To Cuthbert Collingwood 16 February [1866]
Summary
Regrets that his health prevents their meeting, but offers some suggestions for the expedition to the Malay Archipelago and coast of China: the search of caverns in the Malay Archipelago for fossil bones, deep sea dredging in the tropics, glacial action in any moderately steep mountains, means of geographical distribution, the history of domestic animals in these regions, and gestures and expressions of real savages as compared with our civilised expressions. [See 5008 and 5011.]
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Cuthbert Collingwood |
| Date: | 16 Feb [1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 185: 96 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5008B |
Matches: 8 hits
- … the recovery of bones or fossils ( Collingwood 1868 , pp. 86, 123, 233). CD was probably …
- … Bibliography Collingwood, Cuthbert. 1868. Rambles of a naturalist on the shores and waters …
- … account of his expedition ( Collingwood 1868 ), in which social aspects of the life of …
- … and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868. …
- … foraminiferous organisms ( Collingwood 1868 , pp. 125–7). Glacial action was on CD’s mind …
- … ed. 1959, pp. 591–610). Collingwood 1868 did not include information on glaciation. CD …
- … February [1866] and n. 6). Collingwood 1868 did not include information on this subject. …
- … 14, Appendix II)); however, Collingwood 1868 did not include information on the subject. …
From Cuthbert Collingwood 15 February 1866
Summary
Going to Orient as naturalist aboard the Rifleman. Offers CD his services.
| Author: | Cuthbert Collingwood |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Feb 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 212 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5008 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Bibliography Collingwood, Cuthbert. 1868. Rambles of a naturalist on the shores and waters …
- … journey to Hong Kong, see Collingwood 1868 , pp. 1–22. John William Reed was master in …
- … Reed did not travel together ( Collingwood 1868 ). In April 1866, Collingwood joined HMS …
- … of Charles J. Bullock ( Collingwood 1868 , p. 22). Collingwood wrote at least seventeen …
- … account of his journey in Collingwood 1868 ; there is a lightly annotated presentation …
From Charles James Fox Bunbury to Charles Lyell 3 February 1866
Summary
Discusses Louis Agassiz’s theory of the glaciation of Brazil.
| Author: | Charles James Fox Bunbury, 8th baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 3 Feb 1866 |
| Classmark: | F. J. Bunbury ed. 1891–3, Later life 1: 134–6. |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4995F |
Matches: 7 hits
- … September (J. L. R. Agassiz and Agassiz 1868 , pp. 143, 152–85). Evidently the letter …
- … action (J. L. R. Agassiz and Agassiz 1868 , p. 15). The evidence he subsequently …
- … presented in J. L. R. Agassiz and Coutinho 1868. The accumulation of such evidence in …
- … as a whole (J. L. R. Agassiz and Agassiz 1868 , p. 150). By the end of the expedition, …
- … work (J. L. R. Agassiz and Agassiz 1868 , p. 145; see also n. 6, below). Bunbury …
- … is reported in J. L. R. Agassiz and Agassiz 1868 , pp. 69–70, 86–97, 99–101, 250. For …
- … age (J. L. R. Agassiz and Agassiz 1868 , pp. 399, 425; see also Brice and Figueirôa …
To Charles Lyell 7 February [1866]
Summary
Discussion of Mrs Agassiz’s letter [to Mary Lyell, forwarded to CD] regarding S. American glacial action,
with comments on Bunbury’s letter on temperate plants.
Refers to opinions of Agassiz, David Forbes, Hooker, and CD on glacial period and glaciers.
Wishes he had published a long chapter on glacial period [Natural selection, pp. 535–66] written ten years ago.
Tells of death of his sister, Catherine, and other family matters.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 7 Feb [1866] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.312) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4999 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … 57. Agassiz, Louis and Agassiz, Elizabeth. 1868. A journey in Brazil. Boston: Ticknor and …
- … and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868. …
- … findings, see J. L. R. Agassiz and Agassiz 1868 . In the tenth edition of Principles of …
- … see also J. L. R. Agassiz and Agassiz 1868 , pp. 399–401). Agassiz also noted that, …
- … 3000 ft ( J. L. R. Agassiz and Agassiz 1868 , pp. 46, 69). Agassiz’s description of …
- … given in J. L. R. Agassiz and Agassiz 1868 , pp. 492–3, and Hartt 1870 , pp. 15–18. …
To John Murray 28 May [1866]
Summary
Has corrected and improved Origin.
Now hopes to make real progress [on Variation].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Murray |
| Date: | 28 May [1866] |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 ff. 143–144) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5103 |
To Charles Lyell 1 December [1866]
Summary
Thanks CL for copy of his "grand book" [Principles of geology, 10th ed., vol. 1 (1867)]. Congratulates him on additions.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 1 Dec [1866] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.322) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5289 |
From J. D. Hooker 4 February 1866
Summary
Asks CD whether he knows of a medicine to check vomiting – for a friend dying from starvation as a result.
Duke of Somerset is looking for two naturalists for survey ship to Korea and Strait of Magellan.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Feb 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 102: 57–8 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4996 |
From A. R. Wallace 4 February 1866
Summary
Looks forward to reading Variation.
Explains how two or more female forms occur in one species through selection. The physiological problem remains of how each produces offspring like the other without intermediates. Is not CD’s case of varieties that will not blend the physiological test of a species needed for "complete proof of the origin of species"?
"Travels" postponed.
| Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Feb 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: B31–2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4997 |
From Cuthbert Collingwood 20 February 1866
Summary
Thanks for CD’s suggestions. [From CD’s notes on CC’s previous letter, these were (1) means of distribution; (2) domestic animals; (3) gestures of savages.]
| Author: | Cuthbert Collingwood |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Feb 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 213 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5011 |
From J. D. Hooker 7 August 1866
Summary
Is attempting to sum up the two theories impartially and must raise all the difficulties with each. More on his differences with CD.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Aug 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 102: 91–2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5183 |
From Benjamin Dann Walsh 13 March 1866
Summary
On the "bullae" as constant, regular generic characters in Hymenoptera. Disagrees with Louis Jurine ["Observations sur les ailes des hyménoptères", Mem. Accad. Sci. Torino 24 (1820): 177–214].
| Author: | Benjamin Dann Walsh |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Mar 1866 |
| Classmark: | Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5034 |
To W. B. Tegetmeier 16 October [1866]
Summary
Hopes to begin printing Variation at the beginning of next year.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 16 Oct [1866] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5244 |
From Rudolf Oldenbourg 28 October 1866
Summary
Proposes O. F. Peschel as a German translator of Variation, which his firm would like to publish.
| Author: | Rudolf Oldenbourg |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Oct 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 173: 12 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5258 |
To Thomas Laxton 3 November [1866]
Summary
Has examined TL’s crossed peas. Observes that in several lots crossed peas are smooth, like paternal stock, not wrinkled like maternal stock. Is this a result of mere variation, peculiar culture, or pollen of the father?
Encloses queries [missing].
Intends planting peas at once if TL approves.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Laxton |
| Date: | 3 Nov [1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 146: 36 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5267 |
From E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung 10 May 1866
Summary
Encloses letter from H. B. Geinitz, who declines to handle translation of new edition of Origin. Recommends Julius Victor Carus. Also suggests Gustav von Leonhard as translator for Origin.
Discusses translation of Variation.
| Author: | E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 May 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 72 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5085 |
To F. T. Buckland 2 October 1866
Summary
Declines contributing to Land and Water. Asks if Frank Buckland can insert a question about the feet of otter hounds.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Trevelyan (Frank) Buckland |
| Date: | 2 Oct 1866 |
| Classmark: | Kenneth W. Rendell (dealer) (no date) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5227F |
To Asa Gray 4 August [1866]
Summary
Thanks for AG’s trouble about new edition of Origin.
Will be printing his new book [Variation] at the end of the year.
[Forwarded by AG, with covering note, to Mr Fields of Ticknor & Fields.]
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 4 Aug [1866] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (85) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5177 |
From J. D. Hooker 4 August 1866
Summary
Alexander Beatson mentions a bird in considerable numbers on St Helena which appears to contradict CD’s statement in Journal of researches that only introduced land birds exist there.
The Azores flora and fauna tell heavily against Atlantis joining them with America and against transoceanic migration from America.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Aug 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 102: 87–8 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5178 |
To Robert Caspary 4 March 1866
Summary
Thanks RC for photograph and for papers, which are of highest interest to CD. He is not fully convinced about the rose by RC’s graft-hybrid paper [Bull. Congr. Int. Bot. & Hortic. Amsterdam (1865): 65–80]. Still retains faith in his own view that no plant is perpetually self-fertilised.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Johann Xaver Robert (Robert) Caspary |
| Date: | 4 Mar 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 92: A38–9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5026 |
To J. D. Hooker 30 June [1866]
Summary
Has heard from B. J. Sulivan about the fossils at Gallegos, Patagonia. Would be a great haul for palaeontology if Duke of Somerset would encourage Capt. Mayne to collect them [on survey of Magellan Strait].
Tells JDH of a new map of world that he might use in his lecture [on "Insular floras", BAAS, 1866, J. Bot. Br. & Foreign 5 (1867): 23–31; Gard. Chron. (1867): 6, 27, 50, 75].
Impressed by H. Spencer’s last number, but each suggestion would require years of work to be of use to science.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 30 June [1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 292 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5135 |
| letter | (135) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (70) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (10) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (9) |
| Gray, Asa | (4) |
| Caspary, Robert | (3) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (64) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (11) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (8) |
| Murray, John (b) | (6) |
| Müller, Fritz | (5) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (134) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (21) |
| Tegetmeier, W. B. | (17) |
| Murray, John (b) | (9) |
| Gray, Asa | (7) |
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: 27 hits
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If …
- … The quantity of his correspondence increased dramatically in 1868; the increase was due largely to …
- … and his immediate circle of friends and relations. In July 1868 Darwin was still anticipating that …
- … and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868] ). My book is horribly …
- … as early as 1865, the two-volume work appeared in January 1868. A final delay caused by the indexing …
- … look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). Darwin sympathised, replying on …
- … fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). But such worries were laid to …
- … was clearly impressed by Lewes’s reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from …
- … not behind my back’ ( letter to John Murray, 25 February [1868] ). Wallace commiserated: ‘I am …
- … to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] ). The review was in fact by John …
- … a veritable ass’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868] ). I am bothered with …
- … Yorkshire, wrote of the colour of duck claws on 17 April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the …
- … Commons than any assembly in the world’ (from ?, 6 April 1868). On 21 May , Darwin complained to …
- … breeder, who apologised in a letter of 11–13 May 1868 for his ‘voluminuous zeal’, and offered …
- … changes in the canary (letters from J. J. Weir, [26] March 1868 and 3 June 1868 ). ‘It was …
- … clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). Sexual selection …
- … ratios was scanty, and he spent much of the first half of 1868 collecting facts on this question, …
- … may be gained’ ( letter to H. T. Stainton, 21 February [1868] ). From the beginning, Darwin had …
- … males getting wives’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 25 February [1868] ). Yet a number of Darwin’s …
- … the American entomologist Benjamin Dann Walsh on 25 March 1868 . Wallace maintained that males …
- … entomologists ( letter from Roland Trimen, 20 February 1868 , and letter from Robert MacLachlan, …
- … in attracting females. J. J. Weir reported on 14 April 1868 that a bullfinch had piped a German …
- … odour sexual!’ ( letter to A . R. Wallace, 16 September [1868] ). Francis sought additional advice …
- … to his mother Emma in a letter dated [after 16 October 1868] : ‘I had a long work with Crotch to …
- … in the dyed hen ( letter from Harrison Weir, 28 March 1868 ). Writing on the same day, Edward …
- … of Species”’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 4 October 1868 ). Heaven protect my stomach …
- … of Nat. Selection’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). Researching emotion …
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: 30 hits
- … for ease of distribution sometime in late 1867 or early 1868. Darwin went over his questions, …
- … in Ceylon, wrote the botanist George Thwaites on 22 July 1868 , “all endeavour to drill their …
- … Scottish botanist John Scott wrote from Calcutta, 4 May 1868 : “Shame is … expressed by an …
- … Bulmer, J 13 Aug 1868 [Gipps Land, nr. Flemington? …
- … Bunnett, Templeton 13 Aug 1868 Echuca, Australia …
- … Darwin, W.E. [after 29 March 1868] Chester Place, …
- … Darwin, W.E. [7? April 1868] Southampton, England …
- … Darwin, W.E. [22? April 1868] Southampton, England …
- … Forbes, David 26 March 1868 Boulton, England (about …
- … Geach, F.F. April 1868 Johore, Malaysia …
- … Glenie, S.O. 22 July 1868 Peradeniya, Ceylon …
- … Glenie, S.O. [July 1868] Trincomalee, Ceylon …
- … Hagenauer, J.A. 13 Aug 1868 Flemington, Australia …
- … Hawkshaw, Cicely Mary (to ED) 9 Feb 1868 Liphook, …
- … Hooker, J.D. 5 Sept 1868 Kew, London (about Nagasaki …
- … Lacy, Dyson [before 13 Aug 1868] [Queensland, …
- … Lane, H.B. 13 Aug 1868 Belfast, Australia? …
- … Lang, Archibald G. 13 Aug 1868 [Coranderrk, …
- … Muller, Fritz 30 Jan [1868] Itajahy, Santa Catharina …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 23 May 1868 Conservative Club, …
- … Scherzer, Karl Von 20 Oct 1868 Ministry of Commerce, …
- … Scott, John 4 May 1868 Royal Botanic Gardens, …
- … Smyth, R. Brough 13 Aug 1868 Flemington, Australia …
- … Speedy, J. 29 Sept 1868 Freshwater, Isle of Wight, …
- … Swinhoe, Robert 4 Aug 1868 British Legation, Peking, …
- … Thwaites, G.H.K. 1 Apr 1868 Peradeniya, Ceylon …
- … Walsh, B.D. 25 March 1868 Rock Island, Illinois, USA …
- … Weale, J.P.M. 23 Oct 1868 Bedford, Cape of Good Hope …
- … Sarah E to ED [30 March-12 April 1868] London, …
- … Wilson, Edward 19 Feb 1868 Hayes, Bromley, Kent, …
6430_10256
Summary
From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hookerf1 25 October 1868Lund (Suède)25 Okt. 1868.Monsieur le Professeur! J’ai écrit à deux de mes amis qui ont des connaissances personnelles à la Lapponie, pour avoir les…
Matches: 12 hits
- … From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hooker f1 25 October 1868 Lund (Suède) 25 Okt. 1868. …
- … CD’s query, see the letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 August 1868. Hooker passed CD’s query to Nilsson at …
- … in Norwich (see letter from J. D. Hooker, 30 August 1868). f3 Nilsson sent the response in …
- … An English translation was never published. Earlier in 1868, Longman’s, Green, and Company had …
- … of northern Europe during the Stone Age (Nilsson 1868); see letter to John Lubbock, 15 February …
- … on Nilsson’s view in Lubbock’s introduction to Nilsson 1868, pp. xxxv–xxxvi. …
- … From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hooker f1 25 October 1868 Lund (Sweden) 25 Oct. 1868 …
- … CD’s query, see the letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 August 1868. Hooker passed CD’s query to Nilsson at …
- … in Norwich (see letter from J. D. Hooker, 30 August 1868). f3 Nilsson sent the response in …
- … An English translation was never published. Earlier in 1868, Longman’s, Green, and Company had …
- … of northern Europe during the Stone Age (Nilsson 1868); see letter to John Lubbock, 15 February …
- … on Nilsson’s view in Lubbock’s introduction to Nilsson 1868, pp. xxxv–xxxvi. …
Cross and self fertilisation
Summary
The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom, published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells us, in the most emphatic manner, that she abhors…
Matches: 7 hits
- … to produce capsules’ ( To Fritz Müller, 30 January [1868] ). Müller, in turn, sent seeds from his …
- … produced by the former ( From Robert Caspary, 18 February 1868 ). Darwin eagerly requested seed …
- … their power of growth’ ( To Robert Caspary, 25 February [1868] ). By this time he had already …
- … (Variation 2: 128-9), which was published on 30 January 1868. In April 1868, Darwin informed …
- … quite intelligible to me’ ( To George Bentham, 22 April 1868 ). A month later, he had another set …
- … taken from the same plant!’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 21 May [1868] ) Pollen tubes, or rapidly elongating …
- … he told Müller ( To Fritz Müller, 28 November 1868 ). In March 1869, Müller reported results of …
Reading my roommate’s illustrious ancestor: To T. H. Huxley, 10 June 1868
Summary
My roommate at Harvard College was Tom Baum, now a Hollywood screenwriter. Tom’s full name is Thomas Henle Baum, his middle name a reference to a German physician ancestor for whom the ‘Loop of Henle’ in the kidney had been named. Other than this iconic…
5935_4582
Summary
From J. D. Hooker 26[–7] February 1868KewFeby 26th/68Dear Darwin I have been bursting with impatience to hear what you would say of the Athenæum Review & who wrote it— I could not conceive who…
Matches: 4 hits
- … From J. D. Hooker 26[–7] February 1868 Kew Feby 26 th /68 Dear Darwin …
- … to Richard Owen (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 February [1868]); the review was by John Robertson ( …
- … 1867) was reviewed in the Athenæum , 8 February 1868, pp. 217–18. f3 CD had discussed …
- … CD’s reply. See letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 February [1868] and nn. 8–10. …
5873_1488
Summary
From B. J. Sulivan 13 February [1868]f1 Bournemouth Feby. 13. My dear Darwin As Mr Stirling has sent me the recpt. you may as well have it with the Photo of the four Fuegian boys which he wishes me to send you in case you have not seen it. He…
Matches: 1 hits
- … From B. J. Sulivan 13 February [1868] f1 Bournemouth Feby. 13. My dear …
Diagrams and drawings in letters
Summary
Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of the fish and hence of all higher vertebrates, 23 March 1868 Roland Trimen on the …
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: 10 hits
- … Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H., [30 January 1868] Darwin asks Thomas Huxley to …
- … 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S. E., [9 November 1868] Darwin’s nephew, Edmund, …
- … - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9 November 1868] Darwin’s nephews, Edmund …
- … Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868] Doubleday responds to Darwin’s …
- … Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments …
- … Letter 6083 - Casparay, J. X. R. to Darwin, [2 April 1868] Casparay details his …
- … Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868] Naturalist Henry Doubleday …
- … Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868] John Weir describes experiments …
- … Letter 6066 - Weir, H. W. to Darwin, [28 March 1868] Harrison Weir passes on …
- … Letter 6081 - Darwin to Bowman, W., [2 April 1868] Darwin requests surgeon and …
Descent
Summary
There are more than five hundred letters associated with the research and writing of Darwin’s book, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex (Descent). They trace not only the tortuous route to eventual publication, but the development of Darwin’s…
Matches: 6 hits
- … in two volumes in 1871, yet as late as the summer of 1868 Darwin thought it would be only a ‘ short …
- … writing it up as a separate publication in early February 1868 , wading through a ‘ mass of …
- … Variation was finally off his hands at the beginning of 1868, the volume of his correspondence …
- … are more than 260 surviving letters from February and March 1868 alone, two or three times the usual …
- … the details of the experiment were discussed in March 1868 , it seems the original suggestion of …
- … & sexual selection’ Darwin wrote to Wallace in September 1868, but although he had ‘ oscillated …
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…
William Winwood Reade
Summary
On 19 May 1868, an African explorer and unsuccessful novelist, William Winwoode Reade (1838–1875) offered to help Darwin, and started a correspondence and, arguably, a collaboration, that would last until Reade's death. After a first 1861 tour of…
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: 4 hits
- … vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868] ). He may have resented the interruption to his …
- … on the German translation of Variation (Carus trans. 1868). The French translation proved …
- … the French edition of Variation (Moulinié trans. 1868), and CD now extended his permission for …
- … Scientific Opinion , launched towards the end of 1868, was one of several periodicals begun in …
Darwin and the Church
Summary
The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It shows another side of the man who is more often remembered for his personal struggles with faith, or for his role in large-scale controversies over the…
Matches: 4 hits
- … a cow and a red deer (letter from J. B. Innes, 7 December 1868 ). Innes had a tendency to tease …
- … he left behind (letter from S. J. O’H. Horsman, 2 June [1868] ). Among the reasons justifying his …
- … the church’s organ fund (letter to J. B. Innes, 15 June [1868] ). So embroiled in this process …
- … the Down parish church (letter to J. B. Innes, 1 December 1868 ). Darwin wrote of the next …
Darwin's life in letters
Summary
For all his working life, Darwin used letters as a way both of discussing ideas and gathering the ‘great quantities of facts’ that he used in developing and supporting his theories. They form a fascinating collection from many hundreds of correspondents,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … letters. ( Darwin to John Jenner Weir, [6 March 1868] ) For all his working life …
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: 7 hits
- … Letter 5861 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [11 February 1868] Zoologist Edward Blyth sends …
- … Letter 5928 - Gray, A. to Darwin, [25 February 1868] American naturalist Asa Gray …
- … Letter 6040 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [23 March 1868] Haeckel informs Darwin …
- … Letter 6110 - Samuelson, J. to Darwin, [10 April 1868] James Samuel, editor of …
- … Letter 6126 - Binstead, C. H. to Darwin, [17 April 1868] Charles Binstead, “an …
- … Letter 6237 - Bullar, R. to Darwin, [9 June 1868] Rosa Bullar reports a case of a …
- … Letter 6335 - Innes, J. B. to Darwin, [31 August 1868] John Innes reports that he has …
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 …
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: 6 hits
- … Letter 6167 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 8 May [1868] Darwin writes to Gray about his review …
- … 6223 — Horsman, S. J. H. to Darwin, C. R., 2 June [1868] Horsman attempts to convince Darwin …
- … Letter 6241 — Innes, J. B. to Darwin, C. R., 13 June 1868 J. B. Innes, vicar of Down writes …
- … Letter 6486 — Darwin, C. R. to Innes, J. B., 1 Dec 1868 Darwin writes to J. B. Innes, vicar …
- … Letter 6492 — Innes, J. B. to Darwin, C. R., 4 Dec 1868 J. B. Innes, vicar of Down provides …
- … Letter 6501 — Innes, J. B. to Darwin, C. R., 12 Dec 1868 J. B. Innes, vicar of Down is …
Species and varieties
Summary
On the origin of species by means of natural selection …so begins the title of Darwin’s most famous book, and the reader would rightly assume that such a thing as ‘species’ must therefore exist and be subject to description. But the title continues, …or…
Matches: 4 hits
- … selection ( Origin 4th ed., pp. 323–6). However, by 1868, in The variation of animals and …
- … discussion of the issue with Alfred Wallace in the spring of 1868. Wallace had sent a concise …
- … natural selection ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 1 March 1868 ). Darwin turned to his son George, a …
- … as insoluble’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). Ultimately, Darwin’s view was …
Controversy
Summary
The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…
Matches: 6 hits
- … Letter 6024 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 19 Mar 1868 Wallace writes to Darwin with a …
- … Letter 6033 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., [21 Mar 1868] Darwin lets Wallace know he has …
- … Letter 6045 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 24 Mar [1868] Wallace returns George Darwin’s …
- … Letter 6058 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., 27 Mar [1868] Darwin writes to Wallace saying …
- … Letter 6095 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., 6 Apr [1868] Darwin writes to Wallace on the …
- … Letter 6104 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 8 [Apr] 1868 Wallace says if Darwin is not …
