Bad Request
Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
Apache Server at dcp-public.lib.cam.ac.uk Port 443
Darwin in letters, 1861: Gaining allies
Summary
The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. He had weathered the storm that followed the publication of Origin, and felt cautiously optimistic about the ultimate acceptance of his ideas. The letters from this year provide an…
Matches: 23 hits
- … The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. By then, …
- … , developed into an intensive study of the phenomenon in 1861. Orchids, in particular the …
- … with natural theology. He made arrangements with his friend Asa Gray to reprint and distribute in …
- … me & Natural Selection, right good service’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 26–7 Februrary [1861] ). …
- … III). However, Darwin himself remained unconvinced by Gray’s suggestion that providence may have …
- … Charles Lyell ( see letter to Charles Lyell, 20 July [1861] ). One reason for Darwin’s interest in …
- … proved’ ( see second letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 [April 1861] ). Darwin continued to stress to his …
- … followed in Origin was singled out for praise in 1861. He had been disappointed to learn of John …
- … a committed crusader, Darwin wrote to Herschel, on 23 May [1861]: 'You will think me very …
- … to such a subject’ ( letter from Henry Fawcett, 16 July [1861] ). Mill in fact included a brief …
- … of any service!’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] ). Darwin added some new …
- … the geological record ( see letter to George Maw, 19 July [1861] ). The American palaeontologist …
- … opportunity’ ( letter from Joseph Leidy, 4 March [1861] ). However, the publication of Leidy’s …
- … her new species’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 28 March [1861] ). Mimicry Bates' …
- … was evident. He told Darwin in his letter of [1 December] 1861: I think the whole tenour …
- … set is free’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 30 September 1861 ). As Peter Bowler has commented, …
- … to Nat. History.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 4 April [1861] ). He also advised that the public …
- … poor cousins.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 3 December [1861] ). Darwin volunteered to read some of …
- … intercrossing between distinct individuals. He told Gray that such cases could perhaps ‘throw some …
- … profoundly interesting’, Darwin told the Harvard botanist Asa Gray on 5 June, and added, despite the …
- … or heard a soul who is not with the North’. Darwin and Gray both unreservedly supported the northern …
- … views and sentiments are perfectly satisfactory to me’, Gray wrote to Darwin on 31 December. …
- … greatest curse on Earth Slavery abolished’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 5 June [1861] ): Some …
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: 17 hits
- … – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as …
- … quotes from the correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton …
- … read the words of the following: Actor 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin …
- … day archivist, this actor uses the words of Jane Loring Gray, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Hugh Falconer, …
- … in which the play unfolds and acting as a go-between between Gray and Darwin, and between the …
- … are described by his widow Jane the final days of Professor Asa Gray, Harvard Botanist. A series of …
- … of the Life of Darwin. At this time in his life, Asa Gray is in his late 70s. JANE …
- … secret and potentially incendiary ideas. A younger Asa Gray (now in his mid 40s) arrives in …
- … you might reasonably expect… Yours most sincerely Asa Gray. DARWIN: 16 My dear …
- … 25 I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received this morning. I send my own, also, …
- … instructive to me. 42 Ever most cordially yours, Asa Gray Darwin, after a short …
- … run prevail. CERTAIN BENEFICIAL LINES: 1860 Asa Gray presents his argument of Creation …
- … hopelessly in the mud. BEGINNING OF WAR IN AMERICA: 1861-1862 In which the start of …
- … fire. Military drums. GRAY: 113 April 1861. We are now opening a war, upon the …
- … 1856 29 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 11 APRIL 1861 30 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, EARLY …
- … 16 FEB 1863 99 C DARWIN TO LYELL, 21 AUGUST 1861 100 A GRAY, ATLANTIC …
- … 3 JULY 1860 109 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 21 JULY 1861 110 QUOTED IN C …
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: 16 hits
- … stimulated, his work on dimorphic plants, which had begun in 1861 with his study of Primula and …
- … was read before the Linnean Society of London in November 1861, and was published in the society’s …
- … and assistance with experiments. In January, he wrote to Asa Gray thanking him for some ‘new cases …
- … had ‘different functions’. He continued to write to Gray throughout the year about his quest for …
- … time on the problem: ‘the labour is great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ) …
- … may be said to be generically distinct’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 14 July [1862] ). The case was so …
- … seed. The case clearly excited Darwin, who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 9 August [1862] …
- … had enjoyed observing the orchids: he described the work to Gray as a ‘hobby-horse’ that had given …
- … of natural selection through the back door ( letter to Asa Gray, 23[–4] July [1862] ). Moreover, …
- … his opposition to the Origin ’ ( letter from Asa Gray, 2–3 July 1862 ). Henry Walter …
- … which he did so, read before the Linnean Society in November 1861, was lengthened and published in …
- … ). War abroad. Anxiety at home As usual, Asa Gray took care that Americans should know …
- … & genius you have for these researches’ ( letter from Asa Gray, 18 May 1862 ). In thanking …
- … ‘not a shade of feeling against slavery’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 October [1862] ). It was …
- … ‘fearful evil to the whole world’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 October [1862] )—appreciated how well …
- … had ‘come to wish for Peace at any price’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 23[–4] July [1862] ), the couple …
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: 16 hits
- … ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). The botanist Asa Gray, Darwin’s friend in the United …
- … Huxley’s book would scare them off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In May, Darwin …
- … and letter to Athenæum , 18 April [1863] ). He told Gray: ‘Under the cloak of a fling at …
- … Lyells amended verdict on the Origin’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 20 April [1863] ). Darwin quoted a …
- … 1862 (see Correspondence vol. 10). He sent a copy to Asa Gray to review in an American journal, …
- … January [1863] and 31 January [1863] , and letter to Asa Gray, 31 May [1863] ). Asa Gray …
- … over the angles of leaves, asking the professional botanists Gray, Hooker, and Daniel Oliver for …
- … letter from Daniel Oliver, 17 February 1863 , letter to Asa Gray, 20 April [1863] , letter to …
- … was ‘enough to drive the quietest man mad’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). Hooker and Gray …
- … sterility, that had already occupied much of his time in 1861 and 1862. With the publication in 1862 …
- … of sterility, a question he had been struggling with in 1861 and 1862; he wanted to determine …
- … forms that he had started the previous year ( letter to Asa Gray, 4 August [1863] ). The results …
- … Darwin concluded: ‘It was beautiful’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 20 April [1863] ). Cross …
- … and pistils mature at different times ( see letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). The fertility of …
- … all its modifications as anything in orchids’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 4 August [1863] ). He acquired …
- … they lived not to know anything of them?’ ( letter from Asa Gray, 1 September 1863 ). Gray …
Essay: Natural selection & natural theology
Summary
—by Asa Gray NATURAL SELECTION NOT INCONSISTENT WITH NATURAL THEOLOGY. Atlantic Monthly for July, August, and October, 1860, reprinted in 1861. I Novelties are enticing to most people; to us they are simply annoying. We cling to a long-accepted…
Religion
Summary
Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…
Matches: 7 hits
- … of design. The first is between Darwin and Harvard botanist Asa Gray, taking as their point of …
- … force”. Letter 2855 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 3 July [1860] Darwin writes to …
- … for the attention now given to the subject. He poses Gray a question on design in nature, as he is …
- … an angel. Letter 3342 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 11 Dec [1861] Darwin writes to …
- … white flag than to fire my usual long-range shot”. He asks Gray some questions about design. …
- … gives an “excellent idea of Pangenesis”. He talks about Gray giving him a good slap at his …
- … theist and evolutionist, giving the examples of Kingsley and Asa Gray. As regards his own views, his …
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: 11 hits
- … out in the United States and in Germany, he expressed to Asa Gray his astonishment at the widespread …
- … thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
- … were inexplicable by the theory of creation. Asa Gray’s statement in his March review that natural …
- … solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). To those …
- … perfected structure as the eye. As Darwin admitted to Lyell, Gray, and others, imagining how …
- … caused him greater discomfort. As he readily admitted to Gray: ‘The sight of a feather in a peacock …
- … change of form’, namely those of embryology ( letter to Asa Gray, 10 September [1860] ). Only his …
- … in letters to his closest confidants Hooker, Lyell, and Gray. Initially he found it curious ‘how …
- … not thoroughly . . . I must be a very bad explainer.' Asa Gray and design in nature …
- … Origin in America by Louis Agassiz and his followers, Gray’s essays, Darwin believed, could also …
- … published together under Gray’s name in a pamphlet (Gray 1861) with the publication costs shared …
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: 18 hits
- … evidence to establish the age of the human race. In 1861, Lubbock joined Thomas Henry Huxley …
- … geologico-archaeological researches in Denmark’ (Lubbock 1861) for the October 1861 issue. The …
- … source of many of the ‘details’ for his article (Lubbock 1861, p. 494). Meanwhile, Lubbock continued …
- … type for Elements of geology in 1860 and then re-set in 1861 for Antiquity of man (see below …
- … in the October Number of the Natural History Review , 1861, p. 489, in which he has described the …
- … the book in correspondence with Joseph Dalton Hooker, Asa Gray, and Huxley but he never spoke out …
- … note on p. 11 of C. Lyell 1863c, which implied that Lubbock 1861 had been written after the chapter …
- … similarity of certain passages in C. Lyell 1863c and Lubbock 1861 (and consequently in Lubbock 1865) …
- … explaining his position and citing passages in Lubbock 1861 and C. Lyell 1863c that were almost …
- … was not original work (Lubbock had based much of his 1861 article on earlier Danish studies) it …
- … which were published in the interval between the autumn of 1861 and February 1863. In this long …
- … a translation for the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1861. 35 The distinguished …
- … the October number of the ‘Natural History Review’ for 1861, to improve the wording, and …
- … in the October Number of the Natural History Review, 1861, p. 489, in which he has described the …
- … in the October Number of the Natural History Review, 1861, p. 489, an able paper on the Danish …
- … 129–88; 15 (1863–66): 245–321. Lubbock, John. 1861. The kjökkenmöddings: recent geologico …
- … Naturelles 6: 263–328. Morlot, Charles Adolphe. 1861. General views on archæology. Annual …
- … and condition of the institution for the year 1860 15 (1861): 284–343. Translated by Philip Harry, …
Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…
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: 7 hits
- … the networks of others, such as Joseph Dalton Hooker and Asa Gray, who were at leading scientific …
- … contact. His correspondence with Joseph Hooker and Asa Gray illustrates how close personal ties …
- … D. Hooker. The second is between Darwin and Harvard botanist Asa Gray. Darwin and Hooker …
- … species to wide-ranging genera. Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. …
- … in the USA. Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 20 July [1857] Darwin writes …
- … Letter 3139 — Tegetmeier, W. B. to Darwin, C. R., 4 May [1861] Tegetmeier sends some replies …
- … Primula . Letter 4611 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 13 Sept [1864] Darwin sends …
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 …
Forms of flowers
Summary
Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…
Matches: 12 hits
- … five articles Darwin had published on the topic between 1861 and 1868. Two related questions inform …
- … produced seed capsules. He told the American botanist Asa Gray , ‘ If it should prove that the …
- … if I cannot make out the mystery next Spring. ’ By March 1861, Darwin had begun to refer to the ‘ …
- … a meeting of the Linnean Society of London on 21 November 1861. ‘Dimorphic …
- … make 126 additional crosses!! ’ Nevertheless, on telling Gray about the need for this further work, …
- … often adapted for insect visitation. In his reply to Darwin, Gray unsurprisingly revealed, ‘ I know …
- … believe in my results. ’ Undeterred, Darwin reported to Gray at the beginning of August, ‘I have …
- … triple marriage between three hermaphrodite. ’ Gray replied, ‘ If your Lythrum -paper shall be …
- … , a species of lungwort also known as blue cowslip. He told Gray in October 1865 that with respect …
- … of Origin . He encouraged Huxley to read it, noting, ‘ Asa Gray & Fritz Müller (the latter …
- … in as many natural families as possible’, explaining to Gray that he had ‘ become convinced that …
- … term heterostyly in preference to di- or trimorphism. Gray objected and suggested his own …
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: 6 hits
- … & that almost exclusively bread & meat’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 August [1865] ). By …
- … on 2 February, and in April Darwin wrote to his friend Asa Gray, a botanist in the United States, …
- … be an unnatural parent, for it is your child’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 19 April 1865 ; Darwin noted …
- … vol. 9, letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 September [1861] ). Scott had evidently started his …
- … Benjamin Dann Walsh in the Midwestern United States, and Asa Gray wrote a long review of ‘Climbing …
- … Darwin wrote poignantly to his son William on 30 November [1861]: ‘Mamma is in bed with bad Headach. …
Have you read the one about....
Summary
... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …
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: 7 hits
- … Origin appeared. Everyone from the Harvard botanist Asa Gray to his own publisher came up with …
- … outline of his theory written in 1842 , and, as he told Asa Gray in September 1857 , he intended …
- … years, Natural Selection . With that letter to Gray, Darwin enclosed a brilliantly …
- … for the good of each organic being’. It was Gray’s now missing response to that exposition …
- … ” ’. It was the draft of this enclosure to Gray , along with extracts from Darwin’s …
- … under domestication & nature ’, other readers reinforced Gray’s original criticism that …
- … applicable to them! —a reference to John Edward Gray, who Darwin exclaimed understood …
Darwin and Down
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin, with their first two children, settled at Down House in the village of Down (later ‘Downe’) in Kent, as a young family in 1842. The house came with eighteen acres of land, and a fifteen acre meadow. The village combined the…
Orchids
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A project to follow On the Origin of Species Darwin began to observe English orchids and collect specimens from abroad in the years immediately following the publication of On the Origin of Species. Examining…
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: 9 hits
- … on the basis of alleged evidence of a global ice age, while Asa Gray pressed Darwin’s American …
- … hybrids, soliciting assistance from the American botanist Asa Gray, the nurseryman Thomas Rivers, …
- … on botanical dimorphism and trimorphism, published between 1861 and 1864, which raised questions …
- … across the Atlantic, despite much effort expended by Asa Gray in trying to secure a new American …
- … changes, but their proposal was unsatisfactory to Darwin. Gray then approached another American firm …
- … Darwin had become interested in Rhamnus (buckthorn) in 1861, when Asa Gray informed him that a …
- … a subject of long discussion in previous years with Lyell, Gray, and Hooker. Wallace’s …
- … a subject of extensive correspondence between Darwin and Asa Gray for many years, was legally …
- … fact that Slavery is at end in your country’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 April [1866] ). …
New material added to the American edition of Origin
Summary
A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…
Matches: 12 hits
- … Origin was published, Darwin received a letter from Asa Gray offering to arrange an American …
- … a share in possible profits. Darwin responded favourably to Gray’s proposal in his letter of 21 …
- … their heads that a species is an entity.—‘ After Gray had contacted the Boston publishing …
- … preparing for distribution. Acting on Darwin’s behalf, Gray duly contacted D. Appleton to inquire …
- … transmitting their response to Darwin (see letters from Asa Gray, [10 January 1860], [17 January …
- … fixed through the process of stereotyping (see letter from Asa Gray, 23 January [1860] and n. 2). …
- … of the transmutation of species; Darwin sent this off to Gray enclosed in his letter of [8 or 9 …
- … to Lyell, 18 [and 19 February 1860]. Darwin suggested to Gray that the title page of the new edition …
- … Second Edition with additional corrections” (letter to Asa Gray, 1 February [1860]). By 1 May …
- … from three separate printings of Origin (see letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] and enclosure) …
- … edition of Origin was available in July 1860 (see [Gray] 1860b, p. 116). It is interesting to …
- … form, to the third edition of Origin , published in March 1861 (see Freeman 1977, p. 83). As Gray …
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…
