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Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments

Summary

1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…

Matches: 26 hits

  • … but really I do think you have a good right to be so’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 and] 20 …
  • … species. Darwin attempted to dissuade him from this view ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 [January 1862 …
  • … partially sterile together. He failed. Huxley replied ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 January 1862 …
  • … and pronounced them ‘simply perfect’, but continued ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 18 December [1862] ) …
  • … resigned to their difference of opinion, but complained ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1862 …
  • … letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] …
  • … protégé, telling Hooker: ‘he is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). …
  • … Towards the end of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): …
  • … and added, ‘new cases are tumbling in almost daily’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). In …
  • … hopeful, became increasingly frustrated, telling Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 March [1862] ) …
  • … on the problem: ‘the labour is great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ), ‘I …
  • … resulted from his ‘ enormous  labour over them’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [October 1862] ; …
  • … Oliver: ‘I can see at least 3 classes of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), …
  • … result once out of four or five sets of experiments’ ( letter to M. T. Masters, 24 July [1862] ). …
  • … one species may be said to be generically distinct’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 14 July [1862] ). The …
  • … and determined to publish on  Linum  ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), …
  • … d . like to make out this wonderfully complex case—’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 29 [July 1862] ). …
  • … The case clearly excited Darwin, who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 9 August [1862] ), ‘I …
  • … that the case warranted a paper for the Linnean Society ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 October [1862] …
  • … that had given him ‘great pleasure to ride’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). But he …
  • … know not  in the least , whether the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] …
  • … where they had stopped to visit Darwin’s eldest son, William. September found the invalids …
  • … animals. The results were exciting: he told both his cousin, William Darwin Fox, and Hooker of his …
  • … Orchids’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 [June 1862] ). William, now established in his career as a …
  • letter to W. E. Darwin, 14 February [1862] ). Darwin told William of his work on  Lythrum ,and, …
  • … accumulated for the next edition of  Origin . In January, William Branwhite Clarke sent new …

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: 25 hits

  • … I omitted to observe, which I ought to have observed” ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] …
  • … work your wicked will on it—root leaf & branch!” ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 January 1873 ) …
  • … Drosera filiformis . Hooker, with the assistance of William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, was engaged in a …
  • … Cross- and self-fertilisation Darwin’s other main focus of botanical investigation in 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 Empr’s throat like a bulldog” ( letter from L. M. Forster to H. E. Litchfield, …
  • … force & truth of the great principle of inheritance!” ( letter to F. S. B. F. de Chaumont, 3 …
  • … the heavy breathing that accompanied sexual intercourse? (letter from ?, [1873?]). The Scottish …
  • … with up lines; & sadness & decay with the reverse—” ( letter from William Main, 2 April …
  • … with the advance of civilisation and good breeding ( letter from Henry Reeks, 3 March 1873 ). …
  • … have never felt an inclination to have a second dose” ( letter from Robert Swinhoe, 26 March 1873 …
  • … of an orbital one produces snapping of the jaws” ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 16 April 1873 …
  • … that illustrated the physiognomy of the disease ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 30 December 1873 …
  • … by an individual could be transmitted to its offspring ( letter from J. T. Moggridge, 1 February …
  • … in  Nature  magazine, forwarding a letter from William Huggins on a case of inherited instinct in …
  • … noted his passion for collecting, the value of Euclid and William Paley as educational influences, …
  • … began to sound out Huxley’s friends on the matter. The main difficulty was how to raise the money …
  • … Lubbock, Herbert Spencer, John Tyndall, George Busk, and William Spottiswoode met with Darwin in …
  • … June, stayed with the Farrers in Surrey and with their son William in Southampton in August, and …
  • … pattern that Darwin had used for previous publications, his main assistant in the past having been …

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: 5 hits

  • …  the immutability of species ’, he told his cousin William Darwin Fox. Experimental work …
  • … to the entire natural history community by sending a letter to the Gardeners’ Chronicle , …
  • … an array of facts’: at best he could ‘ refer to the main agency of change, selection ’. …
  • … 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 …

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: 29 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] ). …
  • … But it was the opinion of scientific men that was Darwin’s main concern. He eagerly scrutinised each …
  • … of those whose support he most wanted: Thomas Henry Huxley, William Benjamin Carpenter, and Joseph …
  • … this criticism, he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … his theory would have been ‘ utterly  smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A …
  • … from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
  • … a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
  • … phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
  • … natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19 …
  • … several were considered in future editions of  Origin . William Henry Harvey wondered, in addition …
  • … 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 become ‘topics of the day’ at the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. …
  • … hear Samuel Wilberforce, the bishop of Oxford, reply to John William Draper’s paper giving a …
  • … Darwin ‘master of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other …
  • … that ‘this row is best thing for subject.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). Further …
  • … 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] …
  • … understood his theory. Somewhat exasperated after reading William Hopkins’s hostile critique of his …
  • … studying the first published piece: 'I said in a former letter that you were a Lawyer; but I …
  • … 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] ). …
  • … Innes, ‘though firmly convinced  now  that I am in the main right.— For a week hardly passes …

Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest

Summary

The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…

Matches: 25 hits

  • … selection in relation to sex . He wrote to his indexer, William Sweetland Dallas, on 27 January …
  • … and in some cases modify, his conclusions. The other main preoccupation of the year was the …
  • … do to talk about it, which no doubt promotes the sale’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 26 March 1871 ) …
  • … to her liking, ‘to keep in memory of the book’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, 20 March 1871 ). …
  • … and had forsaken his lunch and dinner in order to read it ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 19 …
  • … they believe to be the truth, whether pleasant or not’ (letter from W. W. Reade, 21 February 1871). …
  • … and Oldham … They club together to buy them’ ( letter from W. B. Dawkins, 23 February 1871 ). …
  • … one’s n th . ancestor lived between tide-marks!’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 February 1871 ). …
  • … habits, furnished with a tail and pointed ears”  (letter from Asa Gray, 14 April 1871) …
  • … ‘will-power’ and the heavy use of their arms and legs ( letter from C. L. Bernays, 25 February 1871 …
  • … in order to make it darker than the hair on his head ( letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, [before 25 …
  • … together with an image of an orang-utan foetus ( letter from Hinrich Nitsche, 18 April 1871 ). …
  • … of himself, adding that it made a ‘very poor return’ ( letter to Hinrich Nitsche, 25 April [1871] …
  • … each night, returning to its allotted space each morning ( letter from Arthur Nicols, 7 March 1871 …
  • … without having a high aesthetic appreciation of beauty ( letter from E. J. Pfeiffer, [before 26 …
  • … endowment of spiritual life’ at some time in the past ( letter from Roland Trimen, 17 and 18 April …
  • … to the white’. Darwin thanked Innes for his ‘pleasant letter’, but asserted his antipathy to human …
  • … myself a good way ahead of you, as far as this goes’ ( letter to J. B. Innes, 29 May [1871] ). …
  • … ‘whereas the baboon is as the Creator made it’ ( letter from George Morrish, 18 March 1871 ). …
  • … could also redeem the wayward author of  Descent  ( letter from a child of God, [after 24 …
  • … the family and commented upon by his wife and children. William offered his assessment of John …
  • … Günther, George Busk, T. H. Huxley, Osbert Salvin, and William Henry Flower all provided Darwin with …
  • … ). Finishing Expression Darwin’s other main preoccupation of the year was the …
  • … anatomists and eye specialists Frans Cornelis Donders, William Bowman, and Erasmus Wilson, to …
  • … or ‘absurd & trifling’ questions ( letter to William Bowman, [before 26] January [1871] ). He …

Darwin & coral reefs

Summary

The central idea of Darwin's theory of coral reef formation, as it was later formulated, was that the islands were formed by the upward growth of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. It overturned previous ideas and would in itself…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … fragmentary and indirect, give evidence that Darwin had the main points of the theory clearly in …
  • … of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. A letter from Robert Edward Alison, who had …
  • … Pacific voyagers, notably the British hydrographer Frederick William Beechey, who had just published …
  • … first sighting of a coral island is confirmed by a letter to his sister Caroline, written on 29 …
  • … the time of the visit of the  Beagle  to Tahiti. The letter of 29 April was written shortly after …
  • … he had a sound theory and one that was worth publishing. The letter continues: ‘I hope to be able to …
  • … heart’ to have finished writing his book on coral reefs: letter to Leonard Jenyns [9 May 1842] . …

Edward Lumb

Summary

Edward Lumb was born in Yorkshire. According to the memoirs of his daughter Anne, Lady Macdonell, he travelled to Buenos Aires aged sixteen with his merchant uncle, Charles Poynton, and after some fortunate enterprises set up in business there. In 1833…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … the summers on their quinta in the country. Edward Lumb’s main business was import and export trade, …
  • … connections in South America: his brothers-in-law were William Yates (1783/4–1825), and John Yates …
  • … in Argentina and Uruguay. Edward Lumb gave Darwin a letter of introduction to them , and Mr and …
  • … correspondence after Darwin’s return to England, since a letter of 1847 refers to information …
  • … or even still alive. However, in 1867 Darwin’s son, William, went to the opening of the Blackmore …

British Association meeting 1860

Summary

Several letters refer to events at the British Association for the Advancement of Science held in Oxford, 26 June – 3 July 1860. Darwin had planned to attend the meeting but in the end was unable to. The most famous incident of the meeting was the verbal…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … treatment for a stomach that had “utterly broken down” (letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [June 1860] ) …
  • … 2: 335–6); John Lubbock (Hutchinson 1914, 1: 50); John William Draper (Fleming 1950); and also …
  • … p. 19: Introduction to the reports . . . Yet the main interest of the week has unquestionably …

Darwin in letters, 1851-1855: Death of a daughter

Summary

The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. The period opens with a family tragedy in the death of Darwin’s oldest and favourite daughter, Anne, and it shows how, weary and mourning his dead child,…

Matches: 10 hits

  • … The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. …
  • … in his health was indicated by his comment in a letter to Hooker on 29 [May 1854] : ‘Very far …
  • … large-scale geological changes. As he told Hooker in a letter of 5 June [1855] , ‘it shocks my …
  • … Variation and extinction The other main focus of Darwin’s research centred on determining the …
  • … he had written to Hooker ( Correspondence  vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 [June 1850] ), …
  • … domestic breeds. Early in 1855, following the advice of William Yarrell, Darwin began to keep …
  • … Henrietta. Through Yarrell, Darwin made the acquaintance of William Bernhard Tegetmeier, who, like …
  • … also relied upon the good nature of his friend and relative William Darwin Fox, who kept a wide …
  • … interested in animal breeding. As Darwin told Fox in a letter of 27 March [1855] , the object of …
  • … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But …

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: 24 hits

  • … be done by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August …
  • … pleasures of shooting and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ).  Such …
  • … And … one looks backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). …
  • … was an illusory hope.— I feel very old & helpless’  ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] …
  • … inferred that he was well from his silence on the matter ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 26 October …
  • … in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
  • … included George Darwin, the psychic researcher Frederick William Henry Myers, and Thomas Henry …
  • … that Mr Williams was ‘a cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). …
  • … his, ‘& that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874 …
  • … Darwin had allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
  • … edition, published in 1842 ( Correspondence  vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17 …
  • … Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 8 January …
  • … to take so sweetly all the horrid bother of correction’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 21 [March …
  • … sent an apology for misinterpreting Darwin on this point ( letter from J. D. Dana, 21 July 1874 ); …
  • … 22 June 1874 ). A civil servant in the Colonial Office, William Dealtry, also provided information …
  • … will say that I have pounded the enemy into a jelly’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 14 April 1874 ). …
  • … by none but anatomists; and never mind where it goes’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 16 April 1874 ). …
  • … the return on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 …
  • … by the conciseness & clearness of your thought’ ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 20 April 1874 ). …
  • … legal action over the ‘scurrilous libel’ on his son ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [27 July 1874] ). …
  • … false, scurrilous accusation of [a] lying scoundrel’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ). …
  • … and communicating the ‘swell’ of his indignation through William Walter Roberts, a Catholic priest …
  • … Taking stock of what he had achieved, he wrote to his cousin William Darwin Fox: ‘I am preparing a …
  • … Although the sundew and the Venus fly trap were the main plant groups in Darwin’s study, he also …

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: 27 hits

  • … as well as, where relevant, the names of editors. As in the main bibliography, the manuscript page …
  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
  • … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
  • … M rs  Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … 1841]. 2 d . vols. —— 30 th . Smollets William & Mary. & Anne [Smollett 1805].— …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • … [DAR *128: 149] Murray Geograph. Distrib. Price William & Norgate 2” 12” 6 [A. Murray …
  • …  Hind’s Solar System [Hind 1852] April 20 th  William Humboldts letters [K. W. von Humboldt …
  • … 7  Probably a reference to the private library of William Jackson Hooker and his son, Joseph …
  • … In February 1882, however, after reading the introduction to William Ogle’s translation of Aristotle …
  • … Notebooks ). 19  According to the  DNB , William Herbert provided notes for both …
  • … is presumably the date and number of the part containing William Pulteney Alison’s article which was …
  • … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
  • … listing the volumes in the Naturalist’s Library edited by William Jardine, a forty-volume series on …
  • … ( Notebooks , pp. 319–28). 55  The letter was addressed to Nicholas Aylward Vigors …
  • … 66  The bibliography provides the titles of the works by William Shakespeare that CD recorded …
  • … CD’s collection is a presentation copy from the author to William Jackson Hooker. See  …
  • …  edited by Robert Bentley Todd, was issued in parts. William Pulteney Alison’s article first …
  • … crayon and the ‘O’ in pencil. It is not clear which of William Jackson Hooker’s journals is meant …
  • … and London. [Other eds.]  *119: 15 Alison, William Pulteney. 1847. Instinct. In vol. 3, pp …
  • … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832.  A letter in vindication of   the principles of …
  • … by Bekhur to   Garoo and the Lake Manasarowara: with a letter from … J.   G. Gerard, Esq. …
  • … 1830. On the dying struggle of the dichotomous sytem. In a letter to N. A. Vigors.  Philosophical …
  • … *119: 8v., 22v.; *128: 165 ——. 1850a. Letter to the Rev. John Bachman, on the question of …
  • … art of improving the   breeds of domestic animals. In a letter addressed to the   Right Hon. Sir …
  • … 1820.  Remarks on the improvement of   cattle, &c. in a letter to Sir John Saunders Sebright, …

1.3 Thomas Herbert Maguire, lithograph

Summary

< Back to Introduction This striking portrait of Darwin, dating from 1849, belonged to a series of about sixty lithographic portraits of naturalists and other scientists drawn by Thomas Herbert Maguire. They were successively commissioned over a…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … patrons of the Ipswich Museum. The Ransome family was the main force behind the founding and …
  • … supportive of natural theology, with the entomologist Revd William Kirby, author of one of the …
  • … 1849], DCP-LETT-1335, and 25 Oct. [1849], DCP-LETT-1261. Letter from Ransome to Michael Faraday, 6 …
  • … Electrical Engineers, 1991–2012), vol. 4, pp. 305–306, letter 2433. Report on ‘British Association …

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: 17 hits

  • … handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller, 22 February …
  • … was about the shape of the mouth in sulky children). But the main impetus was the collection of …
  • … Correspondence about Darwin’s Questionnaire (click on the letter dates to see the individual letters …
  • … Correspondent Letter date Location …
  • … Africa)? ] mentioned in JPM Weale letter, but Bowker's answers not found …
  • … Woolston, Southampton, England letter to W.E. Darwin shrugging …
  • … Square W London, England enclosed in a letter from Henry Maudsley …
  • … South Africa possibly included in letter from Mansel Weale …
  • … Peradeniya, Ceylon enclosed in letter from G.H.K. Thwaites …
  • … Egypt] possibly included in letter(s) from Asa Gray Nile …
  • … Lake Wellington, Australia letter to F.J.H. von Mueller nodding, …
  • … Abbey Place, London, England letter to Emma Darwin baby expression …
  • … Penmaenmawr, Conway, Wales letter to Emma Darwin infant daughter …
  • … Square W, London, England Enclosed letter from Dr. C. Browne …
  • … W., London, England enclosed in letter from W. W. Reade Hottentots …
  • … England (about Australia) encloses letter from Austrialian friend, letter not …
  • … forwarded by Smyth; Wilson sent letter to Ferdinand von Mueller Victoria Aborigines …

Darwin’s first love

Summary

Darwin’s long marriage to Emma Wedgwood is well documented, but was there an earlier romance in his life? How was his departure on the Beagle entangled with his first love? The answers are revealed in a series of flirtatious letters that Darwin was…

Matches: 16 hits

  • … Had nineteen-year-old Darwin followed this instruction in a letter he received in 1828, there would …
  • … He was a great favourite  of Fanny’s father, William Mostyn Owen, ‘ the Governor ’. Darwin …
  • … an undergraduate at Edinburgh. She soon became one of the main attractions of Woodhouse. The …
  • … creditors) to a ruined abbey in a forest. In Fanny’s first letter, and in many others she wrote to …
  • …   First and last pages of the letter from Fanny Owen, [late January 1828] (DAR …
  • … Penny Post (1840), envelopes were rarely used. Instead, the letter was folded and held shut with …
  • … awfully dull  and  prosy ’. She closed her letter with instructions to ‘ burn this, or if it …
  • … ) Fanny’s thanks came in a characteristic letter. Apologies for not writing sooner, were …
  • … mania  go on, are you as constant  as ever ?’ In this letter, the postilion and housemaid are …
  • … ‘ la belle Fanny ’.   Letter from Fanny Owen, 27 January [1830] (DAR …
  • … Darwin that she would remember him. Responding to a recent letter he had written in a ‘ Blue …
  • … there was not to be an end of them!! In her last letter before the  Beagle  sailed, she …
  • … Little wonder that Darwin felt bereft when he learned in a letter from his sister Catherine, …
  • … The first and last pages of Fanny Owen’s letter of 1 March 1832 (DAR 204:55), in which Fanny …
  • … man, and desperately selfish also. ’ Nonetheless, as William Mostyn Owen commented when he wrote to …
  • … so very engaging and delightful about her.— ’ In the letter accompanying his book in 1872, Darwin …

Adam Sedgwick

Summary

One of the early leaders of geology in Britain, Adam Sedgwick  was born in the Yorkshire village of Dent in 1785. Attending Trinity College Cambridge, he was ordained as clergyman and in 1818 was appointed to the Woodwardian Chair of Geology, which offered…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … annual lectures, and joined with John Stevens Henslow, William Whewell and others to build up the …
  • … the older fossil-bearing rocks of Wales. This provided his main training in field geology before the …

Darwin and vivisection

Summary

Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…

Matches: 19 hits

  • … me) attack on Virchow for experimenting on the Trichinae’ (letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January …
  • … progress of physiology. He reiterated these concerns in a letter to Thomas Henry Huxley ten days …
  • … I love with all my heart’ ( Correspondence vol. 19, letter to ?, 19 May [1871] ). As a …
  • … farmers and their staff (see Correspondence vol. 14, letter to a local landowner, [1866?] ). …
  • … by the prospect of animals suffering for science. In a letter to E. Ray Lankester, he wrote: ‘You …
  • … I shall not sleep to-night’ ( Correspondence vol. 19, letter to E. R. Lankester, 22 March [1871 …
  • … was a sensitive subject within Darwin’s family. In his letter of 14 January 1875 to Huxley, …
  • … ones (men of course) or I might get one or two’ (letter from Emma Darwin to F. P. Cobbe, 14 …
  • … Burdon Sanderson, with legal experts Godfrey Lushington and William Shaen, with leading medical men, …
  • … to serve as the basis for a petition, and gave it to Huxley (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, …
  • … with Huxley, who produced a new sketch for a petition (letter from T. H. Huxley, [4 April 1875] ) …
  • … who drafted a memorial, sending it to Darwin on 7 April (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 7 …
  • … in order to gather signatures. More alterations were made (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 10 …
  • … had already been prepared for the House of Lords (see letter to J. S. Burdon Sanderson, [11 April …
  • … his approval as president of the Royal Society of London (letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 April [1875] …
  • … in DAR 139.17: 22–3. They are not reproduced here as the main changes were in the order of the …
  • … Sanderson both expressed their dismay at this alteration (letter from T. H. Huxley, 19 May 1875 , …
  • … version, and that only minor corrections had been made (letter to Lyon Playfair, 26 May 1875 , …
  • … and was based on her original memorial to the RSPCA. The main difference between this bill and the …

Darwin and Design

Summary

At the beginning of the nineteenth century in Britain, religion and the sciences were generally thought to be in harmony. The study of God’s word in the Bible, and of his works in nature, were considered to be part of the same truth. One version of this…

Matches: 10 hits

  • … the same truth. One version of this harmony was presented in William Paley’s  Natural theology, or …
  • … at one example, the treatise on geology. It was written by William Buckland, the professor of …
  • … run, leap, or climb. But it had no need for such powers. Its main occupation was digging roots for …
  • … Some natural philosophers and astronomers, such as William Herschel, speculated about the origins of …
  • … other versions of natural theology, such as that of William Herschel. Indeed, the second edition of …
  • … the lacunas which he himself had made.  See the letter Kingsley was able to …
  • … and critics alike, he sketched Darwin as a bishop in a letter of 1868, giving audience to a humble …
  • … nature to the physical condition of man. Treatise III, by William Whewell. On astronomy and general …
  • … with reference to natural theology. 2 vols. Treatise VI, by William Buckland. Geology and mineralogy …
  • … and homologies of the vertebrate skeleton  (1848). William Paley,  Natural theology  (1802) …

Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours

Summary

Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…

Matches: 30 hits

  • … his son’s own work on plant sensitivity and digestion. William, who had contributed to some of the …
  • … of respect and affection’. He hinted as much in his letter of 4 June : ‘you will see I have done …
  • … Darwin corresponded most often with the assistant director, William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, who …
  • … as rain, wind, temperature, and light. While staying with William in Southampton he made notes on …
  • … ‘I got out within 2 minutes of a very heavy shower’, William wrote on 24 August 1877 . ‘The …
  • … have shared Hooker’s suspicion of ambitious gardeners ( letter from W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 25 August …
  • … method of recording leaf motion for extended periods. In a letter to Thiselton-Dyer of 11 October …
  • … … tap one of the young leaves with a delicate twig’ ( letter to R. I. Lynch, 14 September 1877 ). …
  • … , or to the vibratory flagella of some Infusoria’ ( letter from F. J. Cohn, 5 August 1877 ). …
  • … in July 1877 (F. Darwin 1877b), and Darwin sent Cohn’s letter vindicating his son’s research to …
  • … he had begun in 1839 with the birth of his first child, William. He had used some of this material …
  • … attracted immediate attention from other researchers. William Preyer requested a copy and shared …
  • … and classical scholars, including the eminent politician William Ewart Gladstone. Darwin wrote to …
  • … his sense of form and of motion was exact and lively’ ( letter from W. E. Gladstone, 23 October …
  • … the Westphalian Provincial Society for Science and Art. In a letter to Darwin written before 16 …
  • … the only one full-page in size. Haeckel sent a personal letter of congratulation on 9 February , …
  • … (see Appendix V). The album arrived with a long letter from the director and secretary of the …
  • … reported, ‘but found him as soft & smooth as butter’ ( letter to C. E. Norton, 16 March 1877 ) …
  • … write to Owen & offer himself you & me to dejeuner!!!’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 June …
  • … where I hope it may remain for centuries to come’ ( letter from C. C. Graham, 30 January 1877 ). …
  • … you in the interests of truth, of man and of societies’ ( letter from Marcellin de Bonnal, [1877] …
  • … to the old story to be horsewhipped by a duke!’ ( letter to J. M. Rodwell, 3 June 1877 ). Back …
  • … frog spawn; the gospel of dirt the order of the day’ ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 27 January [1877] …
  • … , he was criticised for having quoted from an article by William Rathbone Greg on the ‘careless, …
  • … C. T. E. Siebold, 10 October 1877 ). An American banker, William Burrows Bowles, having read Ernst …
  • … a fossil by a model-maker. The giant’s ‘discoverer’, William Conant, was a colleague of the showman …
  • … brought a very happy occasion with the engagement of William to Sara Sedgwick. She was the daughter …
  • … Southampton a dull place, but he did his best to recommend William: ‘his temper is beautifully sweet …
  • … ‘I enclose my marriage present’, Darwin wrote to William on 3 October , ‘I fear that Sara will …
  • … Aside from plants and infants, worms were Darwin’s main object of study and reflection in 1877. In …

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: 30 hits

  • … 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 …
  • … books,  Descent  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 brother’s 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] ). …
  • … fit person’ to introduce the work to the German public ( letter from J. V. Carus, 15 April 1867 ). …
  • … Vogt should translate my book in preference to you’ ( letter to J. V. Carus, 18 April [1867] ). …
  • … varieties at the eye, which resulted in a mottled hybrid ( letter from Robert Trail, 5 April 1867 …
  • … seems to me, if true, a wonderful physiological fact’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). …
  • … it will be a somewhat important step in Biology’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 22 August [1867] ). …
  • … if you attack it & me with unparalleled ferocity’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1867] …
  • … the book was further delayed by the time it took William Sweetland Dallas to prepare the index. John …
  • … own discretion; anyhow most ought to be introduced’ ( letter to W. S. Dallas, 8 November [1867] ). …
  • … however, & I cannot get on so quickly as I could wish’ (letter from W. S. Dallas, 20 November …
  • … with me about 27 years old In a letter of 22 February [1867] to Fritz Müller in …
  • … chapter on the cause or meaning of Expression.’ With this letter Darwin enclosed a list of questions …
  • … ‘Queries about Expression’. In a postscript to the letter he added, ‘But you must not plague …
  • … that Darwin send his queries to foreign newspapers. The letter also reveals that he did not share …
  • … work in some “supplemental remarks on expression”’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [12–17] March [1867] …
  • … of no one to send them to, so do not want any more’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). …
  • … for the year 1867. In his 15 April [1867] letter to Gray , Darwin commented, ‘I have been …
  • … further ( Variation  2: 75). In notes for his reply to a letter from Edward Blyth dated 19 …
  • … on sexual differences in mammals and birds. In his letter to Fritz Müller of 22 February [1867] , …
  • … topic on a theoretical level was Alfred Russel Wallace. In a letter to Wallace written on 23 …
  • … still strongly think … that sexual selection has been the main agent in forming the races of Man.’ …
  • … J. D. Hooker, 4 February 1867 ). In a letter to his son William, Darwin confided, ‘Mamma has …
  • … Charles Fleeming Jenkin, who had recently collaborated with William Thomson on experiments on …

Darwin’s observations on his children

Summary

Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children, began the research that culminated in his book The Expression of the emotions in man and animals, published in 1872, and his article ‘A biographical sketch of an infant’, published in Mind…

Matches: 12 hits

  • … he closely observed the development of his first child, William Erasmus, the stages of his …
  • … son’[7] —to such a degree that on occasion he refers to William as ‘it’. Darwin possessed the …
  • … and his children. Darwin maintained his record of William’s development from the day of his …
  • … smiling, etc., as was the focus of Darwin’s attention on William and Anne, she noted curious …
  • … our door N o  12 and N o  11 is in the slit for the Letter box.— he decidedly ran past N o  11 …
  • … has learned them from my sometimes changing the first letter in any word he is using—thus I say …
  • … , pp. 131–2. [6]  Correspondence  vol. 2, letter from Emma Wedgwood, [23 January 1839] . …
  • … Manuscript alterations and comments section. [10] William Erasmus was Emma and CD’s first …
  • … the verso of page 3 and opposite the preceding passage about William smiling; ‘Henrietta . . . …
  • … on the opposite page (3Bv.) by CD and its position in the main text indicated by the symbol ‘X(a)’. …
  • … not 29, in February (1840 was a leap year) when calculating William’s age (see, for example, the …
  • … until November. [30] Doddy was a pet name for William Erasmus Darwin. [31] Possibly …
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