To William Lonsdale 1 February [1868]
Summary
Thanks WL for sending congratulations [on George Darwin’s attaining Second Wrangler].
Relays news about Sedgwick’s condition.
Has finished a large book on variation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Lonsdale |
| Date: | 1 Feb [1868] |
| Classmark: | Murch 1893, p. 437 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5834A |
Matches: 4 hits
- … intercourse, and I earnestly hope that your health may cause you less suffering. Believe …
- … sorry to hear so poor an account of your health. What a life of suffering you have led! …
- … when Lonsdale retired for reasons of ill health in 1842. See Correspondence vol. 2. Adam …
- … did not take this step earlier. My own health is considerably better, and though not free …
To J. D. Hooker [28 March 1868]
Summary
Defers visit [to Kew] because of ill health.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [28 Mar 1868] |
| Classmark: | Wellcome Collection (MS.7781/1–32 item 21) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6062 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Defers visit [to Kew] because of ill health. …
To J. V. Carus 16 August [1868]
Summary
Regrets having missed JVC’s visit. CD’s health is poor. He hopes JVC will come to Down after BAAS meeting.
Has heard second part [of Variation] is out in German. Thanks JVC for his great care in making translation accurate.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Date: | 16 Aug [1868] |
| Classmark: | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 25–26) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6317 |
From Ernst Haeckel 17 July 1868
Summary
Comments on CD’s health.
Has received gold medal from Dutch Academy of Science for Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Siphonophoren [1869].
His Entstehung des Menschengeschlechts [1868] has been sharply attacked by the clergy.
| Author: | Ernst Philipp August (Ernst) Haeckel |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 July 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 49 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6280 |
To Eduard Koch 27 August 1868
Summary
Would like to see reviews of book [Variation].
Health has lately been indifferent.
Cannot at present pledge to give [EK?] translation rights to next book.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Eduard Koch |
| Date: | 27 Aug 1868 |
| Classmark: | Interlibrium (dealers) (Catalogue 276) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6332 |
From John Tyndall 9 October 1868
Summary
Gustavus Hinrichs is also a [not highly regarded] correspondent of JT’s; he will put GH’s papers on the table at Royal Institution to ease CD’s conscience.
Dined with the Asa Grays at Hooker’s. Told Mrs Gray that CD’s ill health was a benefit because it caused him to ponder a great deal.
| Author: | John Tyndall |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 Oct 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: C1–2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6414 |
From Adam Sedgwick 11 October 1868
Summary
Congratulates CD on election of his son [George] as a Fellow of Trinity College.
Describes his ill health.
Invites CD to visit Cambridge.
[Letter dated November in error.]
| Author: | Adam Sedgwick |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 11 Oct 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 129 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6416 |
To Jonathan Peel 6 March [1868]
Summary
Obliged for JP’s account of sheep. Such articles would make naturalists think more of natural selection.
E. A. Darwin’s health bad.
Asks about sex ratio in sheep births.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Jonathan Peel |
| Date: | 6 Mar [1868] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Surrogate RP 8059) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5983 |
To H. W. Bates 22 April [1868]
Summary
Thanks HWB for answering questions.
The MS on Lepidoptera is almost finished and he is glad HWB will read it; he is fearful of mistakes, not being familiar with the subject.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 22 Apr [1868] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6135 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
To J. B. Innes 10 December [1868]
Summary
Does not think the supposed cow–deer hybrid worth investigating.
John Robinson [the curate at Down] reported to be walking with girls at night.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Brodie Innes |
| Date: | 10 Dec [1868] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6497 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
To H. W. Bates 21 May [1868]
Summary
Lists specimens he wants from Mr Janson, emphasising that he always wants male and female.
He extends an invitation for a Sunday in early June.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 21 May [1868] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6195 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
To H. W. Bates 15 April [1868]
Summary
CD has questions related to colour differences in the sexes of butterflies, especially in relation to HWB’s paper ["On variation in sexes of Argynnis diana", Proc. Entomol. Soc. Philadelphia 4 (1865): 204–7].
Mentions that his MS on Lepidoptera [for Descent] is longer than he intended and the information is four-fifths owed to HWB.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 15 Apr [1868] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6120 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
To J. D. Hooker [4 March 1868]
Summary
Arrangements to dine at JDH’s club.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [4 Mar 1868] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13816 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
To Francis Galton 25 January [1868?]
Summary
FG’s congratulations [on publication of Variation] have given CD pleasure.
Trusts that FG is well again.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Galton |
| Date: | 25 Jan [1868?] |
| Classmark: | UCL Library Services, Special Collections (GALTON/1/1/9/5/7/7) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5800 |
To H. W. Bates 19 February [1868]
Summary
CD in utter confusion about differences between J. O. Westwood and HWB on division of certain insects. Asks if HWB will homologise certain families for him, telling him which terms would be most generally understood.
Asks also about differences on sound-producing organs of Achetidae Gryllidae.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 19 Feb [1868] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5895 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
To T. H. Huxley 23 July [1868]
Summary
Has come to Freshwater for five weeks for his health. Sends regrets to Prof. Kühne at not being able to see him.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Date: | 23 July [1868] |
| Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 241) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6287 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … to Freshwater for five weeks for his health. Sends regrets to Prof. Kühne at not being …
To Alphonse de Candolle 20 July [1868]
Summary
Thanks AdeC for correcting an error about thorns, which CD might have quoted.
CD will be cautious in regard to the muscles of the scalp. [Descent 1: 20].
His health has failed again "in the usual manner" and he has been ordered to do no work.
Repeats how interested and pleased he was by AdeC’s last long, remarkable letter.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alphonse de Candolle |
| Date: | 20 July [1868] |
| Classmark: | Archives de la famille de Candolle (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6282 |
To H. W. Bates 18 March [1868]
Summary
Requests information on the standard of beauty of savages and on whether the female has any influence in selecting a male.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 18 Mar [1868] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6022 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) Charles Robert Darwin …
To W. B. Tegetmeier 8 September [1868]
Summary
Asks about the differences in colour of plumage of adult male, female, and young birds. Suggests pile game as subject.
Asks about relative proportion of sexes in ducks and fowls.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 8 Sept [1868] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.273) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6356 |
From F. A. von Hartsen 5 January 1868
Summary
Sends portion of his book, Grundlegung von Aesthetik [1869]. Argues that CD’s theory can be reconciled with religion.
| Author: | Frederik Anthony von Hartsen |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 5 Jan 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 113 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5778 |
| letter | (101) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (46) |
| Haeckel, Ernst | (6) |
| Dallas, W. S. | (5) |
| Fox, W. D. | (4) |
| Candolle, Alphonse de | (3) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (54) |
| Bates, H. W. | (5) |
| Fox, W. D. | (4) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (4) |
| Candolle, Alphonse de | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (100) |
| Fox, W. D. | (8) |
| Haeckel, Ernst | (8) |
| Bates, H. W. | (6) |
| Dallas, W. S. | (6) |
Darwin's health
Summary
On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…
Matches: 6 hits
- … letter which he put down to his exceptionally poor health: Indeed all this winter, I …
- … up to its name. Darwin experienced chronic episodes of ill health, which increased in severity in …
- … treatment. In April 1864, Darwin attributed his improved health to Dr Jenner’s advice: ‘ drinking …
- … very least, it seems clear that Darwin’s periods of ill health were quite useful. Citing a troubled …
- … letter to Robert FitzRoy, [20 February 1840] . Darwin’s health diary (Down House MS), which he …
- … Darwin had sometimes noted the acidity of his vomit in his health diary (Down House MS; see Colp …
Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 8 hits
- … had plagued him since the spring of 1863. Because of poor health, Darwin corresponded little during …
- … and having scientific papers read to him. In March, his health improved enough for him to make some …
- … he could work (presumably at writing) for two hours. As his health grew worse during the last two …
- … flower-peduncle, petiole, leaf, and aerial roots. When his health deteriorated in 1863, he found …
- … forms of the trimorphic Lythrum , and when his health permitted in 1864 he drew up the results …
- … Sabine, 4 December [1864] ). Struggling with ill-health Darwin received news of …
- … form of letters during 1864; because of his fragile state of health, he saw few people outside the …
- … scientific colleagues, and he continued writing even as his health worsened again in November and …
Darwin's notes for his physician, 1865
Summary
On 20 May 1865, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary that John Chapman, a prominent London publisher who had studied medicine in London and Paris in the early 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863 Chapman started to treat…
Matches: 3 hits
- … 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863 Chapman started to treat …
- … Jenner. In November and December of 1864, however, his health grew worse. In his ‘Journal’, Darwin …
- … for references to the extensive literature on CD’s health, see Colp 1977 and 1998, and Bowlby 1990. …
Darwin's illness
Summary
Was Darwin an invalid? In many photographs he looks wearied by age, wrapped in a great coat to protect him from cold. In a letter to his cousin William Fox, he wrote: "Long and continued ill health has much changed me, & I very often think with…
Climbing plants
Summary
Darwin’s book Climbing plants was published in 1865, but its gestation began much earlier. The start of Darwin’s work on the topic lay in his need, owing to severe bouts of illness in himself and his family, for diversions away from his much harder book on…
Darwin soundbites
Summary
From atheistical cats to old fogies in Cambridge, we've collected some of Darwin's pithier remarks - some funny, some serious - but all quotes from letters you can read in full here. We particularly like this one: Will you be so kind as…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Where's it from? On sickness, health, and bananas …you began your …
Dining at Down House
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's Domestic Life While Darwin is best remembered for his scientific accomplishments, he greatly valued and was strongly influenced by his domestic life. Darwin's…
Matches: 7 hits
- … One of Darwin's defining characteristics was his poor health. The letters provide insight into …
- … to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 Darwin’s ill health began on his Beagle voyage. In …
- … to their marriage, Emma expresses her concern for Darwin’s health, her sympathy for the frustration …
- … spiritualism. Darwin expresses his regrets that his own ill health prevents him from visiting the …
- … his own aches and pains, Lenny reports on their father’s health, noting that Darwin’s frustration …
- … of Darwin's personal life? 2. How did Darwin's health affect his scientific …
- … married. In it Emma expressed her concern for Darwin’s health, her sympathy for the frustration he …
Insectivorous plants
Summary
Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in the summer of 1860, staying with his wife’s relatives in Hartfield, Sussex, he went for long walks on the heathland and became curious about the large number of insects caught by…
Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles
Summary
Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…
Matches: 4 hits
- … friends and relatives, Darwin felt sufficiently restored in health to work for two or three hours a …
- … keeping up the battle, he gave up only from fatigue and ill health ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 …
- … that it was a success, and there is no doubt that his health improved, at least temporarily. This is …
- … a methodical mind keen to establish order: he chronicled his health, his daily and household …
Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'
Summary
The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…
Matches: 3 hits
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 7 hits
- … and here, attended by every blessing except that of vigorous health… DARWIN: 4 My …
- … In truth there is nothing which I should enjoy more; but my health is not, and will, I suppose, …
- … able to suppress his anger. He is in his 70s and in poor health. SEDGWICK: 69 …
- … They are enjoying the furore. Darwin is more earnest, his health – mental and physical – is …
- … In which Drwin struggles more than usual with his health, grows a beard, and cancels The Times; and …
- … to cross over to England in two months… Mrs Gray’s health makes me anxious to avoid another winter …
- … if he had had a good laugh. Then, Darwin’s health dictates that he and his American guests …
Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad
Summary
At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…
Matches: 5 hits
- … dropped markedly, reflecting a decline in his already weak health. Darwin then began punctuating …
- … is the mother of fine children all over the world’. Health worries Despite his …
- … no reason why he should not recover his previous state of health. Brinton’s words must have …
- … to J. D. Hooker, 26 December [1863] ) that Darwin’s health fluctuated and showed little improvement …
- … from his sons. She was pessimistic about his prospects of health over the next few months: ‘When not …
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Benjamin (1) District Health Office (1) …
Expression
Summary
Darwin's interest in emotional expression can be traced as far back as the Beagle voyage. He was fascinated by the different sounds and gestures among the peoples of Tierra del Fuego, and on his return from the voyage he started recording observations…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The exigencies of the public service have already ruined my health, & curtailed my capacities. …
Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest
Summary
The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…
Matches: 5 hits
- … respect for the elder naturalist, inquired after Darwin’s health, and expressed his desire to meet …
- … Galton, 13 September 1871 ). A return to poor health During the summer months, Darwin …
- … ). On 23 September he informed Murray that owing to poor health he had done nothing for six …
- … described the joyous occasion in great detail, her uncertain health requiring her to attend …
- … Murchison, and the earl of Derby. Given his poor state of health for much of the summer, it is …
Darwin on marriage
Summary
On 11 November 1838 Darwin wrote in his journal ‘The day of days!’. He had proposed to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and been accepted; they were married on 29 January 1839. Darwin appears to have written these two notes weighing up the pros and cons of…
Matches: 4 hits
- … be exclusively geological United States, Mexico Depend upon health & vigour & how far I …
- … music & female chit-chat.— These things good for one’s health.— [16] but terrible loss of …
- … to gain one’s bread.— (But then it is very bad for ones health[19] to work too much) Perhaps …
- … rather than with the advantages. [19] ‘for ones health’ interl.i [20] The heading …
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 6 hits
- … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now …
- … consulted Jones in July 1865 and attributed his improved health by the end of that year to the diet …
- … with his brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin. Owing to improved health, Darwin was able to make a number …
- … she and Emma continued to play in safeguarding Darwin’s health and securing his privacy. Similarly, …
- … waterlilies prevailed over considerations of health in this case. Ernst Haeckel Nor …
- … died in October. On learning of Catherine’s poor state of health, Hooker, who had lost his father …
The full edition is now online!
Summary
For nearly fifty years successive teams of researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have been working to track down all surviving letters written by or to Charles Darwin, research their content, and publish the complete texts. The thirtieth and final…
Darwin and Fatherhood
Summary
Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…
Matches: 4 hits
- … country. Darwin frequently expressed regrets that his ill health (e.g., Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 14 …
- … to hydropathic spas or the seaside to strengthen their health. Although his interest in inheritance …
- … ). In addition to his fears for his children’s health, Darwin’s other principal concern as a …
- … and holidays at the seaside were often necessitated by ill health rather than pleasure. It was …
Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?
Summary
'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…
Matches: 8 hits
- … reminiscences, and laments about advancing age and poor health, with family friends from childhood, …
- … operation, combined with Moulinié’s increasingly poor health, led to yet further delay, and the new …
- … to Darwin which he, however, declined on the grounds of ill health. Expression : …
- … usual chemist, William Baxter, were not in this case for his health, but to test their effects when …
- … he repeated to several correspondents. His own health was slightly better than in the …
- … sons spent some time on the continent for the sake of their health ( see letter to W. D. Fox, 16 …
- … over their wills, and he poured out such a litany of ill health to one correspondent that Emma …
- … Darwin gracefully declined on the habitual grounds of ill health ( letter from J. S. Craig, 4 …
