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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: 20 hits

  • … The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet …
  • … he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This …
  • … and prompted the composition and publication, in November 1859, of Darwin’s major treatise  On the …
  • …  exceeded my wildest hopes By the end of 1859, Darwin’s work was being discussed in …
  • … as he jokingly called it) to his views of close friends like Charles Lyell, Joseph Dalton Hooker, …
  • … concepts of creation. ‘When I was in spirits’, he told Lyell at the end of 1859, ‘I sometimes …
  • … has  infinitely  exceeded my wildest hopes.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). …
  • … to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
  • … his reason or his own opinion. Hewett Cottrell Watson and Charles Cardale Babington thought that in …
  • … as evidence for what actually occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and  …
  • … throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have …
  • … his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
  • … and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell, as Wallace had requested …
  • … his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
  • … Following Francis Darwin ( LL 2: 116–17) and relying on Charles Lyell’s endorsement, the editors …
  • … with scarlet fever, currently sweeping through the village. Charles Waring Darwin’s condition …
  • … the writing of this ‘abstract’ continued until March 1859; the resulting volume was published in …
  • … Botanic Gardens at Kew (see Appendix VII). The year 1859 began auspiciously with Darwin …
  • … 1854) ( Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society  15 (1859): xxv). One of the most …
  • … work. Again, he called upon Lyell for advice ( letter to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] ). Lyell …

The Lyell–Lubbock dispute

Summary

In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…

Matches: 20 hits

  • … In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
  • … some of whom took immediate action to mediate a solution. Charles Darwin had close ties with both …
  • … but his views were generally derided. 1  In 1859, Lyell visited several sites in …
  • … belief that these were indeed implements of early humans (C. Lyell 1859). In September 1860 he …
  • … species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. …
  • … regarding the age of the human species. The visits by both Lyell and Lubbock reflected the growing …
  • … Lubbock reviewed the literature on the topic and noted that Charles Adolphe Morlot had summarised, …
  • … Prehistoric times (Lubbock 1865).  By 1860, Lyell had begun work on a sixth edition of …
  • … Galton.   In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, evidently in response …
  • … for their work in the Brixham cave explorations of 1858 and 1859. 5 Another controversy arose …
  • … about Lyell’s failure to support him. In April 1863, in a letter to the Athenæum , he discussed a …
  • … transmutation; he also wrote to Lyell telling him about the letter to the Athenæum . 9 …
  • … 1863b, p. 213).  In May 1864, Lubbock received a letter from Falconer, who reiterated his …
  • … his celebrated work on the ‘ Antiquity of man ,’ Sir Charles Lyell has made much use of my earlier …
  • … me from any such inference. The statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in a note to page 11 of his …
  • … it therefore did not ‘justify so severe an attack on Sir Charles Lyell’. 32  Darwin’s …
  • … its appearance in print; first in French, dated Berne, Sept. 1859, in the ‘Mémoires de la Société …
  • … zoologist M. Claparède had also conversed with me in 1859 on the researches of the best Danish …
  • … gave me an abstract for my use, in a letter dated December 1859. He referred me chiefly to ‘Oversigt …
  • … Stocking 1987, and Van Riper 1993. 2. Letter from Charles Lyell to John Lubbock, 20 …

The writing of "Origin"

Summary

From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…

Matches: 17 hits

  • whole has infinitely exceeded my wildest hopes.— (letter to Charles Lyell25 [November
  • bookon species. Begun in May 1856 at the urging of Lyell, the manuscript was already more than
  • to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
  • his reason or his own opinion. Hewett Cottrell Watson and Charles Cardale Babington thought that in
  • as evidence for what actually occurred in nature (see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and  …
  • throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have
  • his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
  • selection. Darwins shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell
  • Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
  • Following Francis Darwin (LL2:11617) and relying on Charles Lyells endorsement, the editors have
  • with scarlet fever, currently sweeping through the village. Charles Waring Darwins condition
  • the writing of thisabstractcontinued until March 1859; the resulting volume was published in
  • instinct the previous March. By the middle of March 1859, Darwin had finished the last
  • the work. Again, he called upon Lyell for advice (letter to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] ). …
  • plan of his book (see letter from Elwin to Murray, 3 May 1859 , and letter to John Murray, 6
  • from the title of the forthcoming book (letter to Charles Lyell, 30 March [1859] ). Darwin next
  • and varieties’ (letters to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] , and to John Murray, 10 September

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: 19 hits

  • At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of  The variation of
  • that he wasunwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a
  • persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled considerably. The
  • by the publication in February of books by his friends Charles Lyell, the respected geologist, and
  • fromsome Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
  • … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
  • Britains scientific circles following the publication of Lyells and Huxleys books. Three
  • than  Origin had (see  Correspondence  vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
  • … (p. 488). Since the publication of  Origin  in 1859, new evidence that early humans had coexisted
  • as well as on evidence collected earlier in the century. Lyells  Antiquity of man  and Huxleys  …
  • from animals like the woolly mammoth and cave bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, 23
  • arguments for species change. In this context, Lyells discussion of the origin of species
  • leap from that of inferior animals made himgroan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public
  • you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). The
  • letter to J. D. Dana, 20 February [1863] , and letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • bookfrom which he hadgained nothing’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 1213 March [1863] ). …
  • that the Public shall see how far you go’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 April [1863] ). …

Rewriting Origin - the later editions

Summary

For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions.  Many of his changes were made in…

Matches: 13 hits

  • up each edition to the existing standard of science’ ( to Charles Layton, 24 November [1869] ). …
  • dates: 1 st edition published, 24 November 1859 2d English edition: printing
  • heard that a new edition was already needed on 24 November 1859, the same day that the first
  • expansionin many places’ . Chief among these was Charles Lyell, instrumental in shaping both
  • last one was a welcome endorsement from the religious author Charles Kingsley, a chaplain to the
  • sufficiently acknowledged earlier workAccording to a letter to Asa Gray he had yet to start
  • Black Pigs in the Everglades  delights  me If Lyell was Darwins key correspondent for
  • an animals colour and its immunity to poison (see letter from Jeffries Wyman, [ c . 15] …
  • hitherto slurred it over. In his Christmas Day letter to his old friend Joseph Hooker, …
  • … (With a glossary of scientific terms??) by Charles Darwin F.R.S.   …
  • many of his old friends and former correspondents, including Lyell ( now approached through his
  • of population increase in elephants in response to a letter published in the Athenaeum by a
  • ed. , pp45061). Despite continuing scepticism from Charles Lyell, who was staying with the

Controversy

Summary

The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…

Matches: 15 hits

  • … him as a bitter enemy. Darwin and Sedgwick Letter 2525 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … of a spirit of bravado, but a want of respect. Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, …
  • … of brotherly love and as his true-hearted friend. Letter 2555 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … classes of facts”. Darwin and Owen Letter 2526 — Owen, Richard to Darwin, C. …
  • … the nature of such influences as “heterodox”. Letter 2575 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … his book “the law of higgledy-piggledy”. Letter 2580 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, …
  • … his views now depends on men eminent in science. Letter 2767 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • … prevail without such aggressive tactics. Letter 5500 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. …
  • … reader to take the side of the attacked person. Letter 5533 — Haeckel, E. P. A. to …
  • … Darwin and his close friends, Joseph Dalton Hooker and Charles Lyell, show that Darwin, who had …
  • … at the Linnean Society of London, and presided over by Lyell and Hooker, reveals much about the …
  • … differences. Letter 2285 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 18 [June 1858] Darwin …
  • … it to journal. Letter 2294 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [25 June 1858] …
  • … wrote to him. Letter 2295 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 26 [June 1858] Darwin …
  • … of case. Letter 2299 — Hooker, J. D. & Lyell, Charles to Linnean Society, 30 June …

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: 22 hits

  • learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January
  • the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
  • he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] …
  • his theory would have beenutterly  smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A
  • from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
  • a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
  • phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
  • current knowledge could not illuminate thismystery’. Charles Lyell worried, among other things, …
  • natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19
  • of reasoning about global change. Darwin also knew that Lyell was a powerful potential ally. Indeed, …
  • plant species and varieties than from animal breeding. With Lyell also questioning how interbreeding
  • 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 ). …
  • perfected structure as the eye. As Darwin admitted to Lyell, Gray, and others, imagining how
  • Certainly this was a major difficulty standing in the way of Lyells acceptance of the theory, as
  • explicitly in  Origin  — only one sentence, he told Lyell, showed that he believedman is in same
  • of the scientifically literate clergymen Baden Powell and Charles Kingsley attested. Moreover, …
  • … (like Lyell) to retract their support altogether (letters to Charles Lyell, 1 June [1860] and
  • different opposers view the subject’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February [1860] ); later he
  • better fun observing is than writing.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 12 September [1860] ). Despite
  • … & not amuse myself with interludes.—’ (letters to Charles Lyell, 24 November [1860] , and to
  • daughter Annes fatal illness never far from their minds, Charles and Emma did whatever they could

Natural Selection: the trouble with terminology Part I

Summary

Darwin encountered problems with the term ‘natural selection’ even before Origin appeared.  Everyone from the Harvard botanist Asa Gray to his own publisher came up with objections. Broadly these divided into concerns either that its meaning simply wasn’t…

Matches: 6 hits

  • I think, would make confusion worse confounded ( Charles Darwin to Charles Lyell   6
  • of twenty years, Natural Selection . With that letter to Gray, Darwin enclosed a
  • he had expected.   ‘I am, also, sorryDarwin wrote to Charles Lyell, who had approached the
  • I must be a very bad explainer. ( Charles Darwin to Charles Lyell, 6 June [1860]) …
  • Nevertheless, regret lingered, and he wrote in a later letter to Lyell: ' Talking ofNatural
  • used natural preservation '. (There is now a hole in the letter where Darwin wrote &#039

Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'

Summary

In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…

Matches: 23 hits

  • On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that heBegan by Lyells advice  writing
  • by the preparation of this manuscript. Although advised by Lyell to publish only a brief outline
  • material into such a small compass and soon abandoned Lyells idea in favour of a full-length work
  • this process. Still prominent in his immediate circle were Charles Lyell and Joseph Dalton Hooker, …
  • all of it found its way into  On the origin of species  (1859). His letters are often the only
  • and other domesticated animals. As Darwin explained to Lyell, his studies, particularly those on
  • the real structure of varieties’, he remarked to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 September [1856
  • … ‘& I mean to make my Book as perfect as ever I can.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 8 February [1857] …
  • plants, he asked Asa Gray, vary in the United States ( letter to Asa Gray, 2 May 1856 )? What
  • plants pretty effectuallycomplained Darwin in 1857 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [2 May 1857] ). …
  • John Lubbock that his method of calculation was wrong ( letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1857] ). …
  • … ‘Darwin, an absolute & eternal hermaphrodite’ ( letter to to T. H. Huxley, 1 July [1856] ), …
  • which the bird had naturally eaten have grown well.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 December [1856] …
  • to William Erasmus Darwin, [26 February 1856] and to Charles Lyell, 3 May [1856] ). …
  • 21 [July 1857] ). The problem of careers for his six boys (Charles Waring Darwin, the sixth and
  • he wrote to Syms Covington in New South Wales ( letter to Syms Covington, 9 March 1856 ). …
  • his work on species and the preparation of his manuscript ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 1 May 1857 ) …
  • writing in part to establish his priority in this area, for Charles Lyell thought that Wallaces
  • All the available material seems to indicate that it was Lyell rather than Darwin who feared the
  • Darwins manuscript on species was begun only after Lyell had urged him to publish a preliminary
  • given on an occasion other than the one previously supposed. Charles and Mary Elizabeth Lyell
  • up to London to see Lyell to discuss it further ( letter to Charles Lyell, 3 May [1856] ). It was
  • not embrace the whole Lamarckian doctrine.’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 12 May 1856, n. 7 ). The

On the Origin of Species

Summary

From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … infinitely  exceeded my wildest hopes.— (letter to Charles Lyell,  25 [November 1859] …
  • … jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred …
  • … and prompted the composition and publication, in November 1859, of Darwin’s major treatise On the …

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: 21 hits

  • … 1 Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by …
  • … from the correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, …
  • … following: Actor 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin Actor 3 – In the dress …
  • … the botanist, Joseph D Hooker GRAY:   3   Charles Darwin… made his home on the border …
  • … the year 1839, and copied and communicated to Messrs Lyell and Hooker in 1844, being a …
  • … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
  • … 11   My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my …
  • … be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy it… His letter does strike me as most uncommonly …
  • … on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year …
  • … at the expense of Agassiz. DARWIN:   20   Lyell told me, that Agassiz, having a …
  • … a brace of letters 25   I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received …
  • … might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing …
  • … Atlantic. HOOKER:   28   Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which …
  • … – to be false… Yours most sincerely and gratefully Charles Darwin. CREED AND FEVER: 1858 …
  • … should not be in conflict. A TREMENDOUS FURORE: 1859-1860 In which Darwin distributes …
  • … forgetfuless of your darling. BOOKS BY THE LATE CHARLES DARWIN: 1863-1865 In which …
  • … and officially die. And then publish books ‘by the late Charles Darwin’. Darwin takes up …
  • …   173   Ever yours cordially (though an Englishman) Charles Darwin. GRAY:  174   …
  • … at an unexpected and probably transient notoriety… Charles Darwin died on the 19th April …
  • … 12 OCTOBER 1857 60 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, SUMMER 1859 61 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, …
  • … GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 18 FEBRUARY 1861 115 A GRAY TO CHARLES WRIGHT, 17 APRIL 1862 …

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: 29 hits

  • … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
  • … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
  • … observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
  • … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
  • … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
  • … Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L …
  • … Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
  • … expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
  • … is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
  • … of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
  • … briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
  • … expression of emotion in dogs with Emma Darwin. Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, …
  • … birds, insects or plants on Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to …
  • … of an angry pig and her niece’s ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
  • … that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … on her experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9426 - Story …
  • … without the birds attacking the buds and flowers. Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to …
  • … and her father of plants and insects. Men: Letter 2221 - Blyth, E. to Darwin …
  • … specimens and bird observations from Calcutta. Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 …
  • … “enthusiasm and indomitable patience”. Letter 4242 - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin …
  • … contained in “a little treatise”. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 …
  • … he has moved one or two of them into his bedroom. Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to …
  • … 9 November 1868] Darwin’s nephews, Edmund and Charles, write to Emma Darwin’s sister, …
  • … the Isle of White. Letter 4433  - Wright, Charles to Gray, A., [20, 25, 26 March …
  • Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] Darwin asks his publisher, John …
  • Letter 2461  - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [11 May 1859] Darwin expresses anxiety over …
  • … in the future. Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 March 1863] …
  • Letter 2475  - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [2 July 1859] Darwin returns the manuscript of …
  • Letter 2501   - Lyell, C. to Darwin, [3 October 1859] Lyell offers praise and …

Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions

Summary

Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …

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: 19 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
  • Andone 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
  • at Erasmuss house. The event was led by the medium Charles E. Williams, and was attended by George
  • in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
  • that Mr Williams wasa 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 alloweda spirit séanceat his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
  • edition, published in 1842 ( Correspondence  vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17
  • friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder
  • to take so sweetly all the horrid bother of correction’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 21 [March
  • at a much reduced price of nine shillings, in line with Charles Lyells  Students elements of
  • raising £860 ( Circular to John Lubbock, P. L. Sclater, Charles Lyell, W. B. Carpenter, and Michael
  • Sharpe, 24 November [1874] ).  He wrote in admiration of Charles Lyells plan to leave a bequest to
  • of the English editions. Darwins French publisher, Charles Reinwald, engaged new translators to
  • connotations of both Huxleys and Tyndalls addresses, Charles Lyell, who had spent his career
  • may be fairly said to have had an ovation’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1 September 1874 ). …

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: 22 hits

  • In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwins mind was the writing of  The variation of animals and
  • dispute between two of Darwins friends, John Lubbock and Charles Lyell . These events all inspired
  • The death of Hugh Falconer Darwins first letter to Hooker of 1865 suggests that the family
  • having all the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • had failed to include among the grounds of the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus
  • his letters to Darwin, and Darwin responded warmly: ‘Your letter is by far the grandest eulogium
  • may well rest content that I have not laboured in vain’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 6 January [1865] …
  • always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 February [1865] …
  • for our griefs & pains: these alone are unalloyed’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 February 1865
  • gas.— Sic transit gloria mundi, with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). …
  • added, ‘I know it is folly & nonsense to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • claimed, important for his enjoyment of life. He wrote to Charles Lyell on 22 January [1865] , …
  • ineffective, and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] …
  • and those of Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, and Charles Bonnet; Darwin wrote back: ‘I do
  • the Royal Society of Edinburgh criticising Origin . Like Charles Lyell, who wrote to Darwin on
  • for existence (ibid., pp. 27681). Darwin responded to Lyells account in some detail ( see letter
  • the correspondence. At the end of May, the dispute between Charles Lyell and John Lubbock over
  • human antiquity, adding a note to his preface asserting that Lyell in his  Antiquity of man , …
  • Natural History Review . He also cited a statement by Lyell in  Antiquity of man  that the pages
  • inadvertence’. Though Lubbock had raised the matter with Lyell before publishing, this statement, …
  • set up to support FitzRoys children ( see letter from Charles Shaw, 3 October 1865 ). …
  • are letters commenting on Origin , including two from Charles Lyell, who had been sent the proof

Origin

Summary

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

Matches: 17 hits

  • … make a large-sized pamphlet. ’ On the 4 October, in a letter to T. C. Eyton explaining his change …
  • … across tropics ’. When Hooker’s essay was published in 1859, it was one of the first publications …
  • … as by far the most capable judge in Europe. ’ By April 1859, he was able to tell Wallace that ‘ …
  • … Abstract ’ would not be finished until around April 1859. But this was an optimistic estimate. …
  • … concern now was to find a suitable publisher, and once again Lyell came to his aid. In late March, …
  • … of Darwin’s work. In light of this, Darwin asked Lyell whether he should ‘tell Murray that my Book …
  • … or the preservation of favoured races” ’, he told Lyell. On 31 March 1859, Darwin wrote to Murray …
  • … you on the same terms as those on which I publish for Sir Charles Lyell ’. Darwin was uneasy. …
  • … his friend George Frederick Pollock. The former, in a long letter to Murray, believed that Darwin …
  • … the work of correcting proofs continued over the summer of 1859, Darwin had to take the water cure …
  • … & God knows I have never shirked a difficulty’, he told Lyell on 20 September 1859, ‘ I am …
  • … in this life. ’ ‘I have just finished your volume’, Lyell told Darwin on 3 October, ‘& right …
  • … facts on which you ground so many grand generalizations.’ Lyell not only thought Darwin’s book ‘ a …
  • … of Science meeting held in Aberdeen from 14 to 21 September 1859. Darwin was confident that in time …
  • … Selection is in the main safe ’. Darwin reassured Lyell on 11 October that he was aware that …
  • … in doing ’. By late October, Hooker assured Darwin that Lyell was becoming a convert. Darwin was …
  • … and negative, to his work flowed in. By early December 1859, he admitted that he needed to ‘ think …

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

Summary

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

Matches: 18 hits

  • 1842 is, to a surprising degree, present in the version of 1859. Young author Darwins
  • by all the leading geologists of Englandamong them Charles Lyell, Sedgwick, and Buckland (see the
  • of South America”, Darwin continued to defend his and Lyells theory that floating icerather than
  • lists of Darwins plants (see D. M. Porter 1981). Charles Lyell In the extensive
  • correspondent, both scientifically and personally, was Charles Lyell. The letters Darwin and Lyell
  • had declared himself to be azealous discipleof Lyell, but his theory of coral reef formation, …
  • Their correspondence began in 1836 and from the start Lyell accepted Darwin on equal terms as a
  • versions in Life and Letters , and from excerpts that Lyell made in his notebooks. Lyells
  • portfolios together with parts of letters he had cut from Lyells originals for use in his work. …
  • The letters show that at least five of his friendsLyell, Henslow, Jenyns, Waterhouse, and his
  • of fact . . . on the origin & variation of species” ( Letter to J. S. Henslow, [November 1839] …
  • that he had a sound solution to what J. F. W. Herschel in a letter to Lyell had called themystery
  • about searching for evidence to support his hypothesis. In a letter to Lyell, [14] September [1838
  • just the same, though I know what I am looking for' ( Letter to G. R. Waterhouse, [26 July
  • there were no doubts as to how one ought to act’ ( Letter from Emma Darwin, [  c.  February 1839] …
  • In 1840 the illness was different. As he wrote to Charles Lyell, [19 February 1840] , “it is now
  • for several months (See  Correspondence  vol. 1, letter to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 , …
  • notebook). See also Allan 1977, pp. 12830). The letter, onDouble flowersto the  …

John Murray

Summary

Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…

Matches: 18 hits

  • natural selection (Originwas published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who
  • cousin and business partner, the earliest letters date from 1859, the year of the publication of  …
  • end of 1845, Darwin was not happy with Colburns terms ( Letter 856 ). Instead he asked his friend
  • John Murray, to open negotiations with his own publisher ( Letter 824 ). Lyells talk with Murray
  • have transacted the business with me’ (27 August [1845] Letter 908 ). Thus began the business
  • copies some pages in Darwins chapter were transposed ( Letter 1244 ). Darwin was anxious lest an
  • … & make the poor workman some present’ (12 June [1849] Letter 1245 ). Darwins next
  • hisbig species book’; on 18 June 1858, he received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace with the
  • In order to ensure Darwins priority, his friends Charles Lyell and Joseph Hooker hastily arranged
  • by means of natural selection (Origin) . Again he asked Lyell to act as his intermediary with John
  • you may not repent of having undertaken it’ (15 October [1859] Letter 2506 ). Murray decided on a
  • … & proud at the appearance of my child’ ([3 November 1859] Letter 2514 ). In the event, all
  • … – and a second edition was immediately called for ( Letter 2549 ). In the end Murray paid Darwin
  • Murray made a successful business decision when he included Charles Darwin among his authors and
  • geology was his favourite hobby and he continued to publish Charles Lyells books he was not himself
  • … (Variation ), but work progressed slowly ( Letter 3078 ); meanwhile in 1862 Murray published  On
  • Murray only offered Darwin half profits for this title ( Letter 3261 ); it was never a best-seller
  • … ‘I fear it can never pay’ (3 January [1867] Letter 5346 ). In the end Murray decided to print

Darwin on race and gender

Summary

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

Matches: 4 hits

  • … ( Beagle diary , p. 143). He was delighted to receive a letter from an African correspondent …
  • … and Progress Key letters: Letter to J. S. Henslow, 11 April 1833 …
  • … and human nature’]. Shanafelt, Robert. 2003. How Charles Darwin got emotional expression out …
  • … Correspondence with women Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February …

John Lubbock

Summary

John Lubbock was eight years old when the Darwins moved into the neighbouring property of Down House, Down, Kent; the total of one hundred and seventy surviving letters he went on to exchange with Darwin is a large number considering that the two men lived…

Matches: 4 hits

  • or against me. ( to John Lubbock, 14 December [1859] ) When Origin was
  • … , ‘but for the opinion of men like you & Hooker & Huxley & Lyell’. Lubbock spoke
  • William, up in a banking career, and Darwin's last known letter to John Lubbock, sent
  • down.”   In the last year of his life Darwin provided a letter of introduction for Lubbock's
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