skip to content

Darwin Correspondence Project

Search: contains ""

Darwin Correspondence Project
Search:
1867::11 in date disabled_by_default
1867::11 in date disabled_by_default
letter in document-type disabled_by_default
letter in document-type disabled_by_default
42 Items
Sorted by:  
Page: 1 2 3  Next

From J. S. Bowerbank   [4 November 1867]

thumbnail

Summary

Reports two observations on crossing in dogs: the preservation of both pure types in the offspring of a pointer and a setter, and the influence of a first mating with a mongrel on the progeny of a Barbary bitch and a subsequent Barbary male.

Author:  James Scott Bowerbank
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [4 Nov 1867]
Classmark:  DAR 160: 261
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13780

From E. A. Darwin to Emma Darwin   [before 19 November 1867]

thumbnail

Summary

Caroline says Jos [Wedgwood III] is "much pulled down".

Author:  Erasmus Alvey Darwin
Addressee:  Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin
Date:  [before 19 Nov 1867]
Classmark:  DAR 105: B121
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5334

From John Murray   1 November [1867]

Summary

Sends Dallas’ specimen of indexing [for Variation].

Asks CD’s opinion of likelihood of a hybrid of ass and bull, reported in a MS of a journey to Asia Minor he is reading.

Author:  John Murray
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  1 Nov [1867]
Classmark:  DAR 171: 352
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5661

From Henry Napier Bruce Erskine to Frances Julia Wedgwood   1 November 1867

Summary

Sends FJW replies to queries about expression.

Author:  Henry Napier Bruce Erskine
Addressee:  Frances Julia (Snow) Wedgwood
Date:  1 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 163: 31–2
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5663

From Charles Kingsley   1 November 1867

Summary

Sends a letter he wrote in 1862 [see 3482].

Author:  Charles Kingsley
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  1 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 169: 36, 30
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5664

To Fritz Müller   2 November 1867

Summary

Variation to be published at end of month.

Dimorphism and self-sterility.

Seed dissemination in Adenanthera.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller
Date:  2 Nov 1867
Classmark:  The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 19)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5666

To John Murray   2 November [1867]

Summary

Dallas’ index [for Variation] well done but rather too full.

A hybrid from an ass and a bull is utterly incredible.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Murray
Date:  2 Nov [1867]
Classmark:  National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 ff. 176–177)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5667

From Isaac Anderson-Henry   2 November 1867

thumbnail

Summary

Will send proto-Lamarckian pamphlet [1799] by Charles White, if CD wishes. It has a graduated scale of types from snipe to man.

Author:  Isaac Anderson; Isaac Anderson Henry
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  2 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 159: 71
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5668

To J. V. Carus   4 November [1867]

Summary

Sends corrected title of Variation and report of progress in printing.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Julius Victor Carus
Date:  4 Nov [1867]
Classmark:  Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 51)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5669

From William Sweetland Dallas   4 November 1867

Summary

WSD is pleased that CD approves his index draft [for Variation]; notes his objection to long list of references under "Dogs" and will try to find a principle for shortening it. He has not indexed all authors’ names; is this practice satisfactory?

Author:  William Sweetland Dallas
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  4 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 162: 2
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5670

To Charles Kingsley   6 November [1867]

Summary

He had no idea that the double function of an excretory passage had played a part in the history of religion.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Kingsley
Date:  6 Nov [1867]
Classmark:  Linnean Society of London (Quentin Keynes collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5670F

To W. S. Dallas   8 November [1867]

Summary

Suggestions on listing authors in the index [for Variation].

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Sweetland Dallas
Date:  8 Nov [1867]
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5671

From Edward Wilson   8 November 1867

Summary

Has sent CD’s queries on expression to some friends; encloses one set of replies [missing].

Author:  Edward Wilson
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  8 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 181: 120
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5672

From Charles Kingsley   8 November 1867

Summary

Remarks on Darwinism’s reception. The radical press shies away, out of ignorance, because CD may be made out to be a Tory. He has met a Darwinian Marchioness.

The mystery of sex is the origin of all religion.

Author:  Charles Kingsley
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  8 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 169: 37
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5673

From Francis Elliott Kitchener   9 November 1867

Summary

Sends Swiss Aquilegia flowers in which insects have eaten away the spurs.

Suggests fetid smell of Stapelia attracts carrion flies.

Author:  Francis Elliott Kitchener
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  9 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 169: 39
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5674

From W. S. Dallas   10 November 1867

Summary

Thanks CD for his two notes [on indexing references to authors]; will increase the scope of his citations by including those quoted in footnotes in support of statements in the text.

Author:  William Sweetland Dallas
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  10 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 162: 3
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5675

From J. V. Carus   11 November 1867

Summary

Is not writing prospectus [of Variation] – merely sketch of contents and tenor of first volume for advertisement to booksellers.

Questions on details for the translation.

Publisher anxious to get volume out.

Author:  Julius Victor Carus
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  11 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 161: 65
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5676

From Samuel Wilson to Ferdinand von Mueller   12 November 1867

Summary

Sends some answers [missing] to CD’s queries on expression.

Author:  Samuel Wilson
Addressee:  Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich (Ferdinand) von Mueller
Date:  12 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 181: 129
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5677

To J. V. Carus   14 November [1867]

Summary

Sends revision of vol. 1 [of Variation]. Advance sale at auction sold 1200 copies, to CD’s great surprise. Publication delayed by index.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Julius Victor Carus
Date:  14 Nov [1867]
Classmark:  Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 52–53)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5678

From C. L. Brace   14 November 1867

thumbnail

Summary

Distribution of plants.

Removal of posterior molars a common dental practice in America [see Descent 1: 27].

Author:  Charles Loring Brace
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  14 Nov 1867
Classmark:  DAR 80: B154–5
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5679
Document type
Date
1867disabled_by_default
11disabled_by_default
01 (3)
02 (3)
04 (3)
06 (1)
08 (3)
09 (1)
10 (1)
11 (1)
12 (1)
14 (2)
17 (1)
18 (2)
19 (3)
20 (5)
21 (3)
22 (3)
25 (2)
26 (1)
30 (3)
Page: 1 2 3  Next
Search:
in keywords
85 Items
Page:  1 2 3 4 5  ...  Next

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: 24 hits

  • … species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. …
  • … on the topic. Lyell also added the following note on page 11: *Mr. John Lubbock published …
  • … Galton.   In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, evidently in response …
  • … 2 have struck out Galton & Prestwich at p. 11 who will be surprisd [ sic ] to …
  • … about Lyell’s failure to support him. In April 1863, in a letter to the Athenæum , he discussed a …
  • … transmutation; he also wrote to Lyell telling him about the letter to the Athenæum . 9 …
  • … had done ‘an injustice’ to Falconer and Prestwich. 11 In the same review Lubbock expressed …
  • … 1863b, p. 213).  In May 1864, Lubbock received a letter from Falconer, who reiterated his …
  • … he took exception to the wording of the note on p. 11 of C. Lyell 1863c, which implied that Lubbock …
  • … The statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in a note to page 11 of his work, that my article on the …
  • … and went on to say that he intended to make a copy of his letter to show to friends. 18 In …
  • … wrote to Darwin to ask what he thought of the affair ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 June 1865] ). …
  • … he reiterated his admiration for Lubbock’s book ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [4 June 1865] ). A week …
  • … in the dispute. When Hooker pressed him for an opinion ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 July 1865 ), …
  • … with Huxley in June and July and had seen Huxley’s letter to Hooker about the affair, 24 he …
  • … of the preface of C. Lyell 1863c and reworded the note on p. 11.  Unlike the earlier …
  • …  Lyell revised both the preface and the note on page 11 of the third edition of Antiquity of man …
  • … versions of the end of the preface and of the note on page 11 are included below.  Preface, C …
  • … as well as of the subsequent issues.” Note on page 11, C. Lyell 1863c (original version) …
  • … made by him in company with Mr. Busk. Note on page 11, C. Lyell 1863c (revised version) …
  • … in Letters, 1863 , (introduction to Correspondence vol. 11, pp. xv–xvii). For a comparison of …
  • … 1984, pp. 154–9. 7. See Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] …
  • … Bartholomew 1973. 8. See Correspondence vol. 11, letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March …
  • … 18 April [1863 ]. 10. Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March …

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: 8 hits

  • … make any such changes to the existing German edition (see letter from H. G. Bronn, [before 11
  • … number of small corrections & a few of importance’ (see letter to H. G. Bronn, 11 March [1862] …
  • … that the remainder be included in the new edition; in his letter to Bronn of 25 April [1862 ], he …
  • … possible use in a new American edition of Origin (see letter from E. Schweizerbart’sche …
  • … we shall immediately see)’.    Page xiv, n., line 11, delete ‘in the years 1794–5’.    …
  • … substitute for ‘but then  . . .  kinds of flowers.’: 11                    In just some of …
  • … sentence also appears in Origin 4th ed., p. 20. 11.  p. 56. This whole paragraph was …
  • … in Origin 4th ed., p. 449. 47.  p. 409–11. This passage also appears, with slight …

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: 27 hits

  • … 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] ). …
  • … 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 …
  • … to take so sweetly all the horrid bother of correction’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 21 [March …
  • … sent an apology for misinterpreting Darwin on this point ( letter from J. D. Dana, 21 July 1874 ); …
  • … numbers and sex ratios among the Pitcairn islanders ( letter from William Dealtry, 16 January 1874 …
  • … will say that I have pounded the enemy into a jelly’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 14 April 1874 ). …
  • … by none but anatomists; and never mind where it goes’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 16 April 1874 ). …
  • … the return on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 …
  • … by the conciseness & clearness of your thought’ ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 20 April 1874 ). …
  • … legal action over the ‘scurrilous libel’ on his son ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [27 July 1874] ). …
  • … false, scurrilous accusation of [a] lying scoundrel’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ). …
  • … review me in a hostile spirit’ ( letter to John Murray, 11 August 1874 ). Darwin was …
  • … Correspondence  vol. 20, letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). To Darwin’s relief, …
  • … the moment of being hatched ( letter to  Nature , 7 and 11 May [1874] ; Spalding 1872a). …
  • … & that must be enough for me’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). Plants that eat . …
  • … cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox,  11 May [1874] ). His research …
  • … Correspondence  vol. 21, letter from Francis Darwin,  [11 October 1873] ). Darwin wasted …
  • … the photograph he sent highly ( letter from D. F. Nevill, [11 September 1874] ). At the …

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: 27 hits

  • … but really I do think you have a good right to be so’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 and] 20 …
  • … species. Darwin attempted to dissuade him from this view ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 [January 1862 …
  • … partially sterile together. He failed. Huxley replied ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 January 1862 …
  • … and pronounced them ‘simply perfect’, but continued ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 18 December [1862] ) …
  • … resigned to their difference of opinion, but complained ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1862 …
  • … letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] …
  • … Towards the end of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): …
  • … and added, ‘new cases are tumbling in almost daily’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). In …
  • … hopeful, became increasingly frustrated, telling Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 March [1862] ) …
  • … on the problem: ‘the labour is great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ), ‘I …
  • … resulted from his ‘ enormous  labour over them’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [October 1862] ; …
  • … Oliver: ‘I can see at least 3 classes of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), …
  • … result once out of four or five sets of experiments’ ( letter to M. T. Masters, 24 July [1862] ). …
  • … one species may be said to be generically distinct’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 14 July [1862] ). The …
  • … and determined to publish on  Linum  ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), …
  • … d . like to make out this wonderfully complex case—’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 29 [July 1862] ). …
  • … The case clearly excited Darwin, who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 9 August [1862] ), ‘I …
  • … that the case warranted a paper for the Linnean Society ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 October [1862] …
  • … that had given him ‘great pleasure to ride’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). But he …
  • … know not  in the least , whether the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] …
  • … govern the structure of almost every  flower’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 8 June [1862] ). …
  • … so doubtful about anything I published’, he told Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 [May 1862] ). …
  • … of Natural History’ ( letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 11 July [1862] ). She had had assistance …
  • … for a second edition ( letter from H. G. Bronn, [before 11 March 1862] ), Darwin asked him to use …
  • … see letter from E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 11 July 1862 ). Yet Darwin was now …
  • … interest. He told Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 11 September [1862] ): ‘This is a nice, but …
  • … from one parent’ ( letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 11 July [1862] ). really good …

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: 24 hits

  • … that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
  • … persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled considerably. The …
  • … from ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
  • … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
  • … 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 …
  • … 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] ). …
  • … against stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). …
  • … thinking, while Huxley’s book would scare them off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In …
  • … change of species by descent put him ‘into despair’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). In the …
  • … disaffected towards Lyell and his book. In a February letter to the  Athenæum , a weekly review of …
  • … find great difficulty in answering Owen  unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
  • … bottom of seas, lakes, and rivers ( Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix VII). Quarrels at …
  • … Academy of Sciences, Berlin (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix III), and of the Société des …
  • … unsuccessful ( see letter from E. A. Darwin to Emma Darwin, 11 November [1863] ). The council of …
  • … [9 May 1863] , and memorandum from G. H. Darwin, [before 11 May 1863]) . As he struggled …
  • … to drive the quietest man mad’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). Hooker and Gray agreed …
  • … tropical plants than before (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix VI). He was fascinated with …
  • … pistils mature at different times ( see letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). The fertility of …
  • … ‘Crossing & Sterility’ (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix II). When Darwin finished, by …
  • … animal suffering caused by them (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix IX). Francis Darwin later …

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: 6 hits

  • … , scurrilous accusation of [a] lying scoundrel.—  ( Letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] …
  • … everything more quietly, as not signifying so much.  ( Letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ) …
  • … have started the subject & that must be enough for me  ( Letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] …
  • … work takes five times more time than the positive  ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 August [1874] ) …
  • … enjoyed a day more in my life than this day’s work  ( Letter to D. F. Nevill, 18 September [1874] …
  • … alive, considering the work which you have to do—  ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 November [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: 27 hits

  • … What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 8 November [1872] …
  • … anything more on 'so difficult a subject, as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace,  27 July …
  • … best efforts, set the final price at 7 s.  6 d.  ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 February 1872 ) …
  • … condition as I can make it’, he wrote to the translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September …
  • … translation remained unpublished at the end of the year ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 23 November …
  • … to the comparative anatomist St George Jackson Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart,  11 January …
  • … comparison of Whale  & duck  most beautiful’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 3 March 1872 ) …
  • … a person as I am made to appear’, complained Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). …
  • … Darwin would renounce `fundamental intellectual errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January …
  • … was silly enough to think he felt friendly towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872 …
  • … hoping for reconciliation, if only `in another world’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart,  10 January …
  • … have been ungracious in him not to thank Mivart for his letter.  He promised to send a copy of the …
  • … partly in mind, `chiefly perhaps because I do it badly’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 3 August [1872] …
  • … Darwinism is to be the theme. Surely the world moves!’ ( letter from Mary Treat, 13 December 1872 …
  • … to find that Weismann accepted it at least in part ( letter to August Weismann, 5 April 1872 ). ‘I …
  • … few naturalists in England seem inclined to believe it’ ( letter to Herman Müller, [before 5 May …
  • … reached the buzzing place where I myself was standing’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, [before 5 May …
  • … ‘as for myself it is dreadful doing nothing’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was …
  • … to stand closer (a serried mass) and to be more erect’ ( letter to Briton Riviere, 19 May [1872] ) …
  • … attacks on Darwin became notorious, had written on 11 May expressing concern that his recently, …
  • … and amused rather than offended by `that clever book’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 21 November 1872 …
  • … wrote offering Arthur May’s drawings shortly afterwards ( letter from Samuel Butler to Francis …
  • … 'exactly where, from his ignorance, he feels no doubts’ ( letter to F. C. Donders, 17 June …
  • … music provided by her husband, Richard Buckley Litchfield ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 13 May 1872 …
  • … to Henrietta; 'I know that I am half-killed myself’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 25 July 1872 …
  • … well informed: `The die is cast’, he wrote excitedly on 11 May , when the matter was first raised …
  • … fellow’ was Darwin’s wholeheartedly partisan reply ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 May 1872 ). On 13 …

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: 22 hits

  • … handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller, 22 February …
  • … Correspondence about Darwin’s Questionnaire (click on the letter dates to see the individual letters …
  • … Correspondent Letter date Location …
  • … Blair, R.H. 11 July 1871 Worcester College for the …
  • … Africa)? ] mentioned in JPM Weale letter, but Bowker's answers not found …
  • … Chaumont, F.S.B.F. de 11 March 1871 Woolston, …
  • … Square W London, England enclosed in a letter from Henry Maudsley …
  • … South Africa possibly included in letter from Mansel Weale …
  • … Peradeniya, Ceylon enclosed in letter from G.H.K. Thwaites …
  • … Egypt] possibly included in letter(s) from Asa Gray Nile …
  • … Lake Wellington, Australia letter to F.J.H. von Mueller nodding, …
  • … Abbey Place, London, England letter to Emma Darwin baby expression …
  • … Penmaenmawr, Conway, Wales letter to Emma Darwin infant daughter …
  • … Square W, London, England Enclosed letter from Dr. C. Browne …
  • … 9 Nov 1870 11 St Mary Abbot's Terrace, London, England …
  • … 1 Feb 1871 11 St Mary Abbot's Terrace, London, England   …
  • … 7 Sept 1872 11 St Mary Abbot's Terrace, London, England …
  • … 1 Feb. 1871 11 Saint Mary Abbot's Terrace, Kensington. W., London, …
  • … Sulivan, B.J. 11 Jan 1867 Bournemouth, England …
  • … Wallace, A. R. 11 March [1867] 9 St. Mark’s Crescent …
  • … England (about Australia) encloses letter from Austrialian friend, letter not …
  • … forwarded by Smyth; Wilson sent letter to Ferdinand von Mueller Victoria Aborigines …

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: 15 hits

  • … he had witnessed man in his most "primitive wildness" ( letter to Henslow, 11 April 1833 …
  • … 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 …
  • … but may guide the forces & laws of Nature." Letter 6866 : From Federico Delpino …
  • … in this inner principle, inborn in all things." Letter 8658 : to Alpheus Hyatt, 4 …
  • … Wallace, and the philosopher William Graham. Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C., …
  • … the less intellectual races being exterminated." Letter 3439 : Darwin to Kingsley, …
  • … race, viewed as a unit, will have risen in rank." Letter 4510 : Darwin to Wallace, …
  • … entirely on intellectual & moral qualities. Letter 13230 : Darwin to Graham, …

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: 30 hits

  • … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
  • … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
  • … observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
  • … 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., …
  • … expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
  • … is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
  • … of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
  • … briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
  • … expression of emotion in dogs with Emma Darwin. Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, …
  • … birds, insects or plants on Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to …
  • … of an angry pig and her niece’s ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
  • … that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … on her experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9426 - Story …
  • … without the birds attacking the buds and flowers. Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to …
  • … and her father of plants and insects. Men: Letter 2221 - Blyth, E. to Darwin …
  • … specimens and bird observations from Calcutta. Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 …
  • … “enthusiasm and indomitable patience”. Letter 4242 - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin …
  • … contained in “a little treatise”. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 …
  • … he has moved one or two of them into his bedroom. Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to …
  • … expression of emotion in chimpanzees and orangs. Letter 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von …
  • … to show in his museum in Canterbury, New Zealand. Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to …
  • … to be attracted to dark spots on the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. …
  • … the black letters in a marble tablet”. Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July …
  • … Fieldwork Women: Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June …
  • … on the shores of mountain lakes in Pennsylvania. Letter 3681  - Wedgwood, M. S. to …
  • Letter 4928  - Henslow, G. to Darwin, [11 November 1865] J. S. Henslow’s son, George, …
  • Letter 2461  - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [11 May 1859] Darwin expresses anxiety over …

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: 28 hits

  • … ‘my wife … poor creature, has won only 2490 games’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876 ). …
  • … to think of the future’, Darwin confessed to William on 11 September just hours after Amy’s …
  • … quantity of work’ left in him for ‘new matter’ (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). The …
  • … to a reprint of the second edition of Climbing plants ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 23 February …
  • … & I for blundering’, he cheerfully observed to Carus. ( Letter to J. V. Carus, 24 April 1876. …
  • … provided evidence for the ‘advantages of crossing’ (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). Revising …
  • … year to write about his life ( Correspondence vol. 23, letter from Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg, 20 …
  • … nowadays is evolution and it is the correct one’ ( letter from Nemo, [1876?] ). …
  • … him ‘basely’ and who had succeeded in giving him pain ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 17 June 1876 ). …
  • … disgrace’ of blackballing so distinguished a zoologist ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 29 January 1876 ) …
  • … must have been cast by the ‘poorest curs in London’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [4 February …
  • … her questions were ‘too silly to deserve an answer’ ( letter from S. B. Herrick, 12 February 1876 …
  • … on Dionaea ‘to test the insect eating theory’ ( letter from Peter Henderson, 15 November 1876 …
  • … sending Darwin small amendments to his results ( letter from Moritz Schiff, 8 May 1876 ). …
  • … to get positive results in this year’s experiments’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [ c . 19 March …
  • … in the Encyclopaedia Britannica the previous year ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [after 4 September …
  • … and to promote work he admired. He was so interested in a letter from Fritz Müller in Brazil …
  • … with the ants that inhabited the trunk that he sent the letter to Nature for publication. ‘It …
  • … communicated this information in an article in Nature ( letter from Johann von Fischer, [before …
  • … phyllotaxis by the mutual pressure of very young buds’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 21 June [1876] ). …
  • … Scottish shoemaker and ardent naturalist Thomas Edward ( letter from F. M. Balfour, 11 December …
  • … live blood-hound which shall hunt it to the death’ ( letter from James Torbitt, 19 April 1876 …
  • … the public to consider Torbitt an untrustworthy fanatic ( letter to James Torbitt, 21 April 1876 ) …
  • … request, with the ‘awful job’ of informing the author ( letter to G. G. Stokes, 21 April [1876] ). …
  • … thought the paper was ‘not worthy of being read ever’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 28 January 1876 …
  • … who died at the age of 10 in 1851, but William, who was 11 years old at the time of her death, would …
  • … you are one of the best of all’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 11 September [1876] ). …
  • … do I cannot conceive’, Darwin wrote anxiously to Hooker on 11 September. By the time Darwin …

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: 28 hits

  • … of respect and affection’. He hinted as much in his letter of 4 June : ‘you will see I have done …
  • … the popularity of his book, writing to Robert Cooke on 11 April , ‘though I believe it is of …
  • … have shared Hooker’s suspicion of ambitious gardeners ( letter from W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 25 August …
  • … method of recording leaf motion for extended periods. In a letter to Thiselton-Dyer of 11 October …
  • … … tap one of the young leaves with a delicate twig’ ( letter to R. I. Lynch, 14 September 1877 ). …
  • … , or to the vibratory flagella of some Infusoria’ ( letter from F. J. Cohn, 5 August 1877 ). …
  • … in July 1877 (F. Darwin 1877b), and Darwin sent Cohn’s letter vindicating his son’s research to …
  • … his sense of form and of motion was exact and lively’ ( letter from W. E. Gladstone, 23 October …
  • … Charles Darwin and Ernst Haeckel). Writing to Darwin on 11 March 1877 , Krause declared the …
  • … the Westphalian Provincial Society for Science and Art. In a letter to Darwin written before 16 …
  • … the only one full-page in size. Haeckel sent a personal letter of congratulation on 9 February , …
  • … (see Appendix V). The album arrived with a long letter from the director and secretary of the …
  • … visits from distinguished persons. Gladstone came to Down on 11 March. ‘I expected a stern, …
  • … write to Owen & offer himself you & me to dejeuner!!!’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 June …
  • … where I hope it may remain for centuries to come’ ( letter from C. C. Graham, 30 January 1877 ). …
  • … you in the interests of truth, of man and of societies’ ( letter from Marcellin de Bonnal, [1877] …
  • … to the old story to be horsewhipped by a duke!’ ( letter to J. M. Rodwell, 3 June 1877 ). Back …
  • … frog spawn; the gospel of dirt the order of the day’ ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 27 January [1877] …
  • … credence to racist prejudice in Descent of man . In a letter from an unknown correspondent on …
  • … the subjects of Siebold’s study of medical monstrosity ( letter from C. T. E. Siebold, 10 October …
  • … our blood and thus keep back our civilization’ ( letter from W. B. Bowles, 17 May 1877 ). Bowles …
  • … and wives of ‘men of the white race’. In a follow-up letter he warned, ‘you find them in multituds …
  • … polish serves to hide the absence of humanity beneath’ ( letter from W. B. Bowles, 18 May 1877 ). …
  • … in New Guinea, who reportedly had hard inflexible tails ( letter from Arthur Mellersh, 1 January …
  • … not been a difficulty to me,’ he replied to Romanes on 11 June , ‘as I have never believed in a …
  • … up Pangenesis with wicked imprecations’ (Trollope 1867; letter to G. J. Romanes, [1 and 2 December …
  • … disclaimed its ‘scientific value’, he confessed in a letter of 25 November 1877 that the book …
  • … that they become quite tipsy’ ( letter to W. M. Moorsom, 11 September [1877] ). Moorsom replied …

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: 28 hits

  • … Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864 : ‘the venerable beard gives …
  • … of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] , Darwin …
  • … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
  • … As Darwin explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of 30 November [1864] , ‘the …
  • … continue his observations indoors ( Correspondence  vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] …
  • … 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 …
  • … 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] ). …
  • … at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in 1862 with a letter regarding the fertilisation of the …
  • … two years, with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] …
  • … is difficult enough to play your part  over  them’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 April 1864] ). …
  • … troublesome … they do require very careful treatment’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 8 April 1864 ). …
  • … the conclusion that in giving I am hastening the fall’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 April 1864 ) …
  • … his indomitable perseverance, and his knowledge’ ( letter to John Scott, 10 June 1864 ). Hooker …
  • … basis he recommended a first-class cabin for the journey ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 August …
  • … and curators at a great distance. Gray forwarded a letter from Charles Wright, a plant collector in …
  • … to the materialist philosophy of Ludwig Buchner ( letter from Hermann Kindt, 5 September 1864 ). …
  • … himself. Haeckel’s scientific life, he reported in a letter of 9 [July 1864] , had been …
  • … often called me her German “Darwin–Mann” ’ ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 10 August 1864 ). Haeckel …
  • … to listen to any thing from him except á la Darwin!’ ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 November 186[4] …
  • … two letters to the  Athenæum  ( Correspondence  vol. 11). Darwin’s anxiety about the matter was …
  • … and the question of human origins ( Correspondence vol. 11). Wallace, however, traced a possible …

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: 3 hits

  • … cannot fail to be largely blown in every direction. (Letter to C. H. Blackley, 5 July [1873] ) …
  • … the weight of pollen grains by a dilution method.  In his letter of 9 March 1877 , Darwin wrote: …
  • … research remained elusive.   He wrote to Darwin on 11 July 1873 : The problem of cure …

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: 28 hits

  • … Were women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
  • … Tollet for proofreading and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. …
  • … her to read to check that she can understand it. Letter 7312 - Darwin to Darwin, F. …
  • … from all but educated, typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E …
  • … he seeks her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … in order to minimise impeding general perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, …
  • … he uses to avoid ownership of indelicate content. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to …
  • … so as not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
  • … which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to …
  • … Darwin’s female readership Letter 5391 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [6 February …
  • … of the Manchester Ladies Literary Society . Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to …
  • … the chapter on pangenesis, which is a revelation. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. …
  • … Darwin assumes that 'A. B. Blackwell' is a man. Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to …
  • … him to the psychology of Herbert Spencer. Letter 7624 - Bathoe, M . B. to Darwin …
  • … his statements on a lack of reasoning in animals. Letter 7644 - Barnard, A. to …
  • … during a visit to an asylum with her father. Letter 7651 - Wedgwood, F. J. to …
  • … on any comments that she feels might be suitable. Letter 7411 - Pfeiffer, E. J. to …
  • … and beauty in the process of sexual selection. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, …
  • … of a woman’s natural thinking”. Letter 8778 - Forster, L. M . to Darwin, H. …
  • … and the showing of teeth in Expression . Letter 10072 - Pape, C. to …
  • … and hopes Darwin will complete her questionnaire. Letter 10390 - Herrick, S. M. B. …
  • … of questions which she hopes aren’t too silly. Letter 10415 - Darwin to Herrick, S. …
  • … and is pleased that his work has interested her. Letter 10508 - Treat, M. to Darwin …
  • … it nearly all night before she could lay it down. Letter 13547 - Tanner, M. H. …
  • … involving worms which occurred in her garden. Letter 13650 Kennard, C. A. to Darwin …
  • … Reading Variation Letter 5712 - Dallas, W. S. to Darwin, [8 December 1867] …
  • … array of facts” contained in the work. Letter 5861 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [11
  • Letter 9633 - Nevill, D. F. to Darwin, [11 September 1874] Dorothy Nevill tells …

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: 24 hits

  • … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
  • … in that little sheet of note-paper! DARWIN:  11   My dear Hooker… What a remarkably …
  • … 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 …
  • … 55   My good dear friend, forgive me. This is a trumpery letter influenced by trumpery feelings. …
  • … do a good deal to secure it. Darwin passes Gray’s letter to Hooker with a cringe. …
  • … full relief from all anxiety. Darwin shows Gray’s letter to Hooker. DARWIN:  …
  • … back. JANE GRAY:   189   [Jane Gray. Letter to her sister. Fall, 1868.] Mr Darwin …
  • … DARWIN:   192   My dear Gray. When I look over your letter[s] … and see all the things you …
  • … me, and yet was most anxious till two days ago, when I got a letter from him in excellent spirits. …
  • … 1 OCTOBER 1846 7  C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 11 JANUARY 1844 8  C DARWIN TO A …
  • … 10  C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 24 AUGUST 1855 11  C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, 5 JUNE 1855 …
  • … 22 NOVEMBER 1856 29  C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 11 APRIL 1861 30  A GRAY TO C …
  • … A GRAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 1858 58 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 11 OCTOBER 1858 59 A GRAY TO …
  • … HOOKER, 18 OCTOBER 1859 63  C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 11 NOVEMBER 1859 64 JD …
  • … 13 NOVEMBER 1859 66  C DARWIN TO R OWEN, 11 NOVEMBER 1859 67  C DARWIN …
  • … 17 FEBRUARY 1861 111  C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 11 DECEMBER 1861 112  C DARWIN …
  • … DARWIN TO A GRAY 28 MAY 1864 159  FROM A GRAY 11 JULY 1864 160  C DARWIN …
  • … TO GRAY AT THIS TIME 189 JANE LORING GRAY, LETTER TO HER SISTER, 1868 or 1869 …
  • … TO A GRAY 28 JANUARY 1876 204  FROM A GRAY 11 DECEMBER 1874 205  TO A …

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: 29 hits

  • … Hooker, ‘or as far as I know any scientific man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1878] ). …
  • … or arched.… Almost all seedlings come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). …
  • … when he finds out that he missed sensitiveness of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] …
  • … Darwin complained. ‘I am ashamed at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). …
  • … accursed German language: Sachs is very kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June …
  • … have nobody to talk to, about my work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] …
  • … but it is horrid not having you to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). …
  • … determine whether they had chlorophyll, Francis reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 …
  • … ‘There is one machine we must have’, Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July …
  • … ‘He seems to me to jump to conclusions rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] …
  • … the pot-plant every day & never the bedded out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July …
  • … ‘I have borrowed Cieselski & read him,’ he reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [22 June 1878 …
  • … books & red-wine which is here the cure for all evils’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [24 and 25 …
  • … is very sweet & pretty,’ he added a week later ( letter to Francis Darwin, 14 July [1878] ). …
  • … in a booboo, whereas I ought to have said a gee-gee’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 17 July [1878] ). …
  • … close down on the object, but he will always do so’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 20 August [1878] ). …
  • … idiot, a deaf-mute, a monkey & a baby in your house!’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 2 September …
  • … that I want to play the part of a thieving wasp’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 21 June 1878 ). …
  • … than zoology, where his work had been more controversial ( letter from J.-B. Dumas and Joseph …
  • … to expertise. ‘It is funny’, he wrote to Huxley on 11 August , ‘the Academy having elected a man …
  • … me Dr Darwin, the title seems to me quite ridiculous’ ( letter to John Price, 2 April [1878] ). …
  • … of the “imperfection of the Geological Record”’ ( letter from Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvár, 28 …
  • … science our atlas would not have come together’ ( letter from Arnold Dodel-Port, 18 June 1878 ). …
  • … or religious prejudice. An engineer in Bohemia addressed his letter to ‘the inspired hermit of Down’ …
  • … in Germany, as if they had been school-boys’ ( letter to Karl von Scherzer, 1 April 1878 ). …
  • … a personal god with the ‘eternity of matter’ ( letter from H. N. Ridley, [before 28 November 1878] …
  • … a Naturalist and leaves Moses to take care of himself ’ ( letter from J. B. Innes, 1 December 1878 …
  • … never troubled myself about such insoluble questions’ ( letter to H. N. Ridley, 28 November 1878 ) …
  • … whatever he earnestly desires’ ( letter to James Grant, 11 March 1878 ). The question of …

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: 24 hits

  • … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
  • … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
  • … 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 ). …
  • … sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
  • … leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
  • … on the summit, whence it rolls down the sides’ ( letter from J. F. Simpson, 7 January 1882 ). The …
  • … light on it, which would have pleased me greatly’ ( letter from J. H. Gilbert, 9 January 1882, …
  • … annelid seemed to have rather the best of the fight’ ( letter from G. F. Crawte, 11 March 1882 ). …
  • … by the American educator Emily Talbot (Talbot ed. 1882). His letter to Talbot written the previous …
  • … by the flippant witlings of the newspaper press’ ( letter from A. T. Rice, 4 February 1882 ). Rice …
  • … men, and their role as providers for the family. In his letter, he conceded that there was ‘some …
  • … of our homes, would in this case greatly suffer’ ( letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). …
  • … she be fairly judged, intellectually his inferior, please ( letter from C. A. Kennard, 28 January …
  • … he has allied himself to so dreadful a man, as Huxley’ ( letter to John Collier, 16 February 1882 …
  • … Would my actions be the same without my consciousness?’ ( letter from John Collier, 22 February …
  • … a solid scientific foundation cannot be overestimated’ ( letter to William Jenner, 20 March [1882] …
  • … a ‘Glycerin Pepsin mixture’ (letters to W. W. Baxter, 11 March 1882 and 18 March [1882 ]). …
  • … immediately wrote to George, who had visited Down on 11 April (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)). …
  • … man’s private property’ ( letter to George Warington, 11 October [1867] ). Respecting the …

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: 3 hits

  • … ( Beagle diary , p. 143). He was delighted to receive a letter from an African correspondent …
  • … and Progress Key letters: Letter to J. S. Henslow, 11 April 1833 …
  • … Correspondence with women Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February …

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 …
Page:  1 2 3 4 5  ...  Next