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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: 9 hits
- … ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] . …
- … animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). Darwin reiterated in a later …
- … the origin of species particularly, worried Darwin; he told Hooker that he had once thought Lyell …
- … old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). Nevertheless, Darwin …
- … lack of expertise in the subject. ‘The worst of it is’, Hooker wrote to Darwin, ‘I suppose it is …
- … credit to his own research and that of Joseph Prestwich. Hooker wrote: ‘I fear L. will get scant …
- … had contributed to the proofs of human antiquity. Darwin and Hooker repeatedly exchanged regrets …
- … a fitting opportunity’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] January [1863] ). …
- … in the fossil record ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] January [1863] ). Only until March did …

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: 15 hits
- … for evaluation, and persuaded his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker to comment on a paper on Verbascum …
- … committed suicide at the end of April; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic …
- … thriving, and when illness made work impossible, Darwin and Hooker read a number of novels, and …
- … the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). Darwin …
- … I have not laboured in vain’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 6 January [1865] ). Sic transit …
- … kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 February [1865] ). However, …
- … griefs & pains: these alone are unalloyed’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 February 1865 ). …
- … Sic transit gloria mundi, with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). …
- … know it is folly & nonsense to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). He …
- … and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] ). In …
- … ‘able to write about an hour on most days’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 December [1865] ). …
- … willing to bear the expense of the woodcuts ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). After …
- … modification of structure’ (G. D. Campbell 1864, pp. 275–6). Campbell argued further that natural …
- … observations to high scientific account’ (A. Gray 1865–6, pp. 273-4). Darwin had also written to …
- … to the Anthropologicals?’ ( letter from F. H. Hooker, 6 September [1865] ). Before he returned …

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
- … to be referred to routinely. In November, Joseph Dalton Hooker told him: ‘you are alluded to in no …
- … students to make observations on American species. Hooker and George Bentham at Kew were also …
- … case warranted a paper for the Linnean Society ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 October [1862] ). …
- … different translator ( see letter from Edouard Claparède, 6 September 1862 ). In Germany, …
- … of the human species ( see letter from John Lubbock, 6 January 1862 ). Ramsay’s was not the …
- … of the pot of life’? ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 6 May 1862 ). In his address, Huxley also …

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
- … by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August 1874] ). …
- … of shooting and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ). Such reminiscences …
- … looks backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). I …
- … hope.— I feel very old & helpless’ ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] ). Darwin …
- … to believe in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 …
- … the publishers, he applied first to his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, and finally borrowed one from …
- … for misinterpreting Darwin on this point ( letter from J. D. Dana, 21 July 1874 ); however, he did …
- … on the outcome ( enclosure to letter from G. H. Darwin, 6 [August] 1874 ): I think you …
- … ‘I’m a grown man now’, he reminded Darwin, ‘& sh d . stand on my own footing, & if it is …
- … & it had been refused’ ( letter from G. H. Darwin, [6 or 7 August 1874] ). When the letter was …
- … Mivart (see Correspondence vol. 20, letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). To Darwin …
- … views. In December, he sought advice from Huxley and Hooker, sending them a draft letter that …
- … Mivart had written the article ( enclosure to letter from J. D. Hooker, 21 December 1874 ). Huxley …
- … before (see Correspondence vol. 22, Appendix V, p. 641). give him the cold shoulder …
- … to write to Mivart directly after he knew the full result of Hooker’s and Huxley’s representations ( …
- … or adviseable’. On Christmas Eve, Darwin wrote to Hooker that they were still in a dilemma …
- … 15 th he published that shabby rejoinder’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1874] ). On …
- … yours’ (see Correspondence vol. 22, appendix V, p. 644). In his dealings with both …
- … removed as secretary of the Linnean Society ( letter From J. D. Hooker, 29 December 1874 ). …

Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex
Summary
The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…
Matches: 18 hits
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, …
- … the accursed Index-maker’, Darwin wrote to Joseph Dalton Hooker on 6 January . Darwin had sent …
- … ). Darwin sympathised, replying on 14 January , ‘I sh d have a very bad heart, as hard as …
- … to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). But such …
- … away’ that sparked the most discussion. Darwin wrote to Hooker on 23 February , ‘did you look at …
- … thought it was by Gray himself, but Darwin corrected him: ‘D r Gray would strike me in the face, …
- … editor of the London and Westminster Review . When Hooker later tried to refute the claims of the …
- … a scamp & I begin to think a veritable ass’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868] ). …
- … on 17 April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d C. Darwin M.d’; Binstead evidently …
- … but never fulfilled. He was sent a news clipping on 6 July from the Maryport Weekly Advertiser …
- … House of Commons than any assembly in the world’ (from ?, 6 April 1868). On 21 May , Darwin …
- … The Swiss botanist Alphonse de Candolle described on 6 July the inheritance over eight …
- … kind almost heroic, in you to sacrifice your hair and pay 3 d in the cause of science …
- … information on colour changes in the canary (letters from J. J. Weir, [26] March 1868 and 3 …
- … added, ‘for it is clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). Sexual …
- … role of colour, sound, and smell in attracting females. J. J. Weir reported on 14 April 1868 …
- … Wallace that he had begun the previous year, writing to Hooker on 21 May , ‘I always distrust …
- … circulated to remote parts of the world. A correspondent of Hooker’s distributed it in Japan ( …

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: 17 hits
- … below, ‘Textual changes made to C. Lyell 1863c’). On 6 February 1863, Antiquity of man (C. Lyell …
- … over the comparative anatomy of human and ape brains. 6 Many of Lyell’s supporters were …
- … discussed the book in correspondence with Joseph Dalton Hooker, Asa Gray, and Huxley but he never …
- … complaint about the book was more personal. He confided to Hooker that he was ‘deeply disappointed’ …
- … but had tried, indirectly, to influence him. He told Hooker: 10 Do see Falconer …
- … Falconer to tone down his attack on Lyell and agreed, on Hooker’s advice, to soften a passage in the …
- … allude to Sir C’s explanation of the matter’. 23 Hooker, who had also been sent copies of the …
- … have given Lyell’s explanation in print, he disagreed with Hooker’s assessment of Lubbock’s note, …
- … reiterated his admiration for Lubbock’s book ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [4 June 1865] ). A week …
- … When Hooker pressed him for an opinion ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 July 1865 ), Darwin wrote …
- … of Antiquity of man (C. Lyell 1863c; see letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 June 1865] and n. 13) …
- … Lyell, see Bynum 1984 and L. G. Wilson 1996. 6. Owen’s complaints about C. Lyell 1863a …
- … 7. See Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February [1863] . On Lyell’s …
- … See Correspondence vol. 11, letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] and n. 7. 9. …
- … ]. 10. Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] . …
- … have seen is milk & water’ (see enclosure to letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 June 1865] ). …
- … T. H. Huxley, 7 June 1865, Imperial College, Huxley papers 6: 110). For more on the X-club, see …
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: 24 hits
- … writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring Gray Louis Agassiz, Adam …
- … this actor uses the words of Jane Loring Gray, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Hugh Falconer, Louis Agassiz, …
- … of natural selection to his friend, the botanist, Joseph D Hooker GRAY: 3 Charles …
- … he was the most charming of hosts. DARWIN: 6 My life goes on like Clockwork, and …
- … year 1839, and copied and communicated to Messrs Lyell and Hooker in 1844, being a part of …
- … DARWIN: 7 January 1844. My dear Hooker. I have been …engaged in a very presumptuous work …
- … the opportunity I enjoyed of making your acquaintance at Hooker’s three years ago; and besides that …
- … sheet of note-paper! DARWIN: 11 My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind …
- … 22 Hurrah I got yesterday my 41st Grass! Hooker is younger than Darwin and Gray by …
- … species before… DARWIN: 24 My dear Hooker… you cannot imagine how pleased I am …
- … on your bowels of immutability. Darwin passes to Hooker a brace of letters 25 …
- … there is a little rap for you. GRAY: 26 Hooker [is] dreadfully paradoxical to …
- … as well as any man. I send it… Darwin passes to Hooker an envelope of seeds. …
- … and Hawks have often been seen in mid Atlantic. HOOKER: 28 Thanks for your letter …
- … pleased to have. DARWIN: 33 My dear Hooker. Thanks, also, for [your] Photograph, …
- … expression and so by no means does you justice. HOOKER: 34 I believe I have very …
- … beguiled into should ‘rile’ you, as you say it does… Hooker rightly tells me, I have no business to …
- … make a very audacious remark in opposition to what I imagine Hooker has been writing and to your own …
- … of the origin of species by variation. GRAY: 60 I fear the variation hypothesis …
- … which he distributes liberally… DARWIN: 63 My dear Gray. I have directed a copy …
- … I should be extremely grateful. HOOKER: 64 Darwin’s book is out and created a …
- … I fear that it will be abominable in your eyes. 67 My dear [Professor Agassiz]…. I …
- … earnestly endeavoured to arrive at the truth. 68 My dear Professor Sedgwick… …
- … C DARWIN, 18–19 AUGUST 1862 149 C DARWIN TO J. D. HOOKER 26 JULY 1863 150 …

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: 11 hits
- … work of preparing new Editions’, he complained again to Hooker on 18 August. Finally, by …
- … much more than insectivorous plants. As he confessed to Hooker on 12 December , ‘I have not felt …
- … during the affair by the loyalty of his close friends, Hooker and Thomas Henry Huxley. …
- … ‘How grandly you have defended me’, Darwin wrote on 6 January , ‘You have also greatly honoured …
- … & if he speaks to me should let him feel it .’ Hooker also directed some of his anger …
- … thirst for vengeance is now quite Satisfied’, he told Hooker on 17 January , ‘I feel now like a …
- … book had to go along on the excursion,’ he reported on 6 July , ‘and it did us excellent service. …
- … firm. Darwin was impressed by the device, remarking to Hooker on 13 October : ‘Horace has made a …
- … laurel in the wreath of your fame ’, Haeckel wrote on 6 June , ‘to have a predecessor in the …
- … to the Royal Society on his behalf. Darwin complained to Hooker on 13 October , ‘It is not at all …
- … had reservations about the paper’s merit. He confessed to Hooker two days later, ‘after agonies of …

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…
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,…
Matches: 22 hits
- … Abbot, F. E. (17) Abernethy, J. W. (1) …
- … Allen, Grant (13) Allen, J. A. (b) (1) …
- … Allen, Thomas (2) Allman, G. J. (4) …
- … Isaac (17) Andersson, C. J. (3) …
- … Ansell, G. F. (1) Ansted, D. T. (8) …
- … (2) Appleton, T. G. (6) Arnold, F. S. …
- … (2) Arruda Furtado, Francisco d’ (10) …
- … Athenæum (11) Atkin, J. R. (1) …
- … Ayres, W. P. (1) B. J. Edwards & Co. (1) …
- … Balch, C. L. (3) Baldwin, J. D. (2) …
- … J. H. (2) Bartlett, A. D. (15) …
- … (2) Bentham, George (66) Bergson, Edouard …
- … (1) Blyth, Edward (64) Blytt, Axel …
- … (1) Boardman, A. F. (6) Boccardo, Gerolamo …
- … (2) Bonham-Carter, E. M. (6) Bonham-Carter, …
- … Brooks, W. C. (1) Brown, D. J. (1) …
- … Dudley (1) Campbell, G. D. (3) Canby …
- … & Galpin (1) Caton, J. D. (9) …
- … Mary (1) Conway, M. D. (9) Conybeare …
- … B. A. E. (1) Cooper, J. D. (2) …
- … James (40) Crick, W. D. (11) Crier, …
- … Holub, Emil (3) Hooker, F. H. (12) …

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: 20 hits
- … on publishers, decried on one occasion by Joseph Dalton Hooker as ‘Penny-wise Pound foolish, …
- … Fuller consideration of Darwin’s work was given by Hooker in an evening speech on insular floras at …
- … me any harm—any how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). Towards …
- … continued to refine his hypothesis in 1866. He wrote to Hooker on 16 May [1866] , ‘I … am at work …
- … it was too big. ‘You must congratulate me’, he wrote to Hooker, ‘when you hear that I have sent M.S. …
- … Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] ). When …
- … of Darwin’s closest scientific friends and correspondents. Hooker’s research on alpine floras, Henry …
- … have survived and appear in this volume), drawing Darwin, Hooker, and the botanist Charles James Fox …
- … bigotted to the last inch, & will not yield’, he wrote to Hooker, who attached greater weight to …
- … more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] ). Darwin …
- … ‘Your father … entered at the same time with Dr B. J. who received him with triumph. All his friends …
- … me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). Darwin himself …
- … then went for ¾ to Zoolog. Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 April 1866] ). …
- … tell him the truth how little exertion I can stand. I sh d like very much to see him, though I …
- … original contract between Darwin and the New York publisher D. Appleton and Co. in 1860. …
- … & admit how little is known on the subject’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 and 4 August [1866] ). …
- … see how differently we look at every thing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 August [1866] ). Yet both …
- … same thing in a different light from you’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 7 August 1866 ). The two …
- … forth against Origin (J. D. Hooker 1866a, pp. 50, 75–6). The progress of reception …
- … ( letter from E. C. Langton to Emma and Charles Darwin, [6 and 7? January 1866] ), and Darwin …
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: 8 hits
- … tapping into the networks of others, such as Joseph Dalton Hooker and Asa Gray, who were at leading …
- … of face-to-face contact. His correspondence with Joseph Hooker and Asa Gray illustrates how close …
- … The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. Hooker. The second is between Darwin …
- … to conclusion that species are not immutable. He admits to Hooker “it is like confessing a murder”. …
- … Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] Darwin catches up on personal …
- … name to specific name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 3 Feb 1849 In …
- … Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 12 Oct 1849 Darwin opens by discussing their …
- … lamination of gneiss. Letter 1319 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 6 & 7 Apr 1850 …

Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?
Summary
'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…
Matches: 23 hits
- … that the volume should be affordable: ‘do you not think 6s is too dear for a cheap Edit? Would not …
- … Darwin’s best efforts, set the final price at 7 s. 6 d. ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 …
- … as I can make it’, he wrote to the translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September 1872 ). He …
- … anatomist St George Jackson Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). A …
- … am made to appear’, complained Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). Piqued, …
- … `fundamental intellectual errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January 1872 ). Darwin …
- … to think he felt friendly towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872] ). Despite …
- … if only `in another world’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 10 January 1872 ). Darwin, determined …
- … but asked Mivart not to acknowledge it ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). 039;I …
- … selection is somewhat under a cloud’, he wrote to J. E. Taylor on 13 January , and he complained …
- … rather than offended by `that clever book’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 21 November 1872 ) and …
- … dispute involving his close friend Joseph Dalton Hooker came to a head. Hooker, director of the …
- … system in the glasshouses had escalated to the point where Hooker applied over Ayrton’s head direct …
- … your enemies be cursed, is my pious frame of mind Hooker’s cause was taken up by his …
- … the independence of science from bureaucratic interference. Hooker had kept Darwin well informed: …
- … was Darwin’s wholeheartedly partisan reply ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 May 1872 ). On 13 June, a …
- … to make one turn into an old honest Tory’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 July [1872] ). …
- … effect on my mind’ ( letter to Chauncey Wright, 6 April 1872 ). A competing theory on the …
- … in his `Literary Banquet’ (letters from John Murray, 6 November [1872] and 9 November 1872 ). …
- … own muscles when attending women in labour ( letter from J. T. Rothrock, 25 November 1872 ); …
- … of the microscope led his head to `fail’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 29 October [1872] ) he had begun …
- … by hearing about Panagæus!’ Darwin wrote ( letter to W. D. Fox, 16 July [1872] ). I …
- … my life which surprised & gratified me more’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 21 November 1872 ). …

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: 21 hits
- … exclaimed to his close friend, the botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker: ‘Hurrah! I have been 52 hours …
- … 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin wrote to Hooker: ‘The only approach to work which …
- … by which leaves produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). Darwin’s …
- … peduncles to test sensitivity, and in his request to Hooker for another specimen: ‘I want it …
- … plant morphology. Many of his other correspondents, such as Hooker and Gray, had grown accustomed to …
- … the Lythrum paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] …
- … letter of 22 October [1864] , Darwin triumphantly wrote to Hooker: ‘I will fight you to the death, …
- … and 249). When Darwin requested orchid specimens from Hooker in November, he said that he did …
- … certain difficult & tedious points’, Darwin asked Hooker about the possibility of Scott’s …
- … with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] ). …
- … often at odds with one another: ‘Gardeners are the very d—l, & where two or three are gathered …
- … enough to play your part over them’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 April 1864] ). …
- … … they do require very careful treatment’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 8 April 1864 ). Nevertheless …
- … that in giving I am hastening the fall’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 April 1864 ). In his …
- … a first-class cabin for the journey ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 August 1864] ). Darwin …
- … you have bearded this lion in his den’ ( letter to B. D. Walsh, 4 December [1864] ). Walsh also …
- … he spoke out on the modification of species ( letter to B. D. Walsh, 21 October [1864] ). …
- … deity for the use of humankind ( letter from John Beck, 6 October 1864 ). Theological …
- … he thought him ‘sanguine & unsafe’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 February 1864 ). Hooker …
- … correct if they contradicted the Bible ( see letter from J. D. Hooker, [19 September 1864] ). When …
- … Lyell 1865] I shall recant for fifth time’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 October [1864] ). Lyell …

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: 17 hits
- … Henry Huxley, William Benjamin Carpenter, and Joseph Dalton Hooker. Others were not quite as …
- … cannot expect fairness in a Reviewer’, Darwin commented to Hooker after reading an early notice that …
- … of the geological record; but this criticism, he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main …
- … principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). Above …
- … it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] ). This …
- … considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
- … two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like …
- … distribution of species ( see letter from T. H. Huxley, 6 August 1860 ). But Baer in fact …
- … ‘topics of the day’ at the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. Hooker’s letter, one …
- … Owen ‘had a furious battle over Darwins absent body’, Hooker attended the fabled Saturday session of …
- … of the development of Western civilisation. Wilberforce, Hooker recounted, responded by shouting …
- … ‘master of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other …
- … were already proved) to his own views.—’ ( letter from J. S. Henslow to J. D. Hooker, 10 May 1860 …
- … critique of his geological argument, he wrote to Lyell on 6 June [1860] : 039;I am beginning to …
- … these visits have led to changed structure.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 27 April [1860] ). Tracing …
- … months later, ‘just as at a game of chess.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 [July 1860] ). With the …
- … from non=nitrogenised substances.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 31 [August 1860] ). Relying in part …

St George Jackson Mivart
Summary
In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…
Matches: 12 hits
- … of the mystery as to the descent of man.’ p. 63: ‘It is one of the calamities of our time and …
- … which Darwin approved ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [5 or 6 August 1874] ), while reiterating his …
- … and sent a fair copy of his letter with his letter of 6 [August] 1874 . George and Darwin were …
- … Huxley’s reaction was savage ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [6 December 1874] ). Hooker and Huxley …
- … admit his authorship of the attack on George ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December 1874 ). Huxley …
- … attacked a friend of mine.’ ( Enclosure to letter from J. D. Hooker, 21 December 1874 .) A reply …
- … still wrote to Mivart , in a letter that he circulated to Hooker and Darwin, that it was necessary …
- … inferior Deities do battle with the infernal powers.’ What Hooker, Huxley, and Darwin were proposing …
- … someone who was not willing to reply. However, for men in Hooker’s, Huxley’s, and Darwin’s social …
- … could look like both cliquishness and the abuse of power. (Hooker was president and Huxley secretary …
- … was reluctant to have the matter stirred up even more. Hooker, on the other hand, was meditating …
- … from John Tyndall, 28 December 1874 , and letter from J. D. Hooker, 29 December 1874 ). …

Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …

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: 17 hits
- … correcting’ ( Correspondence vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868] ). He may have …
- … he remarked to his best friend, the botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, ‘If I lived 20 more years, & …
- … Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). …
- … Darwin sent a manuscript of his response (now missing) to Hooker, remarking: ‘I should be extremely …
- … blunders, as is very likely to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). Hooker …
- … principle (Nägeli 1865, pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide Darwin with botanical …
- … retrench that position following criticism from his friend Hooker, by admitting that the survival of …
- … would always exist. In Origin 5th ed., pp. 450–61, Darwin accounted for the survival of tropical …
- … do fairly well, though if I had read you first, perhaps I d have been less deferential towards …
- … males & females, cocks & hens.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 November [1869] ). Yet …
- … & contempt—almost hatred—’ ( from Asa Gray and J. L. Gray, 8 and 9 May [1869] ). James …
- … by Wallace’s assertions: ‘If you had not told me I d have thought that they had been added by …
- … Darwin had investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February 1869 ). In a letter to the …
- … commentary (Royer trans. 1870). Darwin complained to Hooker, ‘Besides her enormously long & …
- … [her] to translate “Domestic Animals”’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 November [1869] ). Angered by …
- … of the whole meeting was decidedly Huxley’s answer to D r M c Cann. He literally poured boiling …
- … suggestions to its publisher, Macmillan ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 November 1869 ). Darwin …

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: 21 hits
- … his views of close friends like Charles Lyell, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Thomas Henry Huxley, who …
- … at the end of 1859, ‘I sometimes fancied that my book w d be successful; but I never even built …
- … made on you (whom I have always looked at as chief judge) & Hooker & Huxley. The whole has …
- … the load of curious facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). In addition to …
- … were incipient species ( Natural selection, p. 145–6): From looking at species as only …
- … the interpretation of the statistics was still problematic. Hooker thought that Darwin was wrong to …
- … up. With some trepidation, Darwin sent his manuscript off to Hooker for his comments. Darwin’s …
- … that all was much alike, & if you condemned that you w d . condemn all—my life’s work—& …
- … ‘Your words have come true with a vengeance that I sh d . be forestalled’, he lamented to Lyell. …
- … some time away. On 16 May [1858], he arranged a meeting with Hooker to discuss his manuscript on …
- … be dreadfully severe.—’ On 18 [May 1858], he again tells Hooker: ‘There is not least hurry in world …
- … work. The story has often been told of how Lyell and Hooker suggested that Darwin’s years of …
- … 1857. The correspondence between Darwin, Lyell, and Hooker contains all of the extant letters …
- … his material would require a ‘small volume’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] ). Begun …
- … appropriated the other’s ideas (see letters to J. D. Hooker, 2 March [1859] , 11 March [1859] …
- … Elwin to Murray, 3 May 1859 , and letter to John Murray, 6 May [1859] ). The extant …
- … but in this he was disappointed. ‘We have been here above 6 week,’ he wrote to Fox, ‘& I feel …
- … about the fine points of Darwin’s theory ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 May 1859 ). Among the …
- … Priests at me & leaves me to their mercies’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 November 1859] ). …
- … larky since we run two horses’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 6 October [1858] ). Visitors to Down and …
- … young & rising naturalists on our side.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1859] ). …

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: 25 hits
- … 4 [Pierquin de Gembloux 1839]. Said to be good by D r L. Lindsay 5 [DAR *119: 1v. …
- … Brown 1814] & at the end of Congo voyage [R. Brown 1818]. (Hooker 923) 7 read …
- … on Annals of Nat. Hist. [Jenyns 1838] Prichard; a 3 d . vol [Prichard 1836–47] Lawrence [W. …
- … Teneriffe. in Pers. Narr. [A. von