From V. O. Kovalevsky 15 January [1871]
Summary
Has received (from CD) the sheets of the second volume [of Descent].
He fears he has offended CD or someone in England and he begs to know his offence.
His brother is working at the Red Sea and wishes CD to know that he has evidence for the affinity of ascidians and vertebrates in their nervous systems.
Plans to go to Paris upon its imminent capitulation to help his sister-in-law.
| Author: | Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky (Владимир Онуфриевич Ковалевский) |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Jan [1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 169: 79 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7442 |
From W. W. Reade 16 January 1871
Summary
Meeting with CD postponed.
| Author: | William Winwood Reade |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Jan 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 43 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7443 |
To R. F. Cooke 17 January [1871]
Summary
Discusses mailing of presentation copies [of Descent]. Sends addresses of A. R. Wallace and St George Mivart.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray |
| Date: | 17 Jan [1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 276 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7444 |
To J. B. Innes 18 January [1871]
Summary
CD’s anxiety about being examined in court if Horsman [former curate at Down] brings suit. He doubts it will happen, but if so will defend himself to utmost.
Has pleasant recollections of his relations with JBI.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Brodie Innes |
| Date: | 18 Jan [1871] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7445 |
To A. R. Wallace 18 January [1871]
Summary
Sends ARW advance copy of vol. 1 [of Descent] for his review in Academy. Vol. 2 is delayed by index. "Do not swear at me more than you can help."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Date: | 18 Jan [1871] |
| Classmark: | Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives (Autograph Letters: Stanley Withers Collection: 925.7 18 Jan 1872) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7446 |
From St G. J. Mivart 19 January 1871
Summary
Has sent CD his book [Genesis of species (1871)]. Has not said a word in opposition to CD except where his view of the truth necessitated it.
| Author: | St George Jackson Mivart |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 19 Jan 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 189 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7447 |
To J. D. Hooker 21 January [1871]
Summary
Finished the last proofs of Descent a few days ago. "I shall be well abused."
St George Mivart’s Genesis [of species]: very good, unfortunately theological. Will tell heavily against natural selection but not against evolution, and this is "infinitely more important".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 21 Jan [1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 94: 186–7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7448 |
From J. B. Innes 21 January 1871
Summary
JBI regrets his part in appointments of his successors.
His friendship with CD and its effect on his fellow clerics.
| Author: | John Brodie Innes |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 21 Jan 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 167: 28 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7449 |
To Albert Günther 21 January [1871]
Summary
Invites AG to stay at Down. Winwood Reade and, he hopes, Hooker and Robert Swinhoe will be there.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Albrecht Carl Ludwig Gotthilf (Albert) Günther |
| Date: | 21 Jan [1871] |
| Classmark: | Shrewsbury School, Taylor Library (13) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7450 |
To St G. J. Mivart 21 January [1871]
Summary
Is obliged for StGJM’s book [On the genesis of species (1871)].
Would not have sent him vol. 1 [of Descent] if he had known that StGJM’s book was already published.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | St George Jackson Mivart |
| Date: | 21 Jan [1871] |
| Classmark: | Bonhams, New York (dealers) (11 June 2008) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7450A |
From St G. J. Mivart 22 January 1871
Summary
Thanks CD for vol. 1 of Descent. Feels nothing but sympathy and esteem for a writer labouring for the promotion of what he conscientiously believes to be the truth.
| Author: | St George Jackson Mivart |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 Jan 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 190 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7451 |
To William Bowman [before 26] January [1871]
Summary
Sends enclosure copied from letter of F. C. Donders [7207?] dealing with orbicular muscle. Asks about secretion of tears resulting from spasmodic action of orbicular muscle.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bowman, 1st baronet |
| Date: | [before 26] Jan [1871] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7452 |
To St G. J. Mivart [23 January 1871]
Summary
Comments on StGJM’s book [Genesis of species (1871)]. Has no personal objection to a word of it, but regrets their views differ so much.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | St George Jackson Mivart |
| Date: | [23 Jan 1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 96: 95–6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7453 |
To St G. J. Mivart 23 January [1871]
Summary
Acknowledges StGJM’s kind letter. [See 7451.]
Offers to alter the "dogmatic assertion" referred to on page 102 [of StGJM’s On the genesis of species] but in 5th ed. of Origin and in Variation CD finds only qualified expressions.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | St George Jackson Mivart |
| Date: | 23 Jan [1871] |
| Classmark: | Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7453A |
From St G. J. Mivart 24 January 1871
Summary
Is sorry CD found Genesis of species unfairly critical. Assures CD of his just intentions and offers to alter certain words and phrases in a new edition. Emphasises his high regard for CD but fears his views are leading to religious decay.
| Author: | St George Jackson Mivart |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 Jan 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 191 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7454 |
To J. B. Innes 26 January [1871]
Summary
CD’s health has been poor.
Appreciates JBI’s letter and his expression of friendship.
In the opinion of a Q.C., Horsman has no case.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Brodie Innes |
| Date: | 26 Jan [1871] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7455 |
From William Bowman 26 January 1871
Summary
Reports his observations on the concurrence of orbicular muscle spasms, engorgement of eyes with blood, and formation of tears.
| Author: | William Bowman, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 26 Jan 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 269 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7456 |
From J. V. Carus 26 January 1871
Summary
A bibliographical query arising in translation of Descent. Two misprints noted.
| Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 26 Jan 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 77 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7457 |
From St G. J. Mivart 26 January 1871
Summary
Is glad CD does not believe he is biased by an odium theologicum. Comments on the first volume of Descent. Is convinced of the truth of evolution, but believes natural selection plays only a secondary role and that man is fundamentally different from the rest of creation.
| Author: | St George Jackson Mivart |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 26 Jan 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 192 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7458 |
To Erasmus Wilson [26 January – 3 February 1871]
Summary
Seeks information and observations on the contraction of the orbicular muscles as a consequence of skin irritation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William James Erasmus (Erasmus) Wilson |
| Date: | [26 Jan – 3 Feb 1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 96: 91 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7459 |
| letter | (837) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (366) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (16) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (15) |
| Murray, John (b) | (13) |
| Galton, Francis | (12) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (446) |
| Murray, John (b) | (20) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (17) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (15) |
| John Murray | (13) |
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: 30 hits
- … The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, seeing the …
- … promotes the sale’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 26 March 1871 ). The profits for Darwin were …
- … first two printings, Darwin wrote to Murray on 20 March 1871 , ‘It is quite a grand trade to be a …
- … in memory of the book’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, 20 March 1871 ). Reaction …
- … to read it ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 19 February 1871 ). The African explorer and …
- … pleasant or not’ (letter from W. W. Reade, 21 February 1871). The geologist William Boyd Dawkins …
- … to buy them’ ( letter from W. B. Dawkins, 23 February 1871 ). Thomas Henry Huxley marvelled that …
- … tide-marks!’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 February 1871 ). Asa Gray remarked, somewhat …
- … and pointed ears” (letter from Asa Gray, 14 April 1871) Like his previous book, …
- … arms and legs ( letter from C. L. Bernays, 25 February 1871 ). Samples of hair arrived from …
- … his head ( letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, [before 25 April 1871] )). Hinrich Nitsche, ‘the lucky …
- … orang-utan foetus ( letter from Hinrich Nitsche, 18 April 1871 ). Darwin thought he might use the …
- … poor return’ ( letter to Hinrich Nitsche, 25 April [1871] ). Animal anecdotes appeared in …
- … space each morning ( letter from Arthur Nicols, 7 March 1871 ; letter from B. J. Sulivan, 11 …
- … of beauty ( letter from E. J. Pfeiffer, [before 26 April 1871] ). Roland Trimen, a long-time …
- … in the past ( letter from Roland Trimen, 17 and 18 April 1871 ). Candid disagreement …
- … were raised to a high pitch, as Innes wrote on 26 May 1871 about the darker races arising …
- … as far as this goes’ ( letter to J. B. Innes, 29 May [1871] ). On religion and morality …
- … Creator made it’ ( letter from George Morrish, 18 March 1871 ). Darwin received an anonymous …
- … Descent ( letter from a child of God, [after 24 February 1871] ). Yet some continued to …
- … religious feeling’ ( letter from F. E. Abbot, 20 August 1871 ). The Anglican clergyman and …
- … brethren’ ( letter from George Henslow, 5 December 1871 ). Ernst Haeckel boasted of his month …
- … monkey !’ ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 21 December 1871 ). Descent was extensively …
- … independent of all times and all circumstances’ (8 April 1871, p. 5). Darwin condemned the author of …
- … & classics’ ( letter to John Murray, 13 April [1871] ). But a similar point was made by …
- … the killing of some members of a hive a duty (Cobbe 1871, pp. 174, 188–9). Darwin was particularly …
- … by culture, not biology ( letter from John Morley, 30 March 1871 ). Reaction at home …
- … its master. ( Letter from Hensleigh Wedgwood, [3–9 March 1871] .) Some of Darwin’s …
- … to me’ ( letter to Hensleigh Wedgwood, 9 March 1871 ). A widening rift By far the …
- … 1871a), which appeared just prior to Descent in early 1871. ‘I daresay it will tell heavily …
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: 14 hits
- … Blair, R.H. 11 July 1871 Worcester College for the …
- … Brooke, C.A.J. 30 April 1871 Sarawak, Borneo …
- … Chaumont, F.S.B.F. de 11 March 1871 Woolston, …
- … Crichton-Browne, James 3 April 1871 West Riding …
- … Donders, F.C. 28 March 1871 Utrecht, Netherlands …
- … Foster, Michael 4 June [1871] Trinity College, …
- … Gray, Asa 14 April 1871 Cambridge, Massachusetts, …
- … Gray, Asa 10 & 14 March [1871] Cambridge, …
- … Mivart, G.J. 26 Jan 1871 North Bank, London, England …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 1 Feb 1871 11 St Mary Abbot's …
- … Rejlander, O.G. [1871] Victoria Street, London, …
- … Smith, Andrew 1 Feb. 1871 11 Saint Mary Abbot's …
- … Smith, Andrew 17 April 1871 16 Alexander Square, …
- … Swinhoe, Robert 14 March 1871 33 Oakley Square, …
Frank Chance
Summary
The Darwin archive not only contains letters, manuscript material, photographs, books and articles but also all sorts of small, dry specimens, mostly enclosed with letters. Many of these enclosures have become separated from the letters or lost altogether,…
Matches: 6 hits
- … first is undated but we know it was written before 25 April 1871 because Darwin alluded to a case …
- … report by the pigeon-fancier W. B. Tegetmeier, 25 April [1871] . In his letter Chance is …
- … (Letter from Frank Chance, [before 25 April 1871] ) Responding to this meticulous self …
- … were very rare. When we were editing volume 19 (1871), Chance’s enclosure of beard and …
- … : In your work on the ""Descent of Man"" (ed. 1871) ii. 298, 299, in …
- … followed up on a similar case that CD had observed on 13 May 1871. William’s letter of 5 June 1871 …
4.17 'Figaro', unidentifiable 1871
Summary
< Back to Introduction Yet another portrayal of Darwin as a tree-dwelling ape was published in The Figaro in October 1871, and titled ‘A Darwinian hypothesis’. The image survives in a torn page in the Darwin archive, but it has so far proved…
Darwin’s favourite photographer: From O. G. Rejlander, 30 April 1871
Summary
In the 1860s Darwin began collecting photographs of emotional expression. They seemed to capture fleeting movements of the face, and allowed him to observe with more detachment. But the technology was still new. Even under the best conditions, exposure…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In the 1860s Darwin began collecting photographs of emotional expression. They seemed to capture …
Animals, ethics, and the progress of science
Summary
Darwin’s view on the kinship between humans and animals had important ethical implications. In Descent, he argued that some animals exhibited moral behaviour and had evolved mental powers analogous to conscience. He gave examples of cooperation, even…
Matches: 3 hits
Henrietta Emma Darwin
Summary
Henrietta “Etty” Darwin (1843–1927) was the eldest of Charles Darwin’s daughters to reach adulthood. She married Richard Buckley Litchfield in 1871. She was a valued editor to her father as well as companion and correspondent to both of her parents.…
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: 4 hits
- … of self-fertilisation’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 23 July [1871] ). Darwin also informed Müller of this …
- … in his hothouse ( To Fritz Müller, 2 August [1871] ). By late 1871, Darwin was already …
- … generations’ ( To Federico Delpino, 22 November 1871 ). Delpino replied that he looked forward to …
- … and horticulture ( From Federico Delpino, 5 December 1871 ). When Darwin began writing in February …
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: 5 hits
- … [1850] and n. 6; and letter to J. B. Innes, 29 May [1871] ). Their true friendship does …
- … request favourably—’ (letter from J. B. Innes, 26 May 1871 ). Indeed Innes had such a high …
- … school and organ funds (letter to J. B. Innes, 13 January 1871 ). Down’s next clergyman …
- … very dull sermons’ (letter to J. B. Innes, 18 January [1871] ). Mr Powell was happy to take up …
- … qualifications’ (letter from J. B. Innes, 5 June 1871 ). Particularly in the early days of …
Moral Nature
Summary
In Descent of Man, Darwin argued that human morality had evolved from the social instincts of animals, especially the bonds of sympathy and love. Darwin gathered observations over many decades on animal behavior: the heroic sacrifices of social insects,…
Matches: 8 hits
- … Letter 7048 : Darwin, W. E., to Darwin, C. R., [April? 1871] In Descent of man (1: 71 …
- … Letter 7645 : Morley, John to Darwin, 30 March 1871 The politician and man of letters, …
- … of Descent of Man in the Pall Mall Gazette (Morley 1871). Darwin admired the review, and …
- … Letter 7685 : Darwin to Morley, John, 14 April [1871] "When I speak of intellectual …
- … Letter 7691 , Morley, John, to Darwin, 17 April 1871 "I don't think Mr. Mill& …
- … 7470 : Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, [before 3 March 1871] Darwin exchanged long letters …
- … Letter 7537 : Darwin, C. R. to Wenslow, Hensleigh, 3 March [1871] Using the example of …
- … 3. [ available at Darwinonline ] Cobbe, F. P. 1871. 'Darwinism in morals'. …
Strange things sent to Darwin in the post
Summary
Some of the stranger things Darwin received in the post can tell us a lot about how Darwin worked at home. In 1863, Darwin was very excited when the ornithologist Alfred Newton sent him a diseased, red-legged partridge foot with an enormous ball of clay…
Darwin and vivisection
Summary
Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…
Matches: 3 hits
Experimenting with emotions
Summary
Darwin’s interest in emotions can be traced as far back as the Beagle voyage. He was fascinated by the sounds and gestures of the peoples of Tierra del Fuego. On his return, he started recording observations in a set of notebooks, later labelled '…
Henrietta Darwin's diary
Summary
Darwin's daughter Henrietta kept a diary for a few momentous weeks in 1871. This was the year in which Descent of Man, the most controversial of her father's books after Origin itself, appeared, a book which she had helped him write. The small…
Matches: 8 hits
- … wrote the following journal entries in March and July 1871 in a small lockable, leather-bound …
- … by Henrietta herself. Darwin’s letters in 1870 and 1871 ( Correspondence , vols 18 and 19) …
- … missions due to take place between 26 February and 5 March 1871 in four towns within the deanery of …
- … from Charles and Emma Darwin to F. J. Wedgwood, [March 1871?], and letter from F. J. Wedgwood to H. …
- … University Library. Henrietta Darwin | March 1871 1871 March— Sea Grove …
- … away what they have no equivalent for. July 4th 1871. How hard it is to wait—the …
- … I think I am a very happy woman. Sunday July 9 th . 1871 I want to think why I shd …
- … mission leaders in the Hampshire Advertiser , 21 January 1871, p. 7. 4 Probably John …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of it" – Winwood Reade to Charles Darwin, 31 January 1871 ) and sought Darwin’s advice on …
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: 5 hits
- … Letter 7624 - Bathoe, M . B. to Darwin, [25 March 1871] Mary Bathoe responds …
- … Letter 7644 - Barnard, A. to Darwin, [30 March 1871] J. S. Henslow’s daughter, …
- … 7651 - Wedgwood, F. J. to Darwin, H. E., [1 April 1871] Frances Wedgwood offers …
- … 7411 - Pfeiffer, E. J. to Darwin, [before 26 April 1871] The poet Emily Pfeiffer …
- … Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, [7 November 1871] Sarah Hennell writes to Darwin …
Francis Galton
Summary
Galton was a naturalist, statistician, and evolutionary theorist. He was a second cousin of Darwin’s, having descended from his grandfather, Erasmus. Born in Birmingham in 1822, Galton studied medicine at King’s College, London, and also read mathematics…
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 sexual differences in viviparous fish, [before 1 June 1871] Fritz Müller's …
Capturing Darwin’s voice: audio of selected letters
Summary
On a sunny Wednesday in June 2011 in a makeshift recording studio somewhere in Cambridge, we were very pleased to welcome Terry Molloy back to the Darwin Correspondence Project for a special recording session. Terry, known for his portrayal of Davros in Dr…
Matches: 1 hits
- … politely worded rebuke to St G. J. Mivart ( 21 April [1871] ) for the inadequacies, as Darwin saw …
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 …
