From Robert Monsey Rolfe 4 October 1864
Summary
Sends £10 for Down charities.
| Author: | Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth of Cranworth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 231 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4626 |
To J. D. Hooker 8 October [1864]
Summary
Huxley has answered Kölliker in Natural History Review [(1864): 566–80].
CD is correcting two of Scott’s papers; is convinced primrose and cowslip are two good species.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 8 Oct [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 251 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4630 |
From Emma Darwin to Hermann Kindt 14 October [1864]
Summary
Writes, for CD, to thank him for his letter and offer to send Unsere Zeit, but will not trouble him to send it.
Sends photograph of CD.
| Author: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
| Addressee: | Hermann Adolph Christian August (Hermann) Kindt |
| Date: | 14 Oct [1864] |
| Classmark: | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 238–239 ) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13791 |
From James Buckman 10 October 1864
Summary
Sends a poem about sowing kidney beans.
| Author: | James Buckman |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 271.6: 1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4631F |
To Asa Gray 29 October [1864]
Summary
Sends question [missing] for an ornithologist.
Is plodding on at Variation.
Has added to Climbing plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 29 Oct [1864] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (88) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4647 |
From Hermann Kindt 11 October 1864
Summary
Requests photograph.
| Author: | Hermann Adolph Christian August (Hermann) Kindt |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 11 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 169: 14 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4632 |
To J. H. Balfour 21 October [1864]
Summary
Thanks Balfour for Corydalis seed
and sends a photo of himself.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Hutton Balfour |
| Date: | 21 Oct [1864] |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (Balfour papers) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5251 |
From J. D. Hooker 26[–8] October 1864
Summary
Comments at length on Ramsay’s glacial paper ["On the erosion of valleys and lakes", Philos. Mag. 4th ser. 28 (1864): 293–311]. Prefers it to Tyndall, but unconvinced about sea action and unwilling to grant that ice power sculptures the totality of landscape.
Unwilling to support Wallace for Royal Medal.
Herbert Spencer’s noisy vacuity.
Garden varieties that are constant and infertile with parent deserve to be called species.
Scott ineligible to be Linnean Society associate because he is not in England.
George Busk’s incoherent talk on Gibraltar cave fossils.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 26[–8] Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 101: 247–53 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4645 |
To J. D. Hooker 22 October [1864]
Summary
To Lyell’s chagrin, CD has come round again to A. C. Ramsay’s glacial theory.
On primrose and cowslip, CD maintains they are good species, notwithstanding Scott’s work.
CD defines species by power of remaining constant for a good long time and showing appreciable amount of difference from close species.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 22 Oct [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 252 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4642 |
From Asa Gray 3 October 1864
Summary
Review of Spencer was by Chauncey Wright.
Will get a note on John Scott’s paper off to Sillimans Journal [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 39 (1865): 101–10].
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 144 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4625 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … and library. See letters from Asa Gray , 16 February 1864 and 11 July 1864 , and Dupree …
- … 11). CD had asked Gray whether he had seen the Reader , a weekly journal reviewing literary and scientific works, in his letter …
- … p. 601). See also letter from Asa Gray, 5 December 1864 and n. 11. A new building had …
- … 1864a ). See letter to Asa Gray, 13 September [1864] and nn. 7 and 11–15. Gray’s review …
From Andrew Murray 31 October 1864
Summary
Proposes to work on geographical distribution before leaving the Society.
| Author: | Andrew Dickson (Andrew) Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 31 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 327 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4648 |
To B. D. Walsh 21 October [1864]
Summary
Thanks for letter and memoirs.
Suggests a "rather hopeless experiment" of introducing poisons into tissues of plants on the chance that monstrous growths may be produced.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Benjamin Dann Walsh |
| Date: | 21 Oct [1864] |
| Classmark: | Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (Walsh) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4640 |
From J. D. Hooker [16? October 1864]
Summary
Morphological differences only partly define species; physiological differences, e.g., incompatibility results in Primula, are far more interesting.
T. Thomson’s review of Agardh’s muddled book ["Agardh’s classification of plants", Nat. Hist. Rev. (1864): 536–51].
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [16? Oct 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 101: 246, 246a |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4638 |
From Hugh Falconer to William Sharpey 25 October 1864
Summary
Describes CD’s qualifications for Copley Medal.
| Author: | Hugh Falconer |
| Addressee: | William Sharpey |
| Date: | 25 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 144: 475 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4644 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … of Science (see letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 September 1864] and n. 11, and Falconer …
- … 11, Appendix IV, and this volume, Appendix III. Falconer refers to CD’s argument that orchid flowers had developed structures to ensure cross-pollination by insects ( see Orchids , pp. 357–60). For a list of reviews of Orchids , see Correspondence vol. 10, Appendix VII. CD was awarded the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1859 (see Correspondence vol. 7, letter …
From T. H. Huxley 5 October 1864
Summary
Surprised at Kölliker’s misunderstanding; of Flourens he could have believed anything.
Family news.
| Author: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 5 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 302 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4627 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 October [1864] and n. 6, and DNB ). Henrietta Anne Huxley and the Huxleys’ five surviving children, Jessie Oriana, Marian, Leonard, Rachel, and Nettie; Henrietta was pregnant with their seventh child, Henry ( Clark 1968 ). Margate is a town on the Isle of Thanet in north-east Kent; in common with many other seaside towns, it was a popular place of resort for convalescents (see Walton 1983 , pp. 11– …
From John Beck 6 October 1864
Summary
Has heard about but not read Origin; is concerned that it may contribute to unbelief. Gives many pages of scriptural quotations and exegesis on the creation of earth, species, etc.
| Author: | John Beck |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 103–103/4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4628 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter made certain departures from the usual style of the Correspondence necessary. Beck’s superscript numbers have been printed as subscript, to distinguish them from superscript footnote markers. Words that Beck wrote in red ink are printed in bold-face type; words that he wrote in red ink and underlined are printed in bold-face italics. Numbers on otherwise blank lines are Beck’s own page numbers, included because he refers to them in the text. There are two pages numbered 7, and pages 11 …
| letter | (16) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (9) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
| Balfour, J. H. | (1) |
| Gray, Asa | (1) |
| Kindt, Hermann | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (14) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (4) |
| Gray, Asa | (2) |
| Kindt, Hermann | (2) |
| Balfour, J. H. | (1) |
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: 1 hits
- … In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … In March 1862, Heinrich Georg Bronn wrote to Darwin stating his intention to prepare a second …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
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: 1 hits
- … As the sheer volume of his correspondence indicates, 1862 was a particularly productive year for …
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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
Darwin's 1874 letters go online
Summary
The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1874 through his letters and see a full list of the letters. The 1874 letters…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 …
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: 1 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations …
Race, Civilization, and Progress
Summary
Darwin's first reflections on human progress were prompted by his experiences in the slave-owning colony of Brazil, and by his encounters with the Yahgan peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh conditions, privation, poor climate, bondage and servitude,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letters | Selected Readings Darwin's first reflections on human progress were …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants …
Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life
Summary
1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…
Matches: 1 hits
- … I cannot bear to think of the future The year 1876 started out sedately enough with …
Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours
Summary
Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … no little discovery of mine ever gave me so much pleasure as the making out the …
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: 1 hits
- … On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July …
Charles Harrison Blackley
Summary
You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 million people in the UK who suffer from hay fever, you are indebted to him. For it was he who identified pollen as the cause of the allergy. Darwin was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 …
Women as a scientific audience
Summary
Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's …
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: 1 hits
- … Re: Design – performance version – 25 March 2007 – 1 Re: Design – Adaptation of the …
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: 1 hits
- … I think we have proved that the sleep of plants is to lessen injury to leaves from radiation …
Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and …
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In …
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 …
