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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: 21 hits
- … In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
- … However, several smaller projects came to fruition in 1865, including the publication of his long …
- … letters on climbing plants to make another paper. Darwin also submitted a manuscript of his …
- … protégé, John Scott, who was now working in India. Darwin’s transmutation theory continued to …
- … Argyll, appeared in the religious weekly, Good Words . Darwin received news of an exchange of …
- … Butler, and, according to Butler, the bishop of Wellington. Darwin’s theory was discussed at an …
- … in the Gardeners’ Chronicle . At the end of the year, Darwin was elected an honorary member of …
- … year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend of …
- … The death of Hugh Falconer Darwin’s first letter to Hooker of 1865 suggests that the family …
- … having all the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
- … had failed to include among the grounds of the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus …
- … may well rest content that I have not laboured in vain’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 6 January [1865] …
- … always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 February [1865] …
- … for our griefs & pains: these alone are unalloyed’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 February 1865 …
- … gas.— Sic transit gloria mundi, with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). …
- … added, ‘I know it is folly & nonsense to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
- … Darwin had received a copy of Müller’s book, Für Darwin , a study of the Crustacea with reference …
- … … inheritance, reversion, effects of use & disuse &c’, and which he intended to publish in …
- … He wrote to Hooker, ‘I doubt whether you or I or any one c d do any good in healing this breach. …
- … Hooker’s behalf, ‘He asks if you saw the article of M r . Croll in the last Reader on the …
- … ‘As for your thinking that you do not deserve the C[opley] Medal,’ he rebuked Hooker, ‘that I …
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: 19 hits
- … | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a …
- … community. Here is a selection of letters exchanged between Darwin and his workforce of women …
- … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
- … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
- … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
- … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
- … Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L …
- … Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
- … Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 May 1870] …
- … the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9 …
- … Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris …
- … in Llandudno. Letter 4823 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, H. E., [May 1865] …
- … Letter 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] Darwin asks his niece, …
- … Lychnis diurna. Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] …
- … lawn. Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin …
- … Letter 4928 - Henslow, G. to Darwin, [11 November 1865] J. S. Henslow’s son, George, …
- … Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris …
- … garden ”. Letter 6083 - Casparay, J. X. R. to Darwin, [2 April 1868] …
- … Letter 7858 - Darwin to Wa llace, A. R., [12 July 1871] Darwin tells Wallace that …
Inheritance
Summary
It was crucial to Darwin’s theories of species change that naturally occurring variations could be inherited. But at the time when he wrote Origin, he had no explanation for how inheritance worked – it was just obvious that it did. Darwin’s attempt to…
Matches: 8 hits
- … to advance the hypothesis of Pangenesis (Charles Darwin, Variation , vol. 2, p. 357). …
- … worked – it was just obvious that it did. Darwin’s attempt to describe how heredity might …
- … ‘The whole subject of inheritance is wonderful’ Darwin wrote,‘When a new character arises, whatever …
- … 26 [March 1863] ). Years before he published, Darwin sent a draft manuscript on Pangenesis …
- … Huxley was worried that its speculative nature would give Darwin’s critics ammunition, but didn’t …
- … example of in that way. ( T. H. Huxley, 16 July 1865 ). 039;Your last note& …
- … make widely opposite remarks.039; ( to T. H. Huxley, [17 July 1865] ). He was forced to confess …
- … place,—and that I think hardly possible. ( from A. R. Wallace, 24 February 1868 ) …
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…
Matches: 14 hits
- … Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, …
- … set of selected letters is followed by letters relating to Darwin's 1881 publication …
- … work are referenced throughout Variation . Letter 2395 - Darwin to Holland, …
- … her identity is both anonymised and masculinised. Letter 3316 - Darwin to Nevill, D …
- … Nevill is referenced by name for her “kindness” in Darwin’s Fertilisation of Orchids . …
- … being acknowledged publicly as a science critic. Letter 4370 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
- … are identified only as “friends in Surrey”. Letter 4794 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [25 …
- … to state that the information was “received through Sir C. Lyell” or received from “Miss. B”. …
- … was referenced in the final publication. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C …
- … are not cited in Expression . Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H., …
- … description of a crying baby in Mary Barton. Letter 8321 - Darwin to …
- … he would “feel the public humming” at him. Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, …
- … near his house. Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] …
- … worm castings . Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] …
Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions
Summary
Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive …
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: 15 hits
- … the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same …
- … nineteenth century were different in important ways. Many of Darwin's leading supporters were …
- … their religious beliefs with evolutionary theory. Darwin's own writing, both in print and …
- … much as possible. A number of correspondents tried to draw Darwin out on his own religious views, …
- … political contexts. Design Darwin was not the first to challenge …
- … on the controversial topic of design. The first is between Darwin and Harvard botanist Asa Gray, …
- … everything is the result of “brute force”. Letter 2855 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 3 …
- … nature, as he is in a “muddle” on this issue. Letter 3256 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
- … shares a witty thought experiment about an angel. Letter 3342 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
- … He asks Gray some questions about design. Letter 6167 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 8 …
- … Darwin and Wallace Letter 5140 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 2 July 1866 …
- … Darwin and Graham Letter 13230 — Darwin, C. R. to Graham, William, 3 July 1881 …
- … Letter 4752 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 22 Jan [1865] Darwin writes to King's …
- … Letter 4939 — Shaw, James to Darwin, C. R., 20 Nov 1865 Scottish school teacher and writer …
- … Letter 4943 — Darwin, C. R. to Shaw, James, 30 Nov 1865 Darwin writes to James Shaw. He is …
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: 23 hits
- … Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig …
- … as the creator of this dramatisation, and that of the Darwin Correspondence Project to be identified …
- … correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring …
- … Actor 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin Actor 3 – In the dress of a modern day …
- … Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart Mill, Emma Darwin, Horace Darwin… and acts as a sort …
- … the play unfolds and acting as a go-between between Gray and Darwin, and between the audience and …
- … this, he sends out copies of his Review of the Life of Darwin. At this time in his life, Asa …
- … friends in England, copies of his ‘Review of the Life of Darwin’… pencilling the address so that it …
- … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
- … 11 My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my …
- … be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy it… His letter does strike me as most uncommonly …
- … on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year …
- … a brace of letters 25 I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received …
- … might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing …
- … Atlantic. HOOKER: 28 Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which …
- … notions of natural Selection and would see whether it or my letter bears any date, I should be very …
- … your darling. BOOKS BY THE LATE CHARLES DARWIN: 1863-1865 In which Drwin struggles …
- … I find rather dull. GRAY: 170 1 May 1865… Well, ‘treason has done its worst’ and …
- … paragraph, in which I quote and differ from you[r] 178 doctrine that each variation has been …
- … ARTS AND SCIENCES, PROCEEDINGS XVII, 1882 4 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 10 MAY 1848 …
- … 5 DECEMBER 1864 170 A GRAY TO RW CHURCH, 1 MAY 1865 171 C DARWIN TO A GRAY …
- … 174 FROM A GRAY TO CHARLES DARWIN, 24 JULY 1865 175 A GRAY TO RW CHURCH, 22 JUNE 1868 …
- … 25 MAY 1868 195 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 21 NOV 1865 196 FROM A GRAY 27 …
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: 22 hits
- … 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working …
- … dispute over an anonymous review that attacked the work of Darwin’s son George dominated the second …
- … and traveller Alexander von Humboldt’s 105th birthday, Darwin obliged with a reflection on his debt …
- … be done by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August …
- … pleasures of shooting and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ). Such …
- … And … one looks backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). …
- … Andrew Clark, whom he had been consulting since August 1873. Darwin had originally thought that …
- … was an illusory hope.— I feel very old & helpless’ ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] …
- … inferred that he was well from his silence on the matter ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 26 October …
- … in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
- … that Mr Williams was ‘a cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). …
- … his, ‘& that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874 …
- … Darwin had allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
- … edition, published in 1842 ( Correspondence vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17 …
- … Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 8 January …
- … Descent was published in November 1874 ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Though …
- … on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). …
- … in a few hours dissolve the hardest cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. …
- … whether at the ‘close of the putrefaction of flesh, skin &c, any substance is produced before …
- … details of an Australian variety of sundew ( letter from T. C. Copland, 23 June 1874 ). …
- … Sharpe for promotion at the British Museum ( letter to R. B. Sharpe, 24 November [1874] ). He …
- … head that M r Spencer’s terms of equilibration &c always bother me & make everything less …
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: 22 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
- … markedly, reflecting a decline in his already weak health. Darwin then began punctuating letters …
- … am languid & bedeviled … & hate everybody’. Although Darwin did continue his botanical …
- … of the water-cure. The treatment was not effective and Darwin remained ill for the rest of the year. …
- … the correspondence from the year. These letters illustrate Darwin’s preoccupation with the …
- … to man’s place in nature both had a direct bearing on Darwin’s species theory and on the problem …
- … from ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
- … detailed anatomical similarities between humans and apes, Darwin was full of praise. He especially …
- … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
- … in expressing any judgment on Species or origin of man’. Darwin’s concern about the popular …
- … Lyell’s and Huxley’s books. Three years earlier Darwin had predicted that Lyell’s forthcoming …
- … than Origin had (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
- … from animals like the woolly mammoth and cave bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, 23 …
- … first half of 1863 focused attention even more closely on Darwin’s arguments for species change. …
- … leap from that of inferior animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
- … book he wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
- … I respect you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … sentence from the second edition of Antiquity of man (C. Lyell 1863b, p. 469), published in …
- … Gray, 4 August [1863] ). The results were published in his 1865 paper ‘Three forms of Lythrum …
- … very slowly recovering, but am very weak’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [29 September? 1863] ). …
- … Thomas’s Hospital, London ( letter from George Busk, [ c. 27 August 1863] ). Brinton, who …
Scientific Practice
Summary
Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…
Matches: 11 hits
- … | Microscopes | Collecting | Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of …
- … the work of collecting, and the construction of theory. Darwin was not simply a gentleman naturalist …
- … of the most advanced laboratory methods and equipment. Darwin used letters as a speculative space, …
- … Specialism and Detail Darwin is usually thought of as a gentleman naturalist and a …
- … across and drew together different fields of knowledge. But Darwin also made substantial …
- … discussion was often the starting point for some of Darwin's most valuable and enduring …
- … with detailed correspondence about barnacles. Letter 1514 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. …
- … of one idea. – cirripedes morning & night.” Letter 1480 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, …
- … on embryological stages than Huxley thinks. Letter 1592 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H …
- … and difficulties of botanical experimentation. Letter 4895 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J …
- … Letter 5173 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. R., 2 Aug 1866 Müller provides some observations …
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: 17 hits
- … Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with …
- … in beetles. The unity of human species Darwin believed that the same process of sexual …
- … gradually increase those features over long periods of time. Darwin’s theory was based partly on the …
- … seemed to prevail across the globe. In Descent , Darwin also addressed widely held beliefs …
- … of ‘species’, ‘varieties’, and ‘races’. Darwin argued forcefully for the unity of the human species, …
- … Gender and civilisation In his early notebooks, Darwin remarked that survival value or …
- … , B74). In his later writings on plants and animals, Darwin remained consistent on this point, and …
- … improvement, or design. However, when it came to humans, Darwin reintroduced the structure of …
- … and present, on the basis of their ‘civilization’. Here Darwin drew on contemporary anthropology, …
- … colonial conquests and expansion abroad. Thus, while Darwin’s views on race differed widely …
- … in the success of nations’ ( Descent 1: 239). For Darwin, the civilising process was essentially …
- … taken from their homeland in Tierra del Fuego to England, Darwin wrote: ‘in contradiction of what …
- … ( Beagle diary , p. 143). He was delighted to receive a letter from an African correspondent …
- … were often crossed in practice ( see correspondence with C. Kennard, below ). The implications of …
- … and Progress Key letters: Letter to J. S. Henslow, 11 April 1833 …
- … . New Haven: Yale University Press. Young, Robert J. C. 1995. Colonial desire: hybridity in …
- … Correspondence with women Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February …
Science: A Man’s World?
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…
Matches: 16 hits
- … Discussion Questions | Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth …
- … Letters Darwin’s Notes On Marriage [April - July 1838] In these notes, …
- … theories, & accumulating facts in silence & solitude”. Darwin also comments that he has …
- … an hour “with poor Mrs. Lyell sitting by”. Letter 3715 - Claparède, J. L. R. A. E. to …
- … whose attractions are not those of her sex”. Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 …
- … her own steam and is a “first rate critic”. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, …
- … ornaments in the making of feminine works”. Letter 4441 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [30 …
- … the young, especially ladies, to study nature. Letter 4940 - Cresy, E. to Darwin, E., …
- … Anderson is “neither masculine nor pedantic”. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. B., …
- … to him as a published science author, is a man. Letter 7314 - Kovalevsky, S. to Darwin, …
- … Theoriae Functionum Ellipticarum , (1829). Letter 7329 - Murray, J. to Darwin, [28 …
- … to prick up what little is left of them ears”. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, …
- … almost out of a woman’s natural thinking”. Letter 8079 - Norton, S. R. to Darwin, [20 …
- … but has not read the pamphlet herself. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, [16 May …
- … narrative so not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
- … patience. Letter 13607 – Darwin to Kennard, C. A., [9 January 1882] Darwin …
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: 23 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous …
- … for scientific colleagues or their widows facing hardship. Darwin had suffered from poor health …
- … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
- … of his scientific friends quickly organised a campaign for Darwin to have greater public recognition …
- … Botanical observation and experiment had long been Darwin’s greatest scientific pleasure. The year …
- … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
- … working at the effects of Carbonate of Ammonia on roots,’ Darwin wrote, ‘the chief result being that …
- … contents, if immersed for some hours in a weak solution of C. of Ammonia’. Darwin’s interest in root …
- … London on 6 and 16 March, respectively. In January, Darwin corresponded with George John …
- … François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20 …
- … quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January …
- … probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
- … we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He …
- … of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
- … find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
- … our homes, would in this case greatly suffer’ ( letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). Kennard …
- … judged, intellectually his inferior, please ( letter from C. A. Kennard, 28 January 1882 ). …
- … dull aching in the chest’ (Emma Darwin to G. H. Darwin, [ c . 28 March 1882] (DAR 210.3: 45)). …
- … to some Estancia,’ wrote Hughes, ‘as the scenery &c. will amply repay your trouble’ ( letter …
- … where he had witnessed an earthquake in 1835 ( letter from R. E. Alison, [March–July 1835 ]). …
- … to T. F. Jamieson, 24 January [1863] ). From 1863 to 1865, Darwin suffered the most extended …
- … will be months before I am able to work’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [ c . 10 April 1864] ). To …
- … to have known’ ( letter to Charles Kingsley, 2 June [1865] ). In the years following …
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: 26 hits
- … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of …
- … appeared at the end of 1866 and had told his cousin William Darwin Fox, ‘My work will have to stop a …
- … & I am sick of correcting’ ( Correspondence vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868 …
- … Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). …
- … material on emotional expression. Yet the scope of Darwin’s interests remained extremely broad, and …
- … plants, and earthworms, subjects that had exercised Darwin for decades, and that would continue to …
- … Carl von Nägeli and perfectibility Darwin’s most substantial addition to Origin was a …
- … Nägeli, a Swiss botanist and professor at Munich (Nägeli 1865). Darwin had considered Nägeli’s paper …
- … principal engine of change in the development of species. Darwin correctly assessed Nägeli’s theory …
- … account for changes in most morphological features (Nägeli 1865, p. 29). Darwin sent a manuscript of …
- … made any blunders, as is very likely to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). …
- … only be altered by his perfectibility principle (Nägeli 1865, pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker …
- … than I now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , …
- … is strengthened by the facts in distribution’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Darwin …
- … tropical species using Croll’s theory. In the same letter to Croll, Darwin had expressed …
- … a very long period before the Cambrian formation’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] …
- … of information which I have sent prove of any service to M r . Darwin I can supply him with much …
- … & proximate cause in regard to Man’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). More …
- … and the bird of paradise (Wallace 1869a; letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 March [1869] ), and …
- … an injustice & never demands justice’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). …
- … species that Darwin had investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February 1869 ). In a …
- … genus that he had studied in the early 1860s ( letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March 1869 ). This …
- … Sweetland Dallas’s edition of Fritz Müller’s Für Darwin (Dallas trans. 1869). The book, an …
- … creation, if he is not completely staggered after reading y r essay’. The work received a …
- … whole meeting was decidedly Huxley’s answer to D r M c Cann. He literally poured boiling oil …
- … been since his last period of prolonged illness in 1864 and 1865, although a particularly low spell …
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: 24 hits
- … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now …
- … and also a meeting with Herbert Spencer, who was visiting Darwin’s neighbour, Sir John Lubbock. In …
- … Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But …
- … all but the concluding chapter of the work was submitted by Darwin to his publisher in December. …
- … able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
- … once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
- … see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 …
- … work doing me any harm—any how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
- … production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January …
- … a preliminary sketch of pangenesis to Thomas Henry Huxley in 1865 (see Correspondence vol. 13), and …
- … of “Domestic Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
- … Agassiz undertook an ambitious expedition to Brazil in 1865 and 1866, partly with a view to finding …
- … you go on, after the startling apparition of your face at R.S. Soirèe—which I dreamed of 2 nights …
- … so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [ c . 10 May 1866] ). Henrietta’s …
- … teleological development ( see for example, letter to C. W. Nägeli, 12 June [1866] ). Also in …
- … common broom ( Cytisus scoparius ) and the white broom ( C. multiflorus ) in his botanical …
- … and June on the subject of Rhamnus catharticus (now R. cathartica ). Darwin had become …
- … of separate sexes. William gathered numerous specimens of R. catharticus , the only species of …
- … replied with a modified list, adding Fritz Müller’s Für Darwin , and a recent fossil discovery in …
- … selection, and with special creation ( letter from W. R. Grove, 31 August 1866 ). Hooker later …
- … copies of his earlier botanical publications at the end of 1865, Darwin wrote in January 1866, …
- … of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in December 1865. Despite concerns about the ongoing …
- … support the Jamaica Committee, which had formed in December 1865 to lobby for the criminal …
- … indeed at poor Susan’s loneliness’ ( letter from E. C. Langton to Emma and Charles Darwin, [6 and 7 …
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 28 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, …
- … couple of months were needed to index the work, a task that Darwin handed over to someone else for …
- … and animals ( Expression ), published in 1872. Although Darwin had been collecting material and …
- … A global reputation The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly …
- … who might best answer the questions, with the result that Darwin began to receive replies from …
- … Variation would be based on proof-sheets received as Darwin corrected them. Closer to home, two …
- … Charles Fleeming Jenkin, challenged different aspects of Darwin’s theory of transmutation as …
- … started in January 1860, and advertised in the press since 1865 with the unwieldy title, …
- … suppose abuse is as good as praise for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] …
- … to the printer, but without the additional chapter. In a letter written on 8 February [1867] to …
- … books, Descent and Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his …
- … variation of animals and plants under domestication . In a letter to his son William dated 27 …
- … of his brother’s embryological papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although …
- … . Indeed, he told his publisher, John Murray, in a letter of 4 April [1867] , not to send …
- … tell me, at what rate your work will be published’ ( letter from J. V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). This …
- … & sent to him, he may wish to give up the task’ ( letter to Carl Vogt, 12 April [1867] ). …
- … fit person’ to introduce the work to the German public ( letter from J. V. Carus, 15 April 1867 ). …
- … Vogt should translate my book in preference to you’ ( letter to J. V. Carus, 18 April [1867] ). …
- … apparently discussing it or showing it to anyone until 1865, when he sent a version of it to Huxley, …
- … see your second volume on “The Struggle for Existence &c.” for I doubt if we have a sufficiency …
- … “supplemental remarks on expression”’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [12–17] March [1867] ). Darwin’s …
- … aviary to see whether this was the case ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1867] ). He also …
- … level. In his response to Wallace ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 26 February [1867] ), Darwin defended …
- … to the work I shall find it much better done by you than I c d have succeeded in doing’ ( letter …
- … a book based on a series of articles that had appeared in 1865. In it he challenged aspects of …
- … I have not a word to say against it but such a view c d hardly come into a scientific book’ ( …
- … Wallace published a long article, ‘Creation by law’ (A. R. Wallace 1867c), which responded to Jenkin …
- … vol. 13, letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] and n. 4). Darwin’s wife and children also …
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: 23 hits
- … On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July …
- … … of having grown older’. This portrait, the first of Darwin with his now famous beard, had been …
- … 52 hours without vomiting!! In the same month, Darwin began to consult William Jenner, …
- … prescribed a variety of antacids and purgatives, and limited Darwin’s fluid intake; this treatment …
- … the dimorphic aquatic cut-grass Leersia . In May, Darwin finished his paper on Lythrum …
- … he had set aside the previous summer. In October, Darwin let his friends know that on his …
- … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
- … November and December were also marked by the award to Darwin of the Royal Society’s Copley Medal; …
- … been unsuccessfully nominated the two previous years. As Darwin explained to his cousin William …
- … observations indoors ( Correspondence vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin …
- … gradation by which leaves produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). …
- … fearfully for it is a leaf climber & therefore sacred’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 June [1864] …
- … matters which routinists regard in the light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 …
- … which Darwin submitted to the Linnean Society in January 1865. Climbers and twiners …
- … long series of changes . . .’ When he told Asa Gray in a letter of 29 October [1864] that he was …
- … paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] that nothing …
- … of the two species with the common oxlip. In a letter of 22 October [1864] , Darwin triumphantly …
- … the ‘splendid case of Dimorphism’ in Menyanthes ( letter from Emma and Charles Darwin to W. E. …
- … this interest. At the start of the year, he received a letter, insect specimens, and an article on …
- … that it was ‘the best medicine for my stomach’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 17 February [1864] ). …
- … 5 September 1864 ). Fritz Müeller sent his book, Für Darwin , and Darwin had it translated by a …
- … but Lyell says when I read his discussion in the Elements [C. Lyell 1865] I shall recant for fifth …
- … on intellectual & moral qualities’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May 1864] ). …
Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution
Summary
The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…
Matches: 22 hits
- … The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the …
- … in relation to Sex’. Always precise in his accounting, Darwin reckoned that he had started writing …
- … gathered on each of these topics was far more extensive than Darwin had anticipated. As a result, …
- … and St George Jackson Mivart, and heated debates sparked by Darwin’s proposed election to the French …
- … shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding machine’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December …
- … anything which has happened to me for some weeks’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ) …
- … corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ) …
- … , the latter when she was just eighteen years of age. Darwin clearly expected her to make a …
- … who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
- … abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February …
- … philanthropist Frances Power Cobbe. At Cobbe’s suggestion, Darwin read some of Immanuel Kant’s …
- … thro’ apes & savages at the moral sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] …
- … how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870 …
- … in thanks for the drawing ( Correspondence vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868] …
- … patients, but it did not confirm Duchenne’s findings ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March …
- … muscle’, he complained, ‘is the bane of existence!’ ( letter to William Ogle, 9 November 1870 ). …
- … to their belief that all demons and spirits were white ( letter from W. W. Reade, 9 November 1870 …
- … . . Could you make it scream without hurting it much?’ ( letter to A. D. Bartlett, 5 January [1870] …
- … or crying badly; but I fear he will not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] …
- … who sent a sketch of a baby’s brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). He also wrote to …
- … (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …
- … good. He did consult Henry Bence Jones, his physician since 1865, regarding ‘pins & needles’. …
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: 24 hits
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If any …
- … he ought to do what I am doing pester them with letters.’ Darwin was certainly true to his word. The …
- … and sexual selection. In Origin , pp. 87–90, Darwin had briefly introduced the concept of …
- … in satisfying female preference in the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864, …
- … to the stridulation of crickets. At the same time, Darwin continued to collect material on …
- … his immediate circle of friends and relations. In July 1868 Darwin was still anticipating that his …
- … which was devoted to sexual selection in the animal kingdom. Darwin described his thirst for …
- … as well say, he would drink a little and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868] ) …
- … been advertised by the publisher John Murray as early as 1865, the two-volume work appeared in …
- … Murray to intervene, complaining on 9 January , ‘M r . Dallas’ delay … is intolerable … I am …
- … would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s angry letter to Murray crossed one from Dallas to …
- … of labour to remuneration I shall look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). …
- … if I try to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). …
- … reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from the Isle of Wight on the formation …
- … it was by Gray himself, but Darwin corrected him: ‘D r Gray would strike me in the face, but not …
- … . It is a disgrace to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] ). The review was …
- … April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d C. Darwin M.d’; Binstead evidently assumed …
- … I did not see this, or rather I saw it only obs[c]urely, & have kept only a few references.’ …
- … as life he wd find the odour sexual!’ ( letter to A . R. Wallace, 16 September [1868] ). Francis …
- … south of France to Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood on 9 Novembe r, describing sphinx moths that were …
- … question of the “Origin of Species”’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 4 October 1868 ). …
- … hands of the enemies of Nat. Selection’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). …
- … of her two-month old daughter Katherine ( letter from C. M. Hawkshaw to Emma Darwin, 9 February …
- … rest mostly on faith, and on accumulation of adaptations, &c) … Of course I understand your …
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: 21 hits
- … Letters | Selected Readings Darwin's first reflections on human progress were …
- … human progress or cause degeneration. In the "Fuegians", Darwin thought he had witnessed …
- … several years earlier as part of a missionary enterprise. Darwin was struck by the progress that had …
- … been returned to their native land. After the voyage, Darwin began to question the …
- … After the publication of Origin of Species , many of Darwin's supporters continued to …
- … or extermination of other peoples and cultures. When Darwin wrote about the human races and …
- … on human and animal behavior accumulated over three decades. Darwin argued forcefully for the unity …
- … and beyond. Letters Darwin’s first observations of the peoples …
- … of botany at Cambridge, John Stevens Henslow. Letter 204 : Darwin to Henslow, J. S., …
- … 1833 which took effect in the following year. Letter 206 : Darwin to Darwin, E. C., 22 …
- … of the polygenist theory of human descent. Letter 4933 : Farrar, F. W. to Darwin, …
- … about the state of civilization of the natives. Letter 5617 , Darwin to Weale, J. P. M …
- … wonderful fact in the progress of civilization" Letter 5722 , Weale, J. P. M. to …
- … of Species , Darwin discussed his views on progress in a letter to Charles Lyell, insisting that …
- … of life" ( Origin , 6 th ed, p. 98). Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C …
- … not profit it, there would be no advance.— " Letter 6728 : from Charles Lyell, 5 …
- … William Graham. Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C., 11 October [1859] I …
- … in rank." Letter 4510 : Darwin to Wallace, A. R., 28 [May 1864] "Now …
- … Darwinonline ] John Lubbock, Pre-Historic Times (1865) [ available at archive.org ] …
- … ] T. H. Huxley, "Methods and Results of Ethnology" (1865) [ available at archive …
- … . New York: The Free Press, 1968. Robert J. C. Young, Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, …