To Asa Gray 18 February [1860]
Summary
Thinks AG’s review is admirable.
Reactions of others to the Origin.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 18 Feb [1860] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (22) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2704 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … I feel moral certainty it is by my good friend the Entomologist Wollaston: I have not …
To Asa Gray 25 April [1855]
Summary
Is collecting facts on variation; questions AG on the alpine flora of the U. S.
Sends a list of plants from AG’s Manual of botany [1848] and asks him to append the ranges of the species.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 25 Apr [1855] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (1) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1674 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … have heard of you from our dear & kind friend Hooker, I hope & think that you will forgive …
To Asa Gray 7 January [1860]
Summary
Comments on AG’s memoir on Japanese plants [see 2599]; relationship of Japanese flora to N. American.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 7 Jan [1860] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (15) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2645 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … arguments on information given to him by his friend James Dwight Dana ( Gray 1858–9 , p. …
To Asa Gray 6 November [1862]
Summary
Agrees Max Müller’s book [see 3752] is interesting but cannot see how it will further his "cause".
A book by J. W. Colenso [The Pentateuch and book of Joshua critically examined, pt 1 (1862)] has just appeared and will "make a noise".
Would like some observations made on Cypripedium.
Will not publish yet on Lythrum as he must make many more crosses; the mid-styled is fertile with half of its own stamens.
Would like to try a few experiments on tendrils.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 6 Nov [1862] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (78) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3796 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … poor country, though perhaps you scorn our pity. Farewell, my good friend | C. Darwin …
To Asa Gray 11 August [1860]
Summary
Agassiz is strongly opposed to Origin, but CD thinks K. E. von Baer may come out in support.
Discusses the possibility of favourable monstrosities in the light of Theophilus Parsons’ essay ["On the origin of species", Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 30 (1860): 1–13].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 11 Aug [1860] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (35) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2896 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … have had a miserable time of it. — Farewell my kind friend | Yours most truly | C. Darwin …
From Asa Gray 27 September 1877
Summary
Has received CD’s book [Forms of flowers]; thanks him for the compliment of the dedication.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 Sept 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 198 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11155 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … this manner from ‘a perfectly trustworthy friend’; Descent and Expression were originally …
From Asa Gray 3 February 1878
Summary
AG’s review of Joseph Cook ["Lectures on biology", New Englander 37: 100–13].
Encourages CD to work at heliotropism.
Thinks Thomas Meehan is as "rattle-brained" as Joseph Cook.
[A damaged fragment cut from this letter is pinned to 11051.]
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 169, DAR 165: 199 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11343 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Biology (save the mark! )—which a clerical friend, of much sense, urged me to expose, was …
To Asa Gray 23 February [1863]
Summary
Recommends Lyell’s book [Antiquity of man (1863)].
Quotes praise of AG’s pamphlet [see 2938].
Comments on U. S. politics.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 23 Feb [1863] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (55) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4006 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1982. William Cobbett. The poor man’s friend. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University …
From Asa Gray 24 July 1865
Summary
Is reading CD’s "Climbing plants".
The Civil War is ended; slavery is dead.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 July 1865 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 148 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4877 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … know that you are again in comfortable condition Ever Your affectionate friend | A. Gray …
To Asa Gray 16 April [1866]
Summary
AG’s second article on Climbing plants [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 41 (1866): 125–30].
Fritz Müller’s observations on Rubiaceae.
New edition [4th] of Origin.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 16 Apr [1866] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (96) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5057 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … in your country. Farewell my good & kind friend— Yours most sincerely | C. Darwin I work …
To Asa Gray 19 October [1865]
Summary
AG’s article on climbing plants [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 40 (1865): 273–82] is admirable and complimentary.
Reports Fritz Müller’s observations on climbers.
Experiments on dimorphism with Mitchella and Pulmonaria.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 19 Oct [1865] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (93) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4919 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … I have just said to my wife I think my friends must perceive that I like praise, they give …
From Asa Gray 9 November 1861
Summary
Discusses observations of his own and of John Torrey on dimorphism, especially in Amsinckia.
Is trying to find specimens of Houstonia for CD.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 Nov 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 110 (ser. 2): 63–4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3313 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … John Torrey was a friend of Gray’s and an expert on the flora of the United States. He and …
To Asa Gray 17 September [1861]
Summary
U. S. politics and relations with England.
Wants examples of dimorphism similar to Primula.
Structure and function of Spiranthes flower.
Observations and experiments on Drosera.
CD’s views on design.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 17 Sept [1861] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (72) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3256 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … conquer the S. (2) whether the N. has many friends in the South & (3) whether your noble …
From Asa Gray 16 February 1864
Summary
Is sending his monograph ["A revision and arrangement of the North American species of Astragalus and Oxytropis", Proc. Am. Acad. Arts & Sci. 6 (1863): 188–236].
Death of Francis Boott.
U. S. is now determined to do away with slavery.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Feb 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 142 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4409 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of dear old Boott —so good, so true a friend, and he was always writing me little notes, …
From Asa Gray 3 October 1864
Summary
Review of Spencer was by Chauncey Wright.
Will get a note on John Scott’s paper off to Sillimans Journal [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 39 (1865): 101–10].
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 144 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4625 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of yourself to | Your very cordial friend | A. Gray Verso : ‘Eggs— Cuckoo’ ink ; ‘Huxley …
To Asa Gray 11 May [1863]
Summary
CD despairs when men like AG and Lyell consider themselves incapable of judging on change of species by descent.
Is confused over phyllotaxy.
Has been looking at Plantago lanceolata.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 11 May [1863] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (59) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4153 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … odious self. — Farewell my kind & good friend. If you can spare copy, send me one on De …
From Asa Gray 6 October 1872
Summary
Discusses the coiling of tendrils of climbing plants.
AG’s recent tour of the U. S.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Oct 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 181 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8545 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … it, and, being consigned to the care of a friend who was then also away, found its way to …
From Asa Gray 22 May 1855
Summary
Has filled up CD’s paper [see 1674].
Distribution and relationships of alpine flora in U. S.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 May 1855 |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: D1–D2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1685 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … least furnish aid to you, & to our good friend D r . Hooker, in respect to investigations …
From Asa Gray [10–16] June [1863]
Summary
Possible dimorphism in Phlox.
Knows of no U. S. law prohibiting marriage of cousins.
Gives references to papers on phyllotaxy.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [10–16] June [1863] |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 136 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4198 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … found. The botanist John Torrey was Gray’s friend and mentor ( Dupree 1959 ). The botanist …
To Asa Gray 21 [and 22] January 1878
Summary
Thanks for AG’s review of Forms of flowers [Am. J. Sci. 3d ser. 15 (1878): 67–73].
Thomas Carlyle’s letter about CD was a forgery.
Gives Hermann Müller’s observations on Valeriana dioica.
Is unsure about function of "bloom"; are glaucous plants more or less common in arid parts of U. S.?
Observations on heliotropism.
Thomas Meehan reports that Linum perenne is self-fertile; CD thinks that he has mistaken the species.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 21 and 22 Jan 1878 |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (123 and 127) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11330 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … purportedly written by Thomas Carlyle to a friend, appeared in The Times , 17 January …
| letter | (73) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (43) |
| Gray, Asa | (29) |
| Gray, J. L. | (1) |
| Wright, Charles | (1) |
| Gray, Asa | (44) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (28) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
| Gray, Asa | |
| Darwin, C. R. | (71) |
| Gray, J. L. | (1) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
| Wright, Charles | (1) |
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.…
William Yarrell
Summary
William Yarrell was a London businessman, a stationer and bookseller, who became an expert on British birds and fish, writing standard reference works on both. He was a member of several science and natural history societies, including the Linnean Society…
Matches: 1 hits
- … hearing of Yarrell's death, lamenting ' our old & excellent friend '. …
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Summary
The 1400 letters exchanged between Darwin and Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) account for around 10% of Darwin’s surviving correspondence and provide a structure within which all the other letters can be explored. They are a connecting thread that spans…
Matches: 5 hits
- … important to Darwin than those exchanged with his closest friend, the botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker. …
- … of his six year-old daughter, Maria, knowing that his friend, who had lost both a ten year-old …
- … appearance: he addressed one letter to his “ Glorified Friend ” after receiving a photograph of …
- … British economic interests and fell out with their mutual friend, the Harvard botanist Asa Gray (see …
- … about the aristocracy, is rude about Darwin’s one-time friend and bitter opponent, the …
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life
Summary
1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 4 hits
- … Yet on 15 January 1875 , Darwin confessed to his close friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, ‘I am getting …
- … also greatly honoured George. You have indeed been a true friend.’ Hooker was hampered by his …
- … in the form of a poem: From the Insects to their friend, Charles Darwin We are …
- … fellows. But Thiselton-Dyer had apparently jeopardised his friend’s chances by suggesting to the …
4.5 William Beard, comic painting
Summary
< Back to Introduction In June 1872, Darwin’s friend Asa Gray, the Harvard Professor of Botany, sent him a print or photograph of a comic painting by the American artist William Holbrook Beard. Titled The Youthful Darwin Expounding His Theories, it…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction In June 1872, Darwin’s friend Asa Gray, the Harvard Professor …
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: 7 hits
- … [ c . 27 August 1874] ). The death of a Cambridge friend, Albert Way, caused Darwin’s cousin, …
- … sent back his own to the publishers, he applied first to his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, and …
- … this case you would I feel sure, no longer treat me as your friend, and you would free yourself at …
- … through William Walter Roberts, a Catholic priest and friend of Mivart’s, who was attending Huxley’s …
- … third son Francis married Amy Ruck, the sister of a friend of Leonard Darwin’s in the Royal …
- … ; letter from Michael Foster, 17 June [1874] ). Friend and patron Darwin championed …
- … on a more personal level, Darwin took care of his close friend Hooker, who stayed at Down after his …
Living and fossil cirripedia
Summary
Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…
Matches: 4 hits
- … discussions about species in the autumn of 1845, his close friend Joseph Dalton Hooker had been …
- … wrote a rather reflective letter to his former professor and friend, John Stevens Henslow, musing …
- … evidently did not satisfy Darwin, who hired his old school friend John Price to correct the work …
- … finally appear. It was no doubt a great relief to tell his friend Thomas Henry Huxley in early …
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: 7 hits
- … , to Thomas Henry Huxley for evaluation, and persuaded his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker to comment on …
- … deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend of Darwin’s and prominent …
- … all kinds has perished with him. He was always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( …
- … Society on 2 February, and in April Darwin wrote to his friend Asa Gray, a botanist in the United …
- … July 1865 ). This may have been unwise: Thomas Thomson, a friend of Hooker’s, described by him as a …
- … expect from their private communications; Lubbock, a younger friend, had been encouraged and …
- … Darwin was consulting, or encouraging George to consult, a friend, the civil engineer Edward Cresy, …
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: 9 hits
- … Hooker, Hugh Falconer, Louis Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart Mill, Emma Darwin, …
- … original and dangerous theory of natural selection to his friend, the botanist, Joseph D Hooker …
- … To give one example, the last time I saw my dear old friend Falconer, he attacked me most vigorously …
- … DARWIN: Now when I see such strong feeling in my oldest friend, you need not wonder that I always …
- … myself mistaken and punished; 55 My good dear friend, forgive me. This is a trumpery letter …
- … highest authority on such subjects, and he said lately to a friend, who wrote to me, as follows. …
- … with this population, I see not. 121 Your cordial friend and true Yankee, Asa Gray. …
- … Hooker is pale. HOOKER: 153 Dear dear friend. My darling little second girl …
- … hernia. DARWIN: 154 My dear old friend… HOOKER: 155 I tried …
Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers
Summary
In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…
Matches: 5 hits
- … added, ‘when I look back, however, especially my beloved friend to the days I have spent in …
- … been worse.’ Recollections of the earlier loss of a close friend were prompted by the publication of …
- … having read a page of it, but relieved that Carlyle’s friend Erasmus Alvey Darwin, Darwin’s brother, …
- … was made public. On 1 September, an old Shrewsbury School friend, Lamplugh Dykes , wrote to …
- … our children’, Darwin told his old Cambridge University friend John Price on 27 December . As …
Descent
Summary
There are more than five hundred letters associated with the research and writing of Darwin’s book, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex (Descent). They trace not only the tortuous route to eventual publication, but the development of Darwin’s…
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: 1 hits
- … of the attraction of Woodhouse for Darwin, but more as a friend and confidante , the difference …
Insectivorous plants
Summary
Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in the summer of 1860, staying with his wife’s relatives in Hartfield, Sussex, he went for long walks on the heathland and became curious about the large number of insects caught by…
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…
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: 5 hits
- … two sets of letters. The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. Hooker. The …
- … has sent some of Darwin’s South American plants to his friend Kew botanist J. D. Hooker for …
- … J. D., 19 [Apr 1864] Darwin makes another plea to his friend Kew botanist J. D. Hooker to take …
- … C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 25 Apr [1864] Darwin thinks his friend Kew botanist J. D. Hooker takes …
- … spent preceding day with Henslow; much had to be done. His friend, Alexander Charles Wood, has …
Alexander von Humboldt
Summary
The phases of Charles Darwin’s career have often been defined by the books that he read, from Lyell’s Principles of Geology during the Beagle voyage to Malthus’s Essay on the Principle of Population during his London years. The book that encouraged him to…
Matches: 3 hits
- … and life that he called ‘Physique générale’. He was a friend and collaborator of Goethe and his …
- … Narrative , a gift from Henslow inscribed ‘to his friend C. Darwin on his departure from England. …
- … scientific traveller who ever lived,’ Darwin told his friend Joseph Hooker. ‘You might truly call …
Henrietta Huxley
Summary
A colourful and insightful exchange occurred in 1865 in a light-hearted conversation between Darwin and Henrietta Huxley, the wife of Darwin’s friend and colleague, Thomas Henry Huxley. Like her husband, Henrietta was a close friend and great champion of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin and Henrietta Huxley , the wife of Darwin’s friend and colleague, Thomas Henry Huxley . …
That monstrous stain: To J. M. Herbert, 2 June 1833
Summary
Darwin did not consider himself to be a particularly good writer, but many of his letters contain not just a wealth of information, but also beautifully expressed descriptions and impressions that would be the envy of any essayist or novelist. Such is the…
