To Charles Lyell [3 December 1859]
Summary
Encloses a letter from FitzRoy to the Times.
Mentions letter from W. B. Carpenter accepting single progenitor for major animal classes.
Speculates about Richard Owen’s opinion.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | [3 Dec 1859] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.182) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2567 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … be referring to the letter from Richard Owen, 12 November 1859 . Owen’s critical review of …
From John Lubbock 15 March 1859
Summary
Embryology of Diptera. Development of insects; metamorphosis. JL feels all insects go through metamorphosis but that in some of them, part takes place before birth.
| Author: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Mar 1859 |
| Classmark: | DAR 170: 22 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2433 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … triple scored pencil Top of first page : ‘Ch 12’ brown crayon , circled brown crayon ; ‘I …
To W. D. Fox 23 September [1859]
Summary
His book [Origin] is nearly done. Is not so silly as to expect to convert WDF. Lyell is wavering; Hooker has come round.
Family news.
Asks WDF to find out if a cross between differently coloured horses produces a dun.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | 23 Sept [1859] |
| Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 122) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2493 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … his death, aged 82, in 1848 ( LL 1: 11–12). See letters to Charles Lyell , 2 September [ …
To Charles Lyell 2 September [1859]
Summary
CL’s research on flint tools.
Promises to send proof-sheets of Origin. Discusses his view of species.
Ill health of himself and his family.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 2 Sept [1859] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.167) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2486 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Journal of the Geological Society of London 12: 124–31. [Vols. 6,7] Wallace, Alexander. …
To J. D. Hooker 7 April [1859]
Summary
Has read first sheets of JDH’s Flora Tasmaniae [introductory] essay [published separately as On the flora of Australia (1859)]. Criticises lack of evidence supporting views that best marked varieties occur at edges of range of species and that species remain under cultivation for many generations and suddenly begin to vary.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 7 Apr [1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 10 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2450 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … later in the month (see letters to J. D. Hooker, 11 April [1859] and 12 [April 1859] ). …
To J. D. Hooker 1 September [1859]
Summary
All but last two chapters of Origin proofs corrected.
Praise for JDH’s introductory essay [to Flora Tasmaniae].
Very ill and sick of work.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 1 Sept [1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 22 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2485 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … so weariful killing the whole afternoon after 12 oclock doing nothing whatever. But I will …
To John Lubbock [19 November 1859]
Summary
Has told John Murray to send copy of the Origin. There are "many valid and weighty arguments against my notions".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Date: | [19 Nov 1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 263: 16 (EH 88206465) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2527 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … MS) records that he received a payment of £10 12 s . from Mr Phillips on 17 December. The …
To Charles Lyell 20 September [1859]
Summary
Thanks CL for his favourable remarks to the Geological Section of the BAAS concerning the forthcoming publication of the Origin. Hopes CL will accept his view of species.
Comments on CL’s paper ["On the occurrence of works of human art in post-Pliocene deposits", Rep. BAAS 29 (1859): 93–5].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 20 Sept [1859] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.169) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2492 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … at the Royal Institution of Great Britain on 12 April 1859 ( R. Owen 1859 , p. 113). …
To Charles Kingsley 1 December [1859]
Summary
Is very glad CK wrote the article My Winter Garden (Kingsley 1858), which CD enjoyed.
Thinks CK should read abstracts of Living Cirripedia (1851) and Living Cirripedia (1854), and then, if he is particularly interested, borrow the actual volumes, rather than purchase them.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Kingsley |
| Date: | 1 Dec [1859] |
| Classmark: | University of Toronto, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library (MSS gen 30.058) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2564F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … to J. D. Hooker, 10 May 1848 and n. 12 and 6 October [1848] , and Living Cirripedia ( …
To T. H. Huxley 25 December [1859]
Summary
Henry Holland and others have attacked his reasoning from analogy to one primordial created form – by which CD means only that we know nothing of how life originated. The reasoning seems probable to him, so he has kept it in.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Date: | 25 Dec [1859] |
| Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 90) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2603 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … also Huxley’s response in his letter of [9–12 March 1859] . See letter from Henry Holland, …
To T. H. Huxley 25 November [1859]
Summary
THH’s letter about the Origin makes CD feel like a Catholic who has received extreme unction. Can now sing nunc dimittis. Had determined to abide by judgment of Lyell, Hooker, and THH.
Problem of how variations arise at all troubles him also.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Date: | 25 Nov [1859] |
| Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 72) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2553 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Edited by James A. H. Murray, et al. 12 vols. and supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press. …
To T. H. Huxley 28 December [1859]
Summary
Delighted with Times review [26 Dec 1859]. Puzzled by author, suspects THH, but publication in Times makes it unlikely. Sorry for Owen.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Date: | 28 Dec [1859] |
| Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 92) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2611 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … natural history. Medical Times & Gazette n.s. 12: 429–32, 481–4, 507–11, 563–7, 618–23; …
To John Lubbock 17 December [1859]
Summary
Local affairs and finances.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Date: | 17 Dec [1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 263: 31 (EH 88206480) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2586 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Society. See also letter to John Lubbock, 12 December [1859] . John William Lubbock …
To J. D. Hooker 26 [December 1859]
Summary
High, detailed praise for introductory essay to Flora Tasmaniae [reprinted as On the flora of Australia (1859)]. CD expects it to convert botanists from doctrine of immutable creation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 26 [Dec 1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 33, 30a |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2606 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … May [1859] . See letter from J. D. Hooker, [12 December 1859] . Martins 1849 , which CD …
From John Murray 2 November 1859
Summary
By this post he sends for approval specimen copy of CD’s book [Origin of species]. At 14 s., 1250 copies will yield £240, two-thirds of which will go to author. Arrangements for early copies.
| Author: | John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 Nov 1859 |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 41913 pp. 53–4) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2513A |
Matches: 1 hit
- … to the author— The only alternative is 12/. —which will yield no more than £150— At 14/. …
To A. R. Wallace 25 January [1859]
Summary
Expresses pleasure and relief at ARW’s response to joint publication of their pieces about natural selection.
Plans for the "abstract" [Origin].
Birds’ nests as evidence of variation of instincts.
Their collection of bees’ combs.
Praises ARW’s article.
Lyell’s and Hooker’s views [of species issue].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Date: | 25 Jan [1859] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 46434) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2405 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … which eventually formed chapters 11 and 12 of Origin . CD’s journal entries of 15 January …
To John Lubbock 21 [March 1859]
Summary
Development of aphids; apparent absence of vermiform stage.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Date: | 21 [Mar 1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 263: 30 (EH 88206479) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2419 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … natural history. Medical Times & Gazette n.s. 12: 429–32, 481–4, 507–11, 563–7, 618–23; …
From John Murray 1 April 1859
Summary
On the strength of CD’s details about his work on species and his knowledge of CD’s former publications, JM offers to publish [Origin] without seeing the MS.
| Author: | John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Apr 1859 |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 41913 p.32) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2443 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … I shall be quite willing to give the author 12 copies for himself & as many more as he may …
CD memorandum 24 April 1859
Summary
Questions about stripes on mules.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 24 Apr 1859 |
| Classmark: | DAR 206 (Letters) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2454 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Fox, 13 November [1858] , to Walter Elliot , 12 December [1858], and to James Egan , 8 …
To W. B. Carpenter 3 December [1859]
Summary
Delighted by WBC’s letter about Origin. There is now "a great physiologist on our side". "You have done me an essential kindness in checking the odium theologicum in the E[dinburgh] R[eview] … immaterial whether we go quite the same lengths … the principle is everything."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Benjamin Carpenter |
| Date: | 3 Dec [1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 261.6: 3 (EH 88205920) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2568 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … you free on Thursday morning from 11 1 2 to 12 oclock? if so, I would call on you. But you …
| letter | (46) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (35) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (3) |
| Murray, John (b) | (2) |
| Falconer, Hugh | (1) |
| Huxley, T. H. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (11) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (7) |
| Huxley, T. H. | (7) |
| Lubbock, John | (4) |
| Lyell, Charles | (3) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (46) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (10) |
| Huxley, T. H. | (8) |
| Lubbock, John | (5) |
| Murray, John (b) | (5) |
Lost in translation: From Auguste Forel, 12 November 1874
Summary
You receive a gift from your scientific hero Charles Darwin. It is a book that contains sections on your favourite topic—ants. If only you had paid attention when your mother tried to teach you English you might be able to read it. But you didn’t, and you…
Matches: 1 hits
- … barely understand a word. Writing in French on 12 November 1874 to thank Darwin for the …
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: 9 hits
- … Correspondence vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] and n. 13). Initially, …
- … Stove [that is, cool hothouse]’ ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26[–7] March …
- … of different temperatures’ (letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March [1869] , Calendar no. 6661) …
- … 100 yards’ to the greenhouses ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, [25 January …
- … in mid-February (see letter from L. C. Treviranus, 12 February 1863 ). The second list is …
- … Anoectochilus argenteus 12 5 s . …
- … punctatum. 11. Mormodes aurantiaca 12. ‘Anoectochilus argenteus 5 s .’ deleted in …
- … Bolbophyllum barbigerum 12 major …
- … Ampelidae. 11. Alloplectus chrysanthus. 12. Bulbophyllum barbigerum. 13. …
Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots
Summary
Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…
Matches: 12 hits
- … Seventy years old Darwin’s seventieth birthday on 12 February was a cause for international …
- … and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ). The masters of …
- … ). The botanist and schoolteacher Hermann Müller wrote on 12 February to wish Darwin a ‘long and …
- … well, and with little fatigue’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 , and letter from Leonard …
- … ever about life of D r . D’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 12 July [1879] ). It was little …
- … Thiselton-Dyer, 5 June 1879 , and letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 ). Darwin’s final task …
- … inn ‘ very comfortable’, but told Leonard Darwin on 12 August that there were ‘too many human …
- … not to have come up when the Darwins lunched with him on 12 August (Darwin’s ‘Journal’). Nor did …
- … the world. At the end of the year he was awarded a prize of 12,000 francs by the Turin Academy of …
- … which greatly pleased Darwin ( letter from Grant Allen, 12 February 1879 ). One of Allen’s targets …
- … engagement being made public ( letter from T. H. Farrer, 12 October 1879 ). Darwin’s response not …
- … accurate in its treatment’ ( letter from Francis Galton, 12 November 1879 ). The comment that …
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: 11 hits
- … (letters from George Cupples, 21 February 1874 and 12 March 1874 ); the material was …
- … the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii; letters from T. N. Staley, 12 February 1874 and 20 February 1874 …
- … was published in November 1874 ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Though containing …
- … print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Darwin's …
- … Review & in the same type’ ( letter from John Murray, 12 August 1874 ). George’s letter …
- … he finally wrote a polite, very formal letter to Mivart on 12 January 1875 , refusing to hold any …
- … & snugness’ ( letter from Emma Darwin to J. B. Innes, 12 October [1874] ). More …
- … vicar of Deptford ( letter from Emma Darwin to J. B. Innes, 12 October [1874] ), but to her …
- … mechanism that Darwin agreed with ( letter to F. J. Cohn, 12 October 1874 ). Darwin’s American …
- … bank with enormous tips to his ears ( letter from Asa Gray, 12 May 1874 ). The Manchester …
- … excellent, & as clear as light’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 12 August [1874] ). Hooker …
1.2 George Richmond, marriage portrait
Summary
< Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more may once have existed. In a letter of 1873 an old Shrewsbury friend, Arthur Mostyn Owen, offered to send Darwin a watercolour sketch of him, painted many years…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more …
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: 6 hits
- … made a small omission ’. Stephen’s reply on 12 January was flattering, reassuring, and …
- … books being ‘a game of chance’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 12 April 1881 ). On 18 May he described …
- … Darwin had difficulty in obtaining mature plants. On 12 April, he reported to Müller , ‘I have …
- … to make me happy & contented,’ he told Wallace on 12 July , ‘but life has become very …
- … fight’ (letters to J. D. Hooker, 6 August 1881 and 12 August 1881 ). Darwin may have …
- … else’s judgment on the subject ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 12 July 1881 ). However, some requests …
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 3 hits
Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments
Summary
1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…
Matches: 6 hits
- … Hooker: ‘he is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). Two sexual …
- … of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): ‘my notions on …
- … least 3 classes of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), and experimenting to …
- … passed so miserable a nine months’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 12 September [1862] ). A family …
- … ‘Botany is a new subject to me’ ( letter to John Scott, 12 November [1862] ), but, impressed by …
- … into Tyndall’s ears’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10–12 November [1862] ). Another of Darwin’s …
German and Dutch photograph albums
Summary
Darwin Day 2018: To celebrate Darwin's 209th birthday, we present two lavishly produced albums of portrait photographs which Darwin received from continental admirers 141 years ago. These unusual gifts from Germany and the Netherlands are made…
Matches: 1 hits
- … their generous sympathy. ( Letter to A. A. van Bemmelen, 12 February 1877 ) View the …
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: 5 hits
- … than insectivorous plants. As he confessed to Hooker on 12 December , ‘I have not felt so angry …
- … from his family, he sent a curt note to Mivart on 12 January , breaking off all future …
- … of a bill that was presented to the House of Commons on 12 May, one week after a rival bill based on …
- … The author, Fritz Schultze, contacted Darwin himself on 12 June , describing the aims of his book …
- … scientific Socy. has done in my time,’ he told Hooker on 12 December . ‘I wish that I knew what …
Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
Matches: 3 hits
Diagrams and drawings in letters
Summary
Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Rubiaceae with enclosures containing bud samples, 12 May 1878 G. H. Darwin's …
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…
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…
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles
Summary
Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…
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: 3 hits
Henrietta Darwin's diary
Summary
Darwin's daughter Henrietta kept a diary for a few momentous weeks in 1871. This was the year in which Descent of Man, the most controversial of her father's books after Origin itself, appeared, a book which she had helped him write. The small…
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: 3 hits
Darwin & Glen Roy
Summary
Although Darwin was best known for his geological work in South America and other remote Beagle destinations, he made one noteworthy attempt to explain a puzzling feature of British geology. In 1838, two years after returning from the voyage, he travelled…
