • Letter 1701  - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris
  • Men: Letter 1836  - Berkeley, M. J. to Darwin, [7 March 1856] Clergyman and
  • at the University of Bonn. Letter 6046  - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] …
  • Expression . Letter 6046  - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] …

Natural Science and Femininity

Summary

Discussion Questions|Letters A conflation of masculine intellect and feminine thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity. Working from the private domestic comfort of their homes and exercising…

Matches: 15 hits

  • thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity
  • feminine powers of feeling and aesthetic appreciation, Darwin and his male colleagues struggled to
  • Britain? Letters Letter 109 - Wedgwood, J. to Darwin, …
  • pursuit of real, professional work on his return. Letter 158 - Darwin to Darwin, R. W., …
  • colour andbeautyof tropical vegetation. Letter 542 - Darwin to Wedgwood, C. S., [27
  • meals, family time and walks into town with Emma. Letter 555 - Darwin to FitzRoy, R., …
  • … ‘ A Biographical Sketch of an Infant ’. Letter 2781 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [3 May
  • them in the north-facing borders of his garden. Letter 2864 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
  • andnever saw anything so beautiful”. Letter 4230 - Darwin to GardenersChronicle, [2
  • linked with his domestic family life. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [2
  • at least provide Darwin with aesthetic pleasure. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
  • of them into his bedroom. Letter 4469 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, [20 April 1864] …
  • his life to science. Letter 4472 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, [26 or 27 April 1864] …
  • help shape his sonsfortunes. Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] …
  • on the bedroom wallpaper. Letter 10821 - Graham C. C. to Darwin, [30 January 1877] …

Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution

Summary

The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’.  Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…

Matches: 24 hits

  • The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the
  • in relation to Sex’. Always precise in his accounting, Darwin reckoned that he had started writing
  • gathered on each of these topics was far more extensive than Darwin had anticipated. As a result,  …
  • and St George Jackson Mivart, and heated debates sparked by Darwins proposed election to the French
  • shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding machine’  ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December
  • anything which has happened to me for some weeks’  ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ) …
  • corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be’  ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ) …
  • who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
  • abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February
  • throapes & savages at the moral sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] …
  • how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870
  • in thanks for the drawing ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868] …
  • who sent a sketch of a babys brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). He also wrote to
  • … (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …
  • … & valuable labours on the Primates’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 23 April [1870] ). He also
  • Ape differs from a lump of granite’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 22 April 1870 ). Mivart
  • whatever may have been hisorigin” ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 25 April 1870 ). In his
  • than I could a ball at Buckingham Palace’ ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 30 June [1870] ). …
  • and foetus during pregnancy. As a case in point, John Jenner Weir described the offspring of a mare
  • persons long married grow like each other’ ( letter from J. J. Weir, 17 March 1870 ). …
  • in Bastians solutions of the same kind’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 July [1870] ). Bastians
  • to be thus killed by a man of 86’  ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 25 May [1870] ). On learning of this, …
  • do, I know no more than the man in the moon’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 25 May [1870] ). …
  • not entirely participated in this feeling’  ( letter to J. V. Carus, 18 August 1870 ). Carus

Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?

Summary

Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…

Matches: 26 hits

  • evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost
  • … (1875) and  Cross and self fertilisation  (1876). Darwins son Francis became increasingly
  • career to become his fathers scientific secretary. Darwin had always relied on assistance from
  • Franciss decision. A large portion of the letters Darwin received in 1873 were in response
  • the previous year. As was typical, readers wrote to Darwin personally to offer suggestions, …
  • some of which were incorporated in a later edition. Darwin also contributed to discussions in the
  • Francis Galtons work on inherited talent, which prompted Darwin to reflect on the traits and
  • Station at Naples. Plants that eat and feel? Darwin had resumed experiments on the
  • I omitted to observe, which I ought to have observed” ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] …
  • work your wicked will on itroot leaf & branch!” ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 January 1873 ) …
  • parts of the flower would become modified & correlated” ( letter to T. H. Farrer, 14 August
  • it again, “for Heaven knows when it will be ready” ( letter to John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). …
  • we take notes and take tracings of their burrows” ( letter from Francis Darwin, 14 August [1873] ) …
  • in importance; and if so more places will be created” ( letter to E. A. Darwin, 20 September 1873
  • our unfortunate family being fit for continuous work” ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 25 September
  • on any point; for I knew my own ignorance before hand” ( letter to George Cupples, 28 April [1873] …
  • … “he would fly at the Emprs throat like a bulldog” ( letter from L. M. Forster to H. E. Litchfield, …
  • without instruction or previously acquired knowledge” (A. R. Wallace 1870, p. 204). Moggridge
  • could be transmitted to its offspring ( letter from J. T. Moggridge, 1 February 1873 ). …
  • friendbut he is a deal too sharp” ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [7 April 1873] ). A group
  • forced him to take periodic breaks from work ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 21 February [1873] ). They
  • new facts which I have to compare & judge of” ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 20 December [1873] ). …
  • believes whether or not they are sound” ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 17 November 1873 ). But no
  • unorthodoxy, troubling and potentially undermining (J. R. Moore 1985, pp. 4712). A courted
  • home, when he was graced by an invitation from John Jenner Weir to act as a patron of the annual cat
  • a personification of Natural Filosofy” ( letter from J. C. Costerus and N. D. Doedes, 18 March 1873

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: 25 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
  • … & I am sick of correcting’ ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868
  • Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). …
  • material on emotional expression. Yet the scope of Darwins 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 Darwins most substantial addition to  Origin  was a
  • a Swiss botanist and professor at Munich (Nägeli 1865). Darwin had considered Nägelis paper
  • principal engine of change in the development of species. Darwin correctly assessed Nägelis theory
  • made any blunders, as is very likely to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). …
  • than I now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , …
  • is strengthened by the facts in distribution’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Darwin
  • while Roland Trimen in South Africa and John Jenner Weir in London sent more information on male and
  • males & females, cocks & hens.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 November [1869] ). Yet
  • … & contemptalmost hatred—’ ( from Asa Gray and J. L. Gray, 8 and 9 May [1869] ). James
  • 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
  • … [her] to translateDomestic Animals”’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 November [1869] ). Angered by
  • Sweetland Dallass edition of Fritz Müllers  Für Darwin  (Dallas trans. 1869). The book, an
  • whole meeting was decidedly Huxleys answer to D r  M c Cann. He literally poured boiling oil
  • suggestions to its publisher, Macmillan ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 November 1869 ).  Darwin

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: 26 hits

  • …   Charles Darwins major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work,  …
  • couple of months were needed to index the work, a task that Darwin handed over to someone else for
  • and animals  ( Expression ), published in 1872. Although Darwin had been collecting material and
  • A global reputation The importance of Darwins 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
  • suppose abuse is as good as praise for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] …
  • to the printer, but without the additional chapter. In a letter written on 8 February [1867] to
  • booksDescent  and  Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his
  • variation of animals and plants under domestication . In a letter to his son William dated 27
  • of his brothers embryological papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although
  • … . Indeed, he told his publisher, John Murray, in a letter of 4 April [1867] , not to send
  • tell me, at what rate your work will be published’ ( letter from J. V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). This
  • … & sent to him, he may wish to give up the task’ ( letter to Carl Vogt, 12 April [1867] ). …
  • to introduce the work to the German public ( letter from J. V. Carus, 15 April 1867 ). Darwin may
  • translate my book in preference to you’ ( letter to J. V. Carus, 18 April [1867] ). Darwin was not
  • attack it & me with unparalleled ferocity’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1867] ). …
  • see your second volume onThe Struggle for Existence &c.” for I doubt if we have a sufficiency
  • … “supplemental remarks on expression”’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [1217] March [1867] ). Darwins
  • the colours were protective and suggested that John Jenner Weir might conduct experiments in his
  • 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
  • had read it and whether it was worth reading ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 4 February 1867 ). In a
  • 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
  • judgement he would subdue; that is yours’ ( letter from J. V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). Darwin

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
  • scrap from 1857 comparing his views on species to DarwinsOthers, like Hugh Falconer , …
  • 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

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: 28 hits

  • When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect
  • handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller, 22 February
  • 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?” Darwins questionnaire was an extension of
  • Correspondence about Darwins Questionnaire (click on the letter dates to see the individual letters
  • Correspondent Letter date Location
  • nodding vertically Blair, R.H. 11 July
  • in the blind Bowker, J.H. [10 Dec 1867] …
  • Africa)? ] mentioned in JPM Weale letter, but Bowker's answers not found
  • Fuegians Brooke, C.A.J. 30 Nov 1870
  • Dyaks Brooke, C.A.J. 30 April 1871
  • Woolston, Southampton, England letter to W.E. Darwin shrugging
  • Square W London, England enclosed in a letter from Henry Maudsley
  • forwarded by Muller Haast, J.F.J. von 12
  • he forwards it to Haast, J.F.J. von 4 Dec
  • Lake Wellington, Australia letter to F.J.H. von Mueller nodding, …
  • of baby's tears Hooker, J.D. 5 Sept
  • Reade, Winwood W. [c.8 or 9 Apr 1870] Accra, West
  • expressions Rothrock, J.T. 31 March 1867
  • in Hottentots Smyth, R. Brough 13 Aug 1868
  • New Zealand) forwarded to CD by J.F.J. von Haast Maoris
  • respond to query Weale, J.P.M. 7 July 1867
  • Kafir, Hottentot Weale, J.P.M. [10 Dec
  • Kaffirs Weale, J.P.M. 23 Oct 1868
  • Kafir girls Weale, J.P.M. [25 May 1870] …
  • Africa?   Weale, J.P.M. [Jan 1873] …
  • … "brown study" Weir, J.J. 27 June