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Dramatisation script

Summary

Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007

Matches: 18 hits

… Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig …
… as the creator of this dramatisation, and that of the Darwin Correspondence Project to be identified …
… correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring …
… Actor 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin Actor 3 – In the dress of a modern day …
… Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart Mill, Emma Darwin, Horace Darwin… and acts as a sort …
… the play unfolds and acting as a go-between between Gray and Darwin, and between the audience and …
… this, he sends out copies of his Review of the Life of Darwin. At this time in his life, Asa …
… friends in England, copies of his ‘Review of the Life of Darwin’… pencilling the address so that it …
… Joseph D Hooker GRAY: 3 Charles Darwin… made his home on the border of the little …
… are kept in check by a constitutional weakness. DARWIN: A plain but comfortable brick …
… in the mud. BEGINNING OF WAR IN AMERICA: 1861-1862 In which the start of the American …
… cause. Tension. THE DARWIN BOYS: 1862 In which Darwin reports one …
… paragraph, in which I quote and differ from you[r] 178 doctrine that each variation has been …
… ARTS AND SCIENCES, PROCEEDINGS XVII, 1882 4 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 10 MAY 1848 …
… 1856 33 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, 14 MARCH 1862 34 JD HOOKER TO C DARWIN, …
… 1861 115 A GRAY TO CHARLES WRIGHT, 17 APRIL 1862 116 A GRAY TO RW CHURCH 7 MAY …
… 10 JUNE 1861 121 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, 31 MARCH 1862 122 JD HOOKER TO C …
… 16 DEC 1861 124 A GRAY TO ENGELMANN, 20 FEB 1862 125 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, 31 …

Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants

Summary

Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…

Matches: 26 hits

… Towards the end of 1862 , Darwin resolved to build a small hothouse at Down House, for …
… vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1862 ] , and volume 10, letter to Thomas Rivers, …
… hothouse early in 1863 marked something of a milestone in Darwin’s botanical work, since it greatly …
… vol. 5, letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 April [1855] ). Darwin became increasingly involved in …
… Though his greenhouse was probably heated to some extent, Darwin found himself on several occasions …
… a construction suitable for tropical plants. In 1861 and 1862 , while preparing Orchids , he was …
… make observations and even experiments on his behalf. Darwin’s decision to build a hothouse …
… vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862 ] and n. 13). Initially, Darwin purchased for …
… over the previous two years. In a letter of 24 December [1862 ] ( Correspondence vol. 10) …
… Encyclopedia of gardening (Loudon 1835), a copy of which Darwin signed in 1841 (see the copy in …
… of heat’ (p. 1100). The latter was the sense in which Darwin used the word. The building of …
… accounts (Down House MS)). When it was completed, Darwin told Turnbull that without Horwood’s aid he …
… ). Even before work on the hothouse started, however, Darwin began making preparations to …
… plants’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January [1863] ). Darwin apparently refers to the catalogues …
… whom he had dealt over many years. In his letter to Hooker, Darwin mentioned that he hoped to be …
… (letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 January 1863] ). Darwin agreed to send Hooker his list of …
… (letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 January [1863] ). Darwin probably gave his list of plants to …
… [1863] ). On 20 February, the plants from Kew had arrived. Darwin was delighted, telling Hooker: ‘I …
… moss, peat, and charcoal (see the letter from Henrietta Emma Darwin to William Erasmus Darwin, [22 …
… continuing: ‘Do you not think you ought to be sent with M r Gower to the Police Court?’ (William …
… had ‘4 houses of different temperatures’ (letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March [1869] , …
… which he received in mid-February (see letter from L. C. Treviranus, 12 February 1863 ). …
… Kent ( Post Office directory of the six home counties 1862 ). 3. Asclepias curassavica. …
… The reference is to James Bateman, an orchid specialist (R. Desmond 1994). 17. Stylidium …
… C. hæmatostigma. …
… Cyanophyllum magnificum M r Low 29 | of Melastomaceæ …

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: 22 hits

… | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a …
… community. Here is a selection of letters exchanged between Darwin and his workforce of women …
… Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August 1849] Darwin …
… peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to Darwin, [29 October …
… in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [6 June 1864] …
… Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] Darwin …
… Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 May 1870] …
… Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 July 1862 ] Darwin tells American naturalist Asa …
… the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9 …
… Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris …
… 3681 - Wedgwood, M. S. to Darwin, [before 4 August 1862 ] Darwin’s niece, Margaret, …
… in Llandudno. Letter 4823 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, H. E., [May 1865] …
… Letter 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] Darwin asks his niece, …
… Lychnis diurna. Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] …
… lawn. Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin …
… Letter 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, [22 August 1874] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, …
… Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris …
… garden ”. Letter 6083 - Casparay, J. X. R. to Darwin, [2 April 1868] …
… lady”. Darwin, E. to Darwin, W. E. , (March, 1862 - DAR 219.1:49) Emma Darwin …
… the future. Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 March 1863] Darwin …
… Letter 7858 - Darwin to Wa llace, A. R., [12 July 1871] Darwin tells Wallace that …
… - Darwin to Wedgwood, K. E. S, M. S. & L. C., [4 August 1862 ] Darwin thanks his “angel …

Floral Dimorphism

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a series of smaller studies on botanical subjects. Titled The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, it consisted primarily of…

Matches: 14 hits

… | Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a …
… with the Linnaean Society. In his autobiography Darwin commented on the joy this work gave him: …
… by only a few persons." These botanical studies also gave Darwin an opportunity to collaborate …
… The materials in this teaching module highlight Darwin’s relationships with two of his closest …
… by Jim Endersby that reflects on the role of sympathy in Darwin's work and in his friendship …
… years previous to the publication of that work, highlighting Darwin’s ability to carry out themes …
… SOURCES Book Darwin, C. R. 1877. The different forms of flowers on plants of the …
… Packet: Floral Dimorphism Letter 3468 - Darwin to JD Hooker, 7 March 1862 …
… Orchid book. Letter 3515 - Daniel Oliver to Darwin, 23 April 1862 Daniel …
… Oxalis. Letter 3757 - Joseph Dalton Hooker to Darwin, 12 October 1862 J. D. …
… on the difference between his scientific abilities and Darwin’s and notes what he perceives to be …
… on the subject of species in Lyell’s latest book. Darwin also comments that his ill health has …
… Endersby, Jim. "Sympathetic Science: Charles Darwin, Joseph Booker, and the Passions of …
… DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What tone does Darwin use in his letters to Asa Gray? Is it similar …

Have you read the one about....

Summary

... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.

Matches: 1 hits

… ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …

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: 7 hits

… Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those …
… a broad variety of women had access to, and engaged with, Darwin's published works. A set of …
… women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
… that his views are original and will appeal to the public. Darwin asks Murray to forward the …
… and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [11 May 1859] …
… it had been proofread and edited by “a lady”. Darwin, E. to Darwin, W. E. , (March 1862 …
… typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] …

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: 20 hits

… In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
… letters on climbing plants to make another paper. Darwin also submitted a manuscript of his …
… protégé, John Scott, who was now working in India. Darwin’s transmutation theory continued to …
… Argyll, appeared in the religious weekly, Good Words . Darwin received news of an exchange of …
… Butler, and, according to Butler, the bishop of Wellington. Darwin’s theory was discussed at an …
… in the Gardeners’ Chronicle . At the end of the year, Darwin was elected an honorary member of …
… year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend of …
… in August. There was also a serious dispute between two of Darwin’s friends, John Lubbock and …
… jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). Darwin was ready to submit his paper on …
… a sudden illness. Falconer was 56, almost the same age as Darwin himself. Falconer had seconded …
… supported his candidacy, and had tried hard to persuade Darwin to accept the award in person (see …
… Darwin had received a copy of Müller’s book, Fü r Darwin , a study of the Crustacea with reference …
… on Verbascum. Darwin had suggested to Scott in 1862 , when Scott was working at the Royal Botanic …
… vol. 10, letter to John Scott, 19 November [1862 ] ). Darwin had already written to Hooker of …
… … inheritance, reversion, effects of use & disuse &c’, and which he intended to publish in …
… disturbing the serenity of the Christian world’ (Brewster 1862 , p. 3). John Hutton Balfour, though …
… vol. 10, letter from J. H. Balfour, 14 January 1862 ). According to Hooker, Balfour’s prejudice …
… He wrote to Hooker, ‘I doubt whether you or I or any one c d do any good in healing this breach. …
… Hooker’s behalf, ‘He asks if you saw the article of M r . Croll in the last Reader on the …
… ‘As for your thinking that you do not deserve the C[opley] Medal,’ he rebuked Hooker, ‘that I …

Scientific Networks

Summary

Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…

Matches: 14 hits

… activities for building and maintaining such connections. Darwin's networks extended from his …
… when strong institutional structures were largely absent. Darwin had a small circle of scientific …
… section contains two sets of letters. The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. …
… about Hooker’s thoughts. Letter 729 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., [11 Jan 1844] …
… confessing a murder”. Letter 736 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 23 Feb [1844] …
… Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 25 Apr [1855] Darwin …
… species. Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. R., 22 May 1855 Gray recalled …
… flora in the USA. Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 20 July [1857] Darwin …
… information exchange. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] …
… name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 3 Feb 1849 In this gossipy …
… species descriptions. Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 12 Oct 1849 …
… Letter 1319 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 6 & 7 Apr 1850 Hooker apologises for the …
… Letter 3800 — Scott, John to Darwin, C. R., [11 Nov 1862 ] Scottish gardener John Scott notes …
… Letter 3805 — Darwin, C. R. to Scott, John, 12 Nov [1862 ] Darwin thanks Scott for bringing …

Darwin on race and gender

Summary

Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…

Matches: 20 hits

… Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with …
… in beetles. The unity of human species Darwin believed that the same process of sexual …
… gradually increase those features over long periods of time. Darwin’s theory was based partly on the …
… seemed to prevail across the globe. In Descent , Darwin also addressed widely held beliefs …
… of ‘species’, ‘varieties’, and ‘races’. Darwin argued forcefully for the unity of the human species, …
… Gender and civilisation In his early notebooks, Darwin remarked that survival value or …
… , B74). In his later writings on plants and animals, Darwin remained consistent on this point, and …
… improvement, or design. However, when it came to humans, Darwin reintroduced the structure of …
… and present, on the basis of their ‘civilization’. Here Darwin drew on contemporary anthropology, …
… colonial conquests and expansion abroad. Thus, while Darwin’s views on race differed widely …
… in the success of nations’ ( Descent 1: 239). For Darwin, the civilising process was essentially …
… taken from their homeland in Tierra del Fuego to England, Darwin wrote: ‘in contradiction of what …
… were often crossed in practice ( see correspondence with C. Kennard, below ). The implications of …
… Letter to J. S. Henslow, 11 April 1833 Letter to C. R. Lyell, 11 October [1859] …
… 1867] Further reading: Crais, Clifton C. 1992. White supremacy and black …
… Press. Desmond, Adrian and James Moore. 2009. Darwin's sacred cause . London: Allen …
… of Science 6: 9–23 [in a special issue on ‘Descent of Darwin: race, sex, and human nature’]. …
… . New York: The Free Press. Voss, Julia. 2007, Darwin’s pictures: views of evolutionary …
… women Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] Letter …
… 28 January 1882 Further Reading: Darwin, Descent of man (1871), 2: 326–9. …

Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health

Summary

On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…

Matches: 26 hits

… On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July …
… … of having grown older’. This portrait, the first of Darwin with his now famous beard, had been …
… 52 hours without vomiting!! In the same month, Darwin began to consult William Jenner, …
… prescribed a variety of antacids and purgatives, and limited Darwin’s fluid intake; this treatment …
… the dimorphic aquatic cut-grass Leersia . In May, Darwin finished his paper on Lythrum …
… thus completing the work he had started on the genus in 1862 . His varied botanical observations and …
… he had set aside the previous summer. In October, Darwin let his friends know that on his …
… to the surgeon and naturalist Francis Trevelyan Buckland, Darwin described his symptoms in some …
… November and December were also marked by the award to Darwin of the Royal Society’s Copley Medal; …
… been unsuccessfully nominated the two previous years. As Darwin explained to his cousin William …
… it was conferred, brought a dramatic conclusion to the year. Darwin also wrote to Fox that he was …
… progress’ in Britain. Challenging convention Darwin’s concern about the acceptance of …
… vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin wrote to Hooker: ‘The only approach to work …
… produce tendrils However, the queries that Darwin, describing himself as ‘a broken-down …
… tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). Darwin’s excitement about his …
… ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 June [1864] ). When Darwin asked Oliver whether the tendrils of …
… for his teacherly tone, explaining that he had felt that Darwin had misunderstood some accepted …
… ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864] ). Though Darwin replied with his typical humility …
… habits of climbing plants’ (‘Climbing plants’), which Darwin submitted to the Linnean Society in …
… act. In his ongoing quest to confirm the statement in his 1862 book on orchids that nature ‘abhors …
… Scott, a gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in 1862 with a letter regarding the …
… 5 September 1864 ). Fritz Müeller sent his book, Für Darwin , and Darwin had it translated by a …
… and Book of Joshua critically examined (Colenso 1862 –79). After reading extracts from Colenso’s …
… Correspondence vol. 10, letter to Asa Gray, 6 November [1862 ] ). A declaration that Erasmus …
… but Lyell says when I read his discussion in the Elements [C. Lyell 1865] I shall recant for fifth …
… on intellectual & moral qualities’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May 1864] ). …

Science: A Man’s World?

Summary

Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…

Matches: 14 hits

… Discussion Questions | Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth …
… Letters Darwin’s Notes On Marriage [April - July 1838] In these notes, …
… of family, home and sociability. Letter 489 - Darwin to Wedgwood, E., [20 January 1839] …
… theories, & accumulating facts in silence & solitude”. Darwin also comments that he has …
… sitting by”. Letter 3715 - Claparède, J. L. R. A. E. to Darwin, [6 September 1862 ] …
… are not those of her sex”. Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 March 1863] …
… critic”. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [2 January 1864] Haeckel …
… works”. Letter 4441 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [30 March 1864] Lydia Becker …
… to study nature. Letter 4940 - Cresy, E. to Darwin, E., [20 November 1865] …
… masculine nor pedantic”. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. B., [8 November 1869] …
… , (1829). Letter 7329 - Murray, J. to Darwin, [28 September 1870] Written …
… them ears”. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, [7 November 1871] Sarah …
… natural thinking”. Letter 8079 - Norton, S. R. to Darwin, [20 November 1871] …
… patience. Letter 13607 – Darwin to Kennard, C. A., [9 January 1882] Darwin …

Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad

Summary

At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…

Matches: 27 hits

… At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
… markedly, reflecting a decline in his already weak health. Darwin then began punctuating letters …
… am languid & bedeviled … & hate everybody’. Although Darwin did continue his botanical …
… letter-writing dwindled considerably. The correspondence and Darwin’s scientific work diminished …
… of the water-cure. The treatment was not effective and Darwin remained ill for the rest of the year. …
… the correspondence from the year. These letters illustrate Darwin’s preoccupation with the …
… to man’s place in nature both had a direct bearing on Darwin’s species theory and on the problem …
… detailed anatomical similarities between humans and apes, Darwin was full of praise. He especially …
… in expressing any judgment on Species or origin of man’. Darwin’s concern about the popular …
… Lyell’s and Huxley’s books. Three years earlier Darwin had predicted that Lyell’s forthcoming …
… first half of 1863 focused attention even more closely on Darwin’s arguments for species change. …
… ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). Darwin reiterated in a later letter that it …
… of creation, and the origin of species particularly, worried Darwin; he told Hooker that he had once …
… letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February [1863] ). Darwin did not relish telling Lyell of his …
… ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). Nevertheless, Darwin’s regret was profound that the …
… the ‘brutes’, but added that he would bring many towards Darwin who would have rebelled against …
… with Owen when it became clear that Owen’s November 1862 description of the recently discovered …
… sentence from the second edition of Antiquity of man (C. Lyell 1863b, p. 469), published in …
… work on mimicry in butterflies, which had been published in 1862 (see Correspondence vol. 10). …
… to the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury in September 1862 ( see letter to Julius von Haast, 22 …
… men, given at the Museum of Practical Geology at the end of 1862 , and published as a book in early …
… that had already occupied much of his time in 1861 and 1862 . With the publication in 1862 of his …
… a question he had been struggling with in 1861 and 1862 ; he wanted to determine experimentally …
… Edinburgh, had initiated the correspondence in November 1862 with a letter correcting Darwin’s …
… ( see letter to Asa Gray, 23 February [1863] , and Loring 1862 ). However, his tolerance of Gray’s …
… very slowly recovering, but am very weak’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [29 September? 1863] ). …
… Thomas’s Hospital, London ( letter from George Busk, [ c. 27 August 1863] ). Brinton, who …

Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest

Summary

The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…

Matches: 22 hits

… The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now …
… and also a meeting with Herbert Spencer, who was visiting Darwin’s neighbour, Sir John Lubbock. In …
… all but the concluding chapter of the work was submitted by Darwin to his publisher in December. …
… hypothesis of hereditary transmission. Debate about Darwin’s theory of transmutation …
… alleged evidence of a global ice age, while Asa Gray pressed Darwin’s American publisher for a …
… for the Advancement of Science. Fuller consideration of Darwin’s work was given by Hooker in an …
… frustrations were punctuated by family bereavement. Two of Darwin’s sisters died, Emily Catherine …
… from painful illness. Diet and exercise Among Darwin’s first letters in the new year …
… every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). Darwin had first consulted Jones in July …
… ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). Darwin began riding the cob, Tommy, on 4 …
… day which I enjoy much.’ The new exercise regime led to Darwin’s being teased by his neighbour, John …
… you go on, after the startling apparition of your face at R.S. Soirèe—which I dreamed of 2 nights …
… so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [ c . 10 May 1866] ). Henrietta’s …
… teleological development ( see for example, letter to C. W. Nägeli, 12 June [1866] ). Also in …
… by debates about a suitable translator, Bronn having died in 1862 . Finally, Julius Victor Carus, a …
… on dimorphism and dichogamy. As he had done since 1862 , Darwin relied on assistance from his …
… common broom ( Cytisus scoparius ) and the white broom ( C. multiflorus ) in his botanical …
… and June on the subject of Rhamnus catharticus (now R. cathartica ). Darwin had become …
… of separate sexes. William gathered numerous specimens of R. catharticus , the only species of …
… replied with a modified list, adding Fritz Müller’s Fü r Darwin , and a recent fossil discovery in …
… selection, and with special creation ( letter from W. R. Grove, 31 August 1866 ). Hooker later …
… indeed at poor Susan’s loneliness’ ( letter from E. C. Langton to Emma and Charles Darwin, [6 and 7 …

Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin

Summary

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

Matches: 26 hits

… 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence …
… Russel Wallace. This letter led to the first announcement of Darwin’s and Wallace’s respective …
… the composition and publication, in November 1859, of Darwin’s major treatise On the origin of …
… exceeded my wildest hopes By the end of 1859, Darwin’s work was being discussed in …
… Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). This transformation in Darwin’s personal world and the …
… The 'big book' The year 1858 opened with Darwin hard at work preparing his ‘big …
… his ninth chapter, on hybridism, on 29 December 1857, Darwin began in January 1858 to prepare the …
… appropriate. The correspondence shows that at any one time Darwin was engaged in a number of …
… The chapter on instinct posed a number of problems for Darwin. ‘I find my chapter on Instinct very …
… ). In addition to behaviour such as nest-building in birds, Darwin intended to discuss many other …
… celebrated as a classic example of divine design in nature. Darwin hypothesised that the instinct of …
… of construction as it took place in the hive. As with Darwin’s study of poultry and pigeons, …
… founder and president of the Apiarian Society, provided Darwin with information and specimens. His …
… For assistance with mathematical measurements and geometry, Darwin called upon William Hallowes …
… from the Beagle voyage; on his brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin; and his son William. Even his …
… bees and bee-hives. Variation and reversion Darwin also continued the botanical work …
… of smaller genera? The inquiry was of great importance to Darwin, for such evidence would support …
… of the statistics was still problematic. Hooker thought that Darwin was wrong to assume that …
… were not certain. This was a question new to the experts. Darwin was delighted to hear from Asa Gray …
… completed and his results written up. With some trepidation, Darwin sent his manuscript off to …
… work—& that I confess made me a little low—but I c d . have borne it, for I have the …
… in the letters of 1858 also relate to questions that Darwin had begun to explore earlier. Letters to …
… rush to publish With much of his research completed, Darwin began in mid-June 1858 to write …
… Wallace enunciated his own theory of natural selection. Darwin’s shock and dismay is evident in the …
… Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). As was his custom, Darwin did not supply a full date on his …
… it is impossible that men like Lyell, Hooker, Huxley, H. C. Watson, Ramsay &c would change their …

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: 23 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 Darwin’s proposed election to the French …
… Finishing Descent; postponing Expression Darwin began receiving proofs of some of the …
… ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ). Darwin was still working hard on parts of the …
… style, the more grateful I shall be’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). She had …
… , the latter when she was just eighteen years of age. Darwin clearly expected her to make a …
… have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). Henrietta …
… so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February 1870] ). …
… philanthropist Frances Power Cobbe. At Cobbe’s suggestion, Darwin read some of Immanuel Kant’s …
… ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] ). Cobbe accused Darwin of smiling in his beard with …
… as animals: ears Despite Cobbe’s plea, most of Darwin’s scientific attention in 1870 was …
… fairy in Shakespeare’s A midsummer night’s dream. Darwin obtained a sketch of a human ear from …
… of a pointed tip projecting inward from the folded margin. Darwin, who had posed for the sculptor in …
… this volume, letter to Thomas Woolner, 10 March [1870] ). Darwin included Woolner’s sketch in …
… muscles A more troubling anatomical feature for Darwin was the platysma myoides, a band of …
… of fright’, and one of his photographs, later used by Darwin in Expression , showed a man whose …
… letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March 1870 ). Indeed, Darwin noted the same longitudinal …
… Researching expression: questions and questionnaires Darwin’s research on emotions continued …
… of the source of the Niger river. Reade was sceptical of Darwin’s view that standards of beauty were …
… who sent a sketch of a baby’s 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]). …

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 Darwin’s 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 Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly …
… who might best answer the questions, with the result that Darwin began to receive replies from …
… Variation would be based on proof-sheets received as Darwin corrected them. Closer to home, two …
… Charles Fleeming Jenkin, challenged different aspects of Darwin’s theory of transmutation as …
… orchids are fertilised by insects ( Orchids ). While Darwin privately gave detailed opinions of …
… capable hands of Alfred Russel Wallace. At the same time, Darwin was persuaded by some German …
… were becoming counterproductive. Throughout the year, Darwin continued to discuss now …
… in Germany, and Federico Delpino in Italy, who provided Darwin with the collegial support and …
… tedious dull work’ Thomas Henry Huxley sent Darwin the New Year’s greeting, ‘may you be …
… number of copies to be printed, and by the end of the month Darwin promised to send the revised …
… to John Murray, 31 January [1867] ). A week later, Darwin had sent the manuscript to the …
… Descent and Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his newly …
… As the year progressed, the book continued to consume Darwin’s time. The first proof-sheets arrived …
… Russian, German, and French translations had been arranged. Darwin had now found sympathetic …
… was made by a young naturalist equally devoted to Darwin’s work, Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky. …
… see your second volume on “The Struggle for Existence &c.” for I doubt if we have a sufficiency …
… “supplemental remarks on expression”’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [12–17] March [1867] ). Darwin’s …
… aviary to see whether this was the case ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1867] ). He also …
… level. In his response to Wallace ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 26 February [1867] ), Darwin defended …
… to the work I shall find it much better done by you than I c d have succeeded in doing’ ( letter …
… would confirm points that Darwin had only conjectured in his 1862 study, On the various contrivances …
… 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 …

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: 27 hits

… At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of …
… appeared at the end of 1866 and had told his cousin William Darwin Fox, ‘My work will have to stop a …
… material on emotional expression. Yet the scope of Darwin’s interests remained extremely broad, and …
… plants, and earthworms, subjects that had exercised Darwin for decades, and that would continue to …
… Carl von Nägeli and perfectibility Darwin’s most substantial addition to Origin was a …
… a Swiss botanist and professor at Munich (Nägeli 1865). Darwin had considered Nägeli’s paper …
… principal engine of change in the development of species. Darwin correctly assessed Nägeli’s theory …
… in most morphological features (Nägeli 1865, p. 29). Darwin sent a manuscript of his response (now …
… are & must be morphological’. The comment highlights Darwin’s apparent confusion about Nägeli’s …
… ‘purely morphological’. The modern reader may well share Darwin’s uncertainty, but Nägeli evidently …
… pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide Darwin with botanical examples he could use …
… problems of heredity Another important criticism that Darwin sought to address in the fifth …
… prevailing theory of blending inheritance that Jenkin and Darwin both shared, would tend to be lost …
… ( Origin 5th ed., pp. 103–4). The terminology that Darwin and others employed in these matters ( …
… ‘I must have expressed myself atrociously’, Darwin wrote to Alfred Russel Wallace on 2 February , …
… now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , and …
… of Origin was the result of correspondence between Darwin and the geologist James Croll. In the …
… 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 …
… subject that he had been acquiring since its publication in 1862 . Darwin asked his son William to …
… Sweetland Dallas’s edition of Fritz Müller’s Fü r Darwin (Dallas trans. 1869). The book, an …
… creation, if he is not completely staggered after reading y r essay’. The work received a …
… whole meeting was decidedly Huxley’s answer to D r M c Cann. He literally poured boiling oil …

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: 28 hits

… the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells …
… by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing (1862 ), and in several papers on plants with …
… of different forms of pollen. Although many plants that Darwin observed had flowers with adaptations …
… rates, growth, and constitutional vigour. Although Darwin was no stranger to long months and years …
… … is highly remarkable’ In September 1866, Darwin announced to the American botanist …
… several years ( To Édouard Bornet, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin began a series of experiments, …
… ). It was only after a new season of experiments that Darwin would confirm that this poppy shed its …
… access to flowers was only the tip of the iceberg. Darwin next focused on the California …
… conditions’ ( From Fritz Müller, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin’s interest was piqued and he described …
… when self-fertilised, although fewer than crossed plants. Darwin sent some of these seeds to Müller, …
… [1868] ). Müller, in turn, sent seeds from his plants to Darwin and both men continued to …
… Müller remarked, on receiving a new batch of seeds from Darwin, ‘that it was ‘curious to see, on …
… ( From Fritz Müller, 15 June 1869 ). By May 1870, Darwin reported that he was ‘rearing crossed …
… From a fairly early stage in his experimental programme, Darwin began to pay more attention to the …
… seeds of Ipomœa. I remember saying the contrary to you & M r Smith at Kew. But the result is …
… the sweet pea ( Lathyrus odoratus ), and in October 1867, Darwin wrote to James Moggridge to ask …
… of the year ( To J. T. Moggridge, 1 October [1867] ). Darwin was beginning to suspect that the …
… simply did not exist in Britain. During a visit to Darwin in May 1866, Robert Caspary, a …
… by the former ( From Robert Caspary, 18 February 1868 ). Darwin eagerly requested seed from both …
… was published on 30 January 1868. In April 1868, Darwin informed George Bentham, ‘I am …
… to elongate when the pollen touches the stigmatic surface. Darwin was able to discern that …
… plant sexual relations, Müller, who sent the publication to Darwin, reported that he was surprised …
… the fertility of the offspring (F. Müller 1868b, p. 629). Darwin urged further experimentation. ‘I …
… the Abutilon sterile with some individuals is remarkable’, Darwin replied, adding that he had sown …
… Abutilon is a new species, & I am honoured by its name’, Darwin told Hooker, ‘It offers an …
… I am already plagued by foreign Translators, Reviewers, &c.’ ( To John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). …
… the set of all my works, I would suggest 1,500’ ( To R. F. Cooke, 16 September 1876 ). In the …
… of hybrids, has not yet been produced’ ( From A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this …

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: 26 hits

… 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species , printing …
… surprised both the publisher and the author. One week later Darwin was stunned to learn that the …
… But it was the opinion of scientific men that was Darwin’s main concern. He eagerly scrutinised each …
… his views. ‘One cannot expect fairness in a Reviewer’, Darwin commented to Hooker after reading an …
… ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] ). Darwin’s magnanimous attitude soon faded, …
… but ‘unfair’ reviews that misrepresented his ideas, Darwin began to feel that without the early …
… it was his methodological criticism in the accusation that Darwin had ‘deserted the inductive track, …
… to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). Above all else Darwin prided himself on having developed a …
… was a hypothesis, not a theory, therefore also displeased Darwin. Comparing natural selection to the …
… it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] ). This …
… issue of Macmillan’s Magazine . Fawcett asserted that Darwin’s theory accorded well with John …
… induction, ratiocination, and then verification. Darwin and his critics Specific …
… the origin of life itself, which the theory did not address. Darwin chose to treat this as an …
… things, about the multitude of still living simple forms. Darwin readily admitted that his failure …
… it into his method of reasoning about global change. Darwin also knew that Lyell was a powerful …
… of the origin and distribution of blind cave animals. Darwin attempted to answer each of these …
… to one another. Harvey’s letters reveal aspects of Darwin’s theory that gave contemporary …
… discomfort. After several long letters were exchanged, Darwin finally decided that Harvey and other …
… whose offspring should be infertile, inter se ,’ Darwin’s theory would remain unproven (T. H. …
… among animal groups could give rise to new species, Darwin found Huxley’s lecture irritating and …
… because more accustomed to reasoning As Darwin himself well recognised and fully …
… relatively advanced forms of life. Many singled out Darwin’s own discussion of the absence of …
… into the multitude of the earth’s present inhabitants. Darwin agreed, for example, with Alfred …
… because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). Darwin …
… next year and published the results of the orchid study in 1862 . Back to the origin of sex: …
… He presented the results of his study in a paper of 1862 and in The different forms of flowers on …

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

… In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to …
… (DAR 119) opens with five pages of text copied from Notebook C and carries on through 1851; the …
… used these notebooks extensively in dating and annotating Darwin’s letters; the full transcript …
… *128). For clarity, the transcript does not record Darwin’s alterations. The spelling and …
… book had been consulted. Those cases where it appears that Darwin made a genuine deletion have been …
… a few instances, primarily in the ‘Books Read’ sections, Darwin recorded that a work had been …
… of the books listed in the other two notebooks. Sometimes Darwin recorded that an abstract of the …
… own. Soon after beginning his first reading notebook, Darwin began to separate the scientific …
… the second reading notebook. Readers primarily interested in Darwin’s scientific reading, therefore, …
… editors’ identification of the book or article to which Darwin refers. A full list of these works is …
… page number (or numbers, as the case may be) on which Darwin’s entry is to be found. The …
… to be Read [DAR *119: Inside Front Cover] C. Darwin June 1 st . 1838 …
… [DAR *119: 2v.] White’s regular gradation in man [C. White 1799] Lindley’s …
… 8 vo p 181 [Latreille 1819]. see p. 17 Note Book C. for reference to authors about E. Indian …
… in brutes Blackwood June 1838 [J. F. Ferrie 1838]. H. C. Watson on Geog. distrib: of Brit: …
… Wiegman has pub. German pamphlet on crossing oats &c [Wiegmann 1828] Horticultural …
… in Library of Hort. Soc. [DAR *119:5v.] M c .Neil 16 has written good article …
… on the Dog with illustrations of about 100 varieties [?C. H. Smith 1839–40] 24 Flourens …
… [Lindley 1840]— Chapter on Races improvement of &c &c important I should think …
… [Fellows 1839] Catherine 48 Life of Collins R.A. [Collins 1848] Phases of Faith …
… du rire. In–8. A. Durand . 3 fr. 117 [Dumont 1862 ] Goethe. — Œuvres d’histoires …
… 1848. Memoirs of the life of William Collins, Esq., R.A. 2 vols. London. *119: 23; 119: …
… à Buffon.) Paris. *119: 14v. Dumont, Léon. 1862 . Des causes du rire. Paris. *128: …
… by Richard Owen. Vol. 4 of The works of John Hunter, F.R.S. with notes . Edited by James F. …
… Robert. 1843. Memoirs of the life of John Constable, R.A., composed chiefly of his letters. …
… Peacock, George. 1855. Life of Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.S. London. *128: 172; 128: 21 …

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