From Alfred Russel Wallace 14 January [1863]
Summary
Health.
Is sending information about Timor fossils to be forwarded to Hugh Falconer.
| Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Jan [1863] |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: B7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3915 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Health. Is sending information about Timor fossils to be forwarded to Hugh Falconer. …
- … indeed to hear you are still in weak health. Have you ever tried mountain air. A residence …
- … I trust your family are now all in good health, & that you may be spared any anxiety on …
- … of seeing you— I am now in much better health but find sudden changes of weather affect me …
- … wishes for the speedy recovery of your health | I remain | My dear Mr. Darwin | Yours …
- … spring of 1862 in a weak state of health (see Wallace 1905 , 1: 386, and Correspondence …
From John Scott to Emma Darwin 25 September [1863]
Summary
Regrets CD’s poor health.
"Do not return Primula MS."
| Author: | John Scott |
| Addressee: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
| Date: | 25 Sept [1863] |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 97 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4307 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Regrets CD’s poor health. "Do not return Primula MS." …
- … again labouring under such a weak state of health. I hope & trust that you may be deceived …
- … of seeing him again in the full enjoyment of health. Please convey to M r . Darwin my best …
- … your returning my M.S. on account of M r . Darwin’s weak state of health. Presuming that …
- … he had been enjoying his usual state of health, I knew full well that his time was too …
From J. B. Innes 17 December [1863]
Summary
Suggests a new school for CD’s son [Horace].
| Author: | John Brodie Innes |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 Dec [1863] |
| Classmark: | DAR 167: 13 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4357 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … University Press. 1985–. Cresy, Edward. 1850. Public Health Act, 11 & 12 Vict. , cap. …
- … 63. Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, …
- … town of Worthing. London: General Board of Health. Crockford’s clerical directory : The …
- … University Press. Wood, Neville. 1912. Health resorts of the British Islands. London: …
- … 3. The reference is to Horace Darwin , whose ill health had led to the interruption of his …
- … Cresy’s report to the General Board of Health on the sanitary condition of Worthing ( …
- … superintending inspector to the General Board of Health in 1848 (see Correspondence vol. …
To W. D. Fox 23 May [1863]
Summary
Health has been poor but eczema is improved.
A "squib" about Owen and Huxley on the brain has appeared in Public Opinion [3 (1863): 497–8].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | 23 May [1863] |
| Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 139) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4181 |
From John Lubbock to Emma Darwin 24 October 1863
Summary
Sorry to hear of CD’s poor health.
| Author: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Addressee: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
| Date: | 24 Oct 1863 |
| Classmark: | DAR 170: 42 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4322 |
To H. W. Bates 30 April [1863]
Summary
After finishing vol. 2 [of Naturalist on the river Amazons], CD still has only praise. Remarks that his family is also enjoying the book. He regrets having finished, since he so enjoyed the descriptions.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 30 Apr [1863] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4132 |
To C. T. Whitley 20 June [1863]
Summary
Recalls the long walks in Cambridge with the "expectant senior wrangler". Cannot accept invitation (related to meetings of the BAAS) because of continuing bad health, his own and that of his children.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Thomas Whitley |
| Date: | 20 June [1863] |
| Classmark: | Shrewsbury School, Taylor Library |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4217A |
To H. W. Bates 4 March [1863]
Summary
CD relates Asa Gray’s pleasure over HWB’s paper and Gray’s plans to write abstract [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 36 (1863): 285–90].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 4 Mar [1863] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4022 |
From Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox 8 December [1863]
Summary
Thanks WDF for his letter [on steel traps].
Gives a better report of CD’s health since he gave up water-cure.
| Author: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | 8 Dec [1863] |
| Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 142) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4355 |
To James Dwight Dana 7 January [1863]
Summary
Responds to JDD’s letter [3845].
Discusses his own poor health.
"Man is our great subject at present."
Lyell’s book [Antiquity of man (1863)] sold 4000 copies on day of sale.
"The fossil bird [Archaeopteryx] … is a grand case for me." Wishes a skeleton could be found in the "so-called red sandstone foot-step beds".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | James Dwight Dana |
| Date: | 7 Jan [1863] |
| Classmark: | Yale University Library: Manuscripts and Archives (Dana Family Papers (MS 164) Series 1, Box 2, folder 44) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3905 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … s letter [ 3845 ]. Discusses his own poor health. "Man is our great subject at present." …
- … by your letter of Dec. 4 th . that your health is considerably reestablished & that you …
- … hard days work. I hope to God that your health will steadily, though slowly must be …
- … large for Post has been made in London. — My health of late has been very indifferent, & I …
To Ernst Haeckel 30 December [1863] – 3 January [1864]
Summary
Will be proud to receive EH’s Die Radiolarien [1862].
Health continues very weak.
[P.S. 3 Jan] Has sent EH another letter by mistake.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Ernst Philipp August (Ernst) Haeckel |
| Date: | 30 Dec [1863] – 3 Jan [1864] |
| Classmark: | Ernst-Haeckel-Haus (Bestand A-Abt. 1: 1026/1) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4361 |
From Thomas Rivers 30 January 1863
Summary
Asks CD’s views on TR’s observations that leaves breathe from their under-surfaces.
Peach-trees in hothouses cannot be kept in health unless fresh air is admitted so as to make its way under the leaves.
Continues his observations on the effect of environment on men – those migrating to America gradually assuming Indian-like features.
| Author: | Thomas Rivers |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Jan 1863 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 162 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3955 |
To Edward Cresy 13 May [1863]
Summary
Thanks for maps.
George [Darwin] failed at St John’s [College, Cambridge] and will stay another year at school.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Edward Cresy, Jr |
| Date: | 13 May [1863] |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 323 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4164 |
From Emma Darwin to W. E. Darwin [28 October 1863]
Summary
CD’s health.
Family and local news.
| Author: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | [28 Oct 1863] |
| Classmark: | DAR 219. 1: 78 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4323F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … CD’s health. Family and local news. …
To H. W. Bates 26 January [1863]
Summary
Congratulations on marriage, which CD considers the best and only chance for happiness in this world.
Glad HWB is near completion of book.
Begs him to thank Wallace for Melastoma information; CD "cannot endure being beaten by a beggarly flower".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 26 Jan [1863] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3945 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
To M. T. Masters [8–13 April 1863]
Summary
Sends two spikes of Corydalis.
Admits he may have drawn false inference from MTM’s division of peloria into two classes.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Maxwell Tylden Masters |
| Date: | [8–13 Apr 1863] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4091 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
From Emma Darwin to Frederick Pollock 23 October [1863?]
Summary
Apologises that CD is too unwell to do any work, but he is most interested in the frequent occurrence of inherited variations in one locality. It would have been a pleasure to visit if his health had permitted.
| Author: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
| Addressee: | Jonathan Frederick (Frederick) Pollock, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 23 Oct [1863?] |
| Classmark: | Private collection |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4321F |
To Hurst & Blackett 15 November [1863]
Summary
Offers letters to Eliza Meteyard for her book [The life of Josiah Wedgwood (1865–6)].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Hurst & Blackett |
| Date: | 15 Nov [1863] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4672 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
To H. W. Bates 18 April [1863]
Summary
Has finished vol. 1 [of Naturalist on the river Amazons]. CD praises book as "best ever published in England".
The review in the Athenæum was cold, as always, and insolent.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 18 Apr [1863] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4107 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
From George Chichester Oxenden 13 May 1863
Summary
Going abroad; will miss the English orchid season.
| Author: | George Chichester Oxenden |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 May 1863 |
| Classmark: | DAR 173: 61 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4163 |
| letter | (98) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (45) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (7) |
| Scott, John | (5) |
| Darwin, Emma | (4) |
| Wedgwood, Emma | (4) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (46) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (10) |
| Bates, H. W. | (5) |
| Scott, John | (5) |
| Fox, W. D. | (4) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (91) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (17) |
| Scott, John | (10) |
| Bates, H. W. | (7) |
| Darwin, Emma | (6) |
Darwin's health
Summary
On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…
Matches: 6 hits
- … letter which he put down to his exceptionally poor health: Indeed all this winter, I …
- … up to its name. Darwin experienced chronic episodes of ill health, which increased in severity in …
- … treatment. In April 1864, Darwin attributed his improved health to Dr Jenner’s advice: ‘ drinking …
- … very least, it seems clear that Darwin’s periods of ill health were quite useful. Citing a troubled …
- … letter to Robert FitzRoy, [20 February 1840] . Darwin’s health diary (Down House MS), which he …
- … Darwin had sometimes noted the acidity of his vomit in his health diary (Down House MS; see Colp …
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: 8 hits
- … had plagued him since the spring of 1863. Because of poor health, Darwin corresponded little during …
- … and having scientific papers read to him. In March, his health improved enough for him to make some …
- … he could work (presumably at writing) for two hours. As his health grew worse during the last two …
- … flower-peduncle, petiole, leaf, and aerial roots. When his health deteriorated in 1863, he found …
- … forms of the trimorphic Lythrum , and when his health permitted in 1864 he drew up the results …
- … Sabine, 4 December [1864] ). Struggling with ill-health Darwin received news of …
- … form of letters during 1864; because of his fragile state of health, he saw few people outside the …
- … scientific colleagues, and he continued writing even as his health worsened again in November and …
Darwin's notes for his physician, 1865
Summary
On 20 May 1865, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary that John Chapman, a prominent London publisher who had studied medicine in London and Paris in the early 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863 Chapman started to treat…
Matches: 3 hits
- … 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863 Chapman started to treat …
- … Jenner. In November and December of 1864, however, his health grew worse. In his ‘Journal’, Darwin …
- … for references to the extensive literature on CD’s health, see Colp 1977 and 1998, and Bowlby 1990. …
Darwin's illness
Summary
Was Darwin an invalid? In many photographs he looks wearied by age, wrapped in a great coat to protect him from cold. In a letter to his cousin William Fox, he wrote: "Long and continued ill health has much changed me, & I very often think with…
Climbing plants
Summary
Darwin’s book Climbing plants was published in 1865, but its gestation began much earlier. The start of Darwin’s work on the topic lay in his need, owing to severe bouts of illness in himself and his family, for diversions away from his much harder book on…
Darwin soundbites
Summary
From atheistical cats to old fogies in Cambridge, we've collected some of Darwin's pithier remarks - some funny, some serious - but all quotes from letters you can read in full here. We particularly like this one: Will you be so kind as…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Where's it from? On sickness, health, and bananas …you began your …
Dining at Down House
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's Domestic Life While Darwin is best remembered for his scientific accomplishments, he greatly valued and was strongly influenced by his domestic life. Darwin's…
Matches: 7 hits
- … One of Darwin's defining characteristics was his poor health. The letters provide insight into …
- … to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 Darwin’s ill health began on his Beagle voyage. In …
- … to their marriage, Emma expresses her concern for Darwin’s health, her sympathy for the frustration …
- … spiritualism. Darwin expresses his regrets that his own ill health prevents him from visiting the …
- … his own aches and pains, Lenny reports on their father’s health, noting that Darwin’s frustration …
- … of Darwin's personal life? 2. How did Darwin's health affect his scientific …
- … married. In it Emma expressed her concern for Darwin’s health, her sympathy for the frustration he …
Insectivorous plants
Summary
Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in the summer of 1860, staying with his wife’s relatives in Hartfield, Sussex, he went for long walks on the heathland and became curious about the large number of insects caught by…
Darwin 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…
Matches: 4 hits
- … friends and relatives, Darwin felt sufficiently restored in health to work for two or three hours a …
- … keeping up the battle, he gave up only from fatigue and ill health ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 …
- … that it was a success, and there is no doubt that his health improved, at least temporarily. This is …
- … a methodical mind keen to establish order: he chronicled his health, his daily and household …
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: 3 hits
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: 7 hits
- … and here, attended by every blessing except that of vigorous health… DARWIN: 4 My …
- … In truth there is nothing which I should enjoy more; but my health is not, and will, I suppose, …
- … able to suppress his anger. He is in his 70s and in poor health. SEDGWICK: 69 …
- … They are enjoying the furore. Darwin is more earnest, his health – mental and physical – is …
- … In which Drwin struggles more than usual with his health, grows a beard, and cancels The Times; and …
- … to cross over to England in two months… Mrs Gray’s health makes me anxious to avoid another winter …
- … if he had had a good laugh. Then, Darwin’s health dictates that he and his American guests …
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: 5 hits
- … dropped markedly, reflecting a decline in his already weak health. Darwin then began punctuating …
- … is the mother of fine children all over the world’. Health worries Despite his …
- … no reason why he should not recover his previous state of health. Brinton’s words must have …
- … to J. D. Hooker, 26 December [1863] ) that Darwin’s health fluctuated and showed little improvement …
- … from his sons. She was pessimistic about his prospects of health over the next few months: ‘When not …
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: 1 hits
- … Benjamin (1) District Health Office (1) …
Expression
Summary
Darwin's interest in emotional expression can be traced as far back as the Beagle voyage. He was fascinated by the different sounds and gestures among the peoples of Tierra del Fuego, and on his return from the voyage he started recording observations…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The exigencies of the public service have already ruined my health, & curtailed my capacities. …
Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest
Summary
The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…
Matches: 5 hits
- … respect for the elder naturalist, inquired after Darwin’s health, and expressed his desire to meet …
- … Galton, 13 September 1871 ). A return to poor health During the summer months, Darwin …
- … ). On 23 September he informed Murray that owing to poor health he had done nothing for six …
- … described the joyous occasion in great detail, her uncertain health requiring her to attend …
- … Murchison, and the earl of Derby. Given his poor state of health for much of the summer, it is …
Darwin on marriage
Summary
On 11 November 1838 Darwin wrote in his journal ‘The day of days!’. He had proposed to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and been accepted; they were married on 29 January 1839. Darwin appears to have written these two notes weighing up the pros and cons of…
Matches: 4 hits
- … be exclusively geological United States, Mexico Depend upon health & vigour & how far I …
- … music & female chit-chat.— These things good for one’s health.— [16] but terrible loss of …
- … to gain one’s bread.— (But then it is very bad for ones health[19] to work too much) Perhaps …
- … rather than with the advantages. [19] ‘for ones health’ interl.i [20] The heading …
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: 6 hits
- … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now …
- … consulted Jones in July 1865 and attributed his improved health by the end of that year to the diet …
- … with his brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin. Owing to improved health, Darwin was able to make a number …
- … she and Emma continued to play in safeguarding Darwin’s health and securing his privacy. Similarly, …
- … waterlilies prevailed over considerations of health in this case. Ernst Haeckel Nor …
- … died in October. On learning of Catherine’s poor state of health, Hooker, who had lost his father …
The full edition is now online!
Summary
For nearly fifty years successive teams of researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have been working to track down all surviving letters written by or to Charles Darwin, research their content, and publish the complete texts. The thirtieth and final…
Darwin and Fatherhood
Summary
Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…
Matches: 4 hits
- … country. Darwin frequently expressed regrets that his ill health (e.g., Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 14 …
- … to hydropathic spas or the seaside to strengthen their health. Although his interest in inheritance …
- … ). In addition to his fears for his children’s health, Darwin’s other principal concern as a …
- … and holidays at the seaside were often necessitated by ill health rather than pleasure. It was …
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: 8 hits
- … reminiscences, and laments about advancing age and poor health, with family friends from childhood, …
- … operation, combined with Moulinié’s increasingly poor health, led to yet further delay, and the new …
- … to Darwin which he, however, declined on the grounds of ill health. Expression : …
- … usual chemist, William Baxter, were not in this case for his health, but to test their effects when …
- … he repeated to several correspondents. His own health was slightly better than in the …
- … sons spent some time on the continent for the sake of their health ( see letter to W. D. Fox, 16 …
- … over their wills, and he poured out such a litany of ill health to one correspondent that Emma …
- … Darwin gracefully declined on the habitual grounds of ill health ( letter from J. S. Craig, 4 …
