From Anton Dohrn 7 September 1871
Summary
Reports on the international support he has obtained for the zoological station [see 7038]. Asks CD whether he will serve on a board of naturalists who would receive an annual report on the station.
Huxley is now convinced by AD’s views on homologies of the nervous system of arthropods, annelids, and vertebrates. Kovalevsky takes the same line but does not go far enough.
| Author: | Felix Anton (Anton) Dohrn |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Sept 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 207 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7925 |
From V. O. Kovalevsky 10 May 1871
Summary
Paris is in the hands of "brigands and socialists", but one grows accustomed to sporadic bombardment,
and VOK is peacefully studying invertebrate palaeontology collections.
Reports on Paul Gervais’ successful cross between a Triton and an axolotl.
| Author: | Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky (Владимир Онуфриевич Ковалевский) |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 May 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 169: 89 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7752 |
From W. D. Fox 21 February [1871]
Summary
Thanks CD for copy of Descent.
Notes the death of Frank Parker [CD’s nephew].
| Author: | William Darwin Fox |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 21 Feb [1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 164: 193 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7505 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … vol. 18, letter from W. D. Fox, 15 February [1870] ). Ellen Sophia Fox . Caroline Sarah …
From Thomas Woolner 20 February 1871
Summary
Thanks CD for sending his book [Descent].
| Author: | Thomas Woolner |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Feb 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 161 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7497 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … in some humans. See Correspondence vol. 18, letter to Thomas Woolner, 10 March [1870] . …
From Asa Gray 3 August 1871
Summary
AG hopes to meet CD’s sons, who are visiting America.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Aug 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 176 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7894 |
From J. J. Moulinié 7 July 1871
Summary
JJM’s Origin translation is being held up so that it can conform to the 6th English edition.
| Author: | Jean Jacques Moulinié |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 July 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 276 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7853 |
To the Linnean Society 4 March [1871]
Summary
Thinks J. P. M. Weale’s papers all require great condensation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Linnean Society |
| Date: | 4 Mar [1871] |
| Classmark: | Linnean Society of London (Report on J. P. Weale Society Paper SP1250) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7544 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 18, letter to Richard Kippist, 28 July [1870] ). Descent was published on 24 February …
From H. E. Darwin 21 March [1871]
Summary
Is delighted at the sale of Descent. What CD says about her help pleases her very much and the proposed gift as a memorial will be very precious to her. Is looking forward to seeing the family in London. Comments on a letter comparing CD's appearance to an ape. Is surprised CD has had no effect on Wallace: 'It seems to me his mind can’t be so clear as u used to think it'. Has worked out why she is dissatisfied with T. H. Huxley's essay ‘On the physical basis of life’ (T. H. Huxley 1869).
| Author: | Henrietta Emma Darwin; Henrietta Emma Litchfield |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 21 Mar [1871] |
| Classmark: | Cornford Family Papers (DAR 275: 44) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7605F |
To William Turner 29 March [1871]
Summary
Comments on influence of nervous system on nutrition of body parts as discussed in James Paget’s Lectures on surgical pathology [delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 3d ed. (1870)]. Asks about mental influence on capillary circulation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Turner |
| Date: | 29 Mar [1871] |
| Classmark: | The University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections (Dc.2.96.5/5) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7638 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … College of Surgeons of England , 3d ed. (1870)]. Asks about mental influence on capillary …
To L. H. Morgan 7 June 1871
Summary
Directions to Down.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Lewis Henry Morgan |
| Date: | 7 June 1871 |
| Classmark: | University of Rochester Libraries, Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7808 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter from L. W. Morgan, 9 August 1870 and n. 3). S.E.R. : South Eastern Railway . …
To A. R. Wallace 12 July [1871]
Summary
CD is allowing his family to decide whether Chauncey Wright’s paper on Mivart is dull.
Health and despondency.
Doubts his ability to answer Mivart successfully [in 6th ed. of Origin].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Date: | 12 July [1871] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 46434) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7858 |
From R. F. Cooke 11 January 1871
Summary
Sends title-page of Descent for approval. Asks whether CD has any idea of size of index.
| Author: | Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 11 Jan 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 383 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7436 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 18, letter from John Murray, 10 October [1870] ). Cooke refers to Variation and Origin. …
From J. F. McLennan 6 March 1871
Summary
Thanks for copy of Descent. Dining with Vernon Lushington, who is jubilant over the book.
| Author: | John Ferguson McLennan |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Mar 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 17 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7549 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … McLennan moved from Edinburgh to London in 1870 ( ODNB ). No record of CD’s meeting with …
From R. F. Cooke 16 November 1871
Summary
Almost 600 copies of Descent sold at trade sale, with 120 left in stock. Suggests printing another 1000 to give more time for correcting the work for 2d edition.
| Author: | Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Nov 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 405 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8071 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … had been reprinted by Murray a number of times, most recently in 1870 ( Freeman 1977 ). …
From W. W. Reade 20 September 1871
Summary
Surprised at Mivart’s harsh review [Q. Rev. 131 (1871): 47–90], considering courteous tone of his book. Assures CD he has not been converted by Mivart.
| Author: | William Winwood Reade |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Sept 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 50 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7955 |
From H. E. Litchfield [13 November 1871]
Summary
Does not want CD to put his name to any religious movement. Discourages giving money to Abbott or Voysey.
| Author: | Henrietta Emma Darwin; Henrietta Emma Litchfield |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [13 Nov 1871] |
| Classmark: | Cornford Family Papers (DAR 275: 41) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8054F |
From Henry Lonsdale 3 May 1871
Summary
Credit for observation on supra-condyloid foramen in man is really due to Robert Knox, not John Struthers, as in Descent.
| Author: | Henry Lonsdale |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 May 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 87: 47–8 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7736 |
From G. R. Crotch 19 [February 1871]
Summary
Thanks for presentation copy of Descent.
Mivart’s Genesis of species [1871] is poor.
Mathematical illustrations of Pangenesis at Cambridge.
Wallace’s address on Madeira not convincing ["The President’s Address", Trans. R. Entomol. Soc. Lond. (1870): xliv–lxix; A. R. Wallace, Studies scientific and social (1900) 1: 250–66].
| Author: | George Robert Crotch |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 19 [Feb 1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 273 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7491 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … s Address", Trans. R. Entomol. Soc. Lond. (1870): xliv–lxix; A. R. Wallace, Studies …
To Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen 5 March [1871]
Summary
Thanks for letter [7533] and the interesting notes. Even more interesting is HHHvZ’s case of the De Haas family.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen |
| Date: | 5 Mar [1871] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (Walter Deane Autograph Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7548 |
From James Crichton-Browne 16 April 1871
Summary
Is sending notes on blushing. Offers information on physiology and pathology of blushing.
Has sent photograph of seven imbeciles in one family.
| Author: | James Crichton-Browne |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Apr 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 316, 195.1: 49 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7689 |
| letter | (188) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (62) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (9) |
| Kovalevsky, V. O. | (7) |
| Galton, Francis | (6) |
| Crichton-Browne, James | (5) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (120) |
| Crichton-Browne, James | (5) |
| Ogle, William | (4) |
| Abbot, F. E. | (3) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (3) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (182) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (11) |
| Crichton-Browne, James | (10) |
| Kovalevsky, V. O. | (8) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (7) |
Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution
Summary
The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…
Matches: 29 hits
- … The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The …
- … machine’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December [1870] ). Finishing Descent; …
- … some weeks’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ). Darwin was still working hard on …
- … I shall be’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). She had previously read proof-sheets …
- … shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). Henrietta disagreed: ‘Certainly …
- … of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February 1870] ). Darwin was also encouraged …
- … sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] ). Cobbe accused Darwin of smiling in …
- … great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870?] ). Humans as animals: ears …
- … [1868] ; this volume, letter to Thomas Woolner, 10 March [1870] ). Darwin included Woolner’s …
- … findings ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March 1870 ). Indeed, Darwin noted the same …
- … bane of existence!’ ( letter to William Ogle, 9 November 1870 ). Researching expression: …
- … spirits were white ( letter from W. W. Reade, 9 November 1870 ). Keen for more evidence of …
- … hurting it much?’ ( letter to A. D. Bartlett, 5 January [1870] ). Darwin made a similar request of …
- … not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] ). Darwin’s queries were part …
- … of a baby’s brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). He also wrote to a leading Dutch …
- … on this subject’ ( letter from F. C. Donders, 17 May 1870 ). Human evolution: debates and …
- … more fully in a collection of essays published in April 1870 (Wallace 1870a). Wallace wrote to …
- … naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). Despite their increasing …
- … in one sense rivals’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870] ). Darwin alluded here to the …
- … No one but yourself’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 20 May 1870 ). Darwin very rarely used the …
- … never write reviews’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, [22 May 1870] ). St George Jackson Mivart …
- … to answer objectors’ ( letter to W. H. Flower, 25 March [1870] ). In his letters to Mivart, Darwin …
- … on the Primates’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 23 April [1870] ). He also tried to recruit Mivart’s …
- … lump of granite’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 22 April 1870 ). Mivart hinted that his …
- … his “origin” ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 25 April 1870 ). In his critical essays (later revised …
- … Charles Darwin et ses précurseurs français (Quatrefages 1870), that gave a detailed account, as …
- … many others’ ( letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 28 May [1870] ). Quatrefages had …
- … discord’ ( letter from Armand de Quatrefages, 30 March 1870 ). In proposing Darwin for election, …
- … them’ ( letter from Armand de Quatrefages, 18 July 1870 ). The assertion had been made by Emile …
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: 12 hits
- … Brooke, C.A.J. 30 Nov 1870 Sarawak, Borneo …
- … Crichton-Browne, James 15 March 1870 West Riding …
- … Crichton-Browne, James 18 March 1870 Down, Kent, …
- … Donders, F.C. 27 May 1870 Utrecht, Netherlands …
- … Forbes, David 13 June 1870 Portman Square, London W. …
- … Nicol, Patrick 13 May 1870 Sussex Lunatic Asylum, …
- … Reade, Winwood W. [c.8 or 9 Apr 1870] Accra, West …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 4 June 1870 Lagos, Africa …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 3 Sept 1870 Conservative Club, St …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 9 Nov 1870 11 St Mary Abbot's …
- … Weale, J.P.M. [25 May 1870] Bedford, Cape of Good …
- … Weir, J.J. 27 June 1870 Blackheath, London, England …
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: 4 hits
- … Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] Darwin seeks Henrietta’s …
- … Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 September 1870] Written shortly before …
- … Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, J., [29 September 1870] Darwin asks Murray to …
- … Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to Darwin, [29 April 1870] George Cupples tells Darwin about a …
Francis Darwin
Summary
Known to his family as ‘Frank’, Charles Darwin’s seventh child himself became a distinguished scientist. He was an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, initially studying mathematics, but then transferring to natural sciences. Francis completed…
Jane Gray
Summary
Jane Loring Gray, the daughter of a Boston lawyer, married the Harvard botanist Asa Gray in 1848 and evidence suggests that she took an active interest in the scientific pursuits of her husband and his friends. Although she is only known to have…
Matches: 1 hits
- … behaviour of her dog (letter from J. L. Gray, 14 February 1870 ), she also passed on information …
Casting about: Darwin on worms
Summary
Earthworms were the subject of a citizen science project to map the distribution of earthworms across Britain (BBC Today programme, 26 May 2014). The general understanding of the role earthworms play in improving soils and providing nutrients for plants to…
Matches: 1 hits
- … on my mind’ ( letter to W. T. Preyer, 17 February [1870 ])) that without earthworms aerating the …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … more litters & no happy results”, he wrote on 26 April 1870 . In the following year, Galton …
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
- … of Descent (letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). Audio of more …
Darwin and Gender Projects by Harvard Students
Summary
Working in collaboration with Professor Sarah Richardson and Dr Myrna Perez, Darwin Correspondence Project staff developed a customised set of 'Darwin and Gender' themed resources for a course on Gender, Sex and Evolution first taught at Harvard…
Matches: 1 hits
- … grateful I shall be.”(Letter to Darwin, H. E., [8 Feb 1870] ) Although Miranda acknowledges that …
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…
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 '…
John Lubbock
Summary
John Lubbock was eight years old when the Darwins moved into the neighbouring property of Down House, Down, Kent; the total of one hundred and seventy surviving letters he went on to exchange with Darwin is a large number considering that the two men lived…
Matches: 3 hits
Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … you owe any more … Darwin to his son Francis, 1870. …
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…
3.16 Oscar Rejlander, photos
Summary
< Back to Introduction Darwin’s plans for the illustration of his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) led him to the Swedish-born painter and photographer, Oscar Gustaf Rejlander. Rejlander gave Darwin the notes that he had…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Photograph: Authenticity, Science and the Periodical Press, 1870 – 1890 (London and New York: …
Photograph album of Dutch admirers
Summary
Darwin received the photograph album for his birthday on 12 February 1877 from his scientific admirers in the Netherlands. He wrote to the Dutch zoologist Pieter Harting, An account of your countrymen’s generous sympathy in having sent me on my…
Matches: 1 hits
- … & I feel deeply for you. ( Letter to F. C. Donders, 19 May 1870 ) …
Darwin in public and private
Summary
Extracts from Darwin's published works, in particular Descent of man, and selected letters, explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual selection in humans, and both his publicly and privately expressed views on its practical implications…
Science: A Man’s World?
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…
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: 1 hits
- … Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] Letter from Mary Treat, …
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,…
