From John Murray 29 July [1874]
Summary
Orchids is at last sold out. Settles account.
The Origin [6th ed.] is making good [sales] progress.
Expression is not selling.
| Author: | John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 July [1874] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.11: 2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9574 |
To Eugène Desmarest 4 March 1874
Summary
Thanks for letter announcing election to honorary member of the Entomological Society of France. Has always felt entomology admirable for throwing light on general problems in biology.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Eugène Desmarest |
| Date: | 4 Mar 1874 |
| Classmark: | Annales de la Société entomologique de France 5th ser. 4 (1874): xlvi |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9334F |
From D. Appleton & Co. 1 February 1874
Summary
Statement of U. S. sales of Origin, Expression, and Descent.
| Author: | D. Appleton & Co |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: A92 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9261 |
To Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen 18 February 1874
Summary
Thanks for HHHvZ’s translation of Expression. CD will have HHHvZ’s notes translated by one of his sons.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen |
| Date: | 18 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 249: 120 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9321 |
From J. V. Carus 7 July 1874
Summary
Thanks for proofs [of Descent, 2d English ed.].
Publisher would like better photographs for Expression [2d German ed.].
| Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 July 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 96 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9536 |
From Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen 28 February 1874
Summary
CD’s son is considering translating into English HHHvZ’s notes in Dutch edition of Expression; HHHvZ feels his notes to Descent would be of more interest.
| Author: | Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 184: 17 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9323 |
From Berry Benson 10 April 1874
Summary
Supplies evidence to the contrary of CD’s assertion in Expression that dogs do not eat carrion.
Offers to send mud-wasps.
| Author: | Berry Benson |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Apr 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 149 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9401 |
To Fritz Müller 13 February 1874
Summary
Has sent FM’s letter on termites to Nature ["Habits of various insects", Nature 10 (1874): 102–3].
Would be interested in observations on the stingless bees of Brazil.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Date: | 13 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 37) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9288 |
From George Harris 10 February 1874
Summary
Sends about 15 sheets on instinct from his book [A philosophical treatise on the nature and constitution of man (1876)] for CD’s comments.
| Author: | George Harris |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 106 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9280 |
From J. V. Carus 15 March 1874
Summary
Proposal to collect all of CD’s works in a German edition. Asks CD’s opinion and suggests an outline of volumes.
Lists German sales of various volumes.
| Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Mar 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 93 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9363 |
From S. W. Pennypacker 14 September 1874
Summary
He has physical peculiarities that support CD’s theories: e.g., ability to dilate nostrils like a rabbit and to spread out the toes of both feet.
| Author: | Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Sept 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 174: 35 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9636 |
From C.-F. Reinwald 4 February 1874
Summary
Sends £40 for copyright to Édmond Barbier’s revision of Moulinié’s Descent translation.
Journal of researches translation is in press.
| Author: | Charles-Ferdinand Reinwald |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 102 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9265 |
From C.-F. Reinwald 17 January 1874
Summary
French translation of Expression sent for CD’s approval.
| Author: | Charles-Ferdinand Reinwald |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 Jan 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 101 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9245 |
From Albert Wigand 11 March 1874
Summary
Sends copy of his book [Der Darwinismus und die Naturforschung Newtons und Cuviers, vol. 1 (1874)]. Expresses respect for CD in spite of the book’s criticism of him.
| Author: | Julius Wilhelm Albert (Albert) Wigand |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 11 Mar 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 100 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9352 |
From E. M. Courtenay 22 November 1874
Summary
Sends photograph of epileptic idiot and encloses case history.
| Author: | Edward Mazière Courtenay |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 Nov 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 227 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9729 |
From F. S. B. François de Chaumont 29 April 1874
Summary
Observations on early shedding of tears and shrugging of shoulders.
| Author: | Francis Stephen Bennet François de Chaumont |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 Apr 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 139 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9433 |
From V. O. Kovalevsky 20 January 1874
Summary
Russian Expression has sold nearly 2000 copies.
Plans to come to England to study collections of vertebrate fossils from the Chalk. This will complement his work in the south of France.
| Author: | Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky (Владимир Онуфриевич Ковалевский) |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Jan 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 169: 95 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9251 |
To Gaston de Saporta 30 May 1874
Summary
Thanks GdeS for his "Études sur la végétation" [Ann. Sci. Nat. (Bot.) 5th ser. 15 (1872): 277–315]. "Nothing can be more important … than your evidence of the extremely slow and gradual manner in which specific forms change."
Hopes GdeS will shed light on whether polymorphic forms like Rubus and Hieracium are generating new species at present; CD doubts this.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Louis Charles Joseph Gaston (Gaston) de Saporta, comte de Saporta |
| Date: | 30 May 1874 |
| Classmark: | Archives Gaston de Saporta (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9476 |
To J. V. Carus 9 July [1874]
Summary
Advises JVC on how his publisher might deal with problem of getting satisfactory heliotype copies for 2d [German] edition of Expression.
Regrets that he will again be away in August, when JVC might have come for a visit.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Date: | 9 July [1874] |
| Classmark: | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 116–117) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9539 |
From I. L. Roberti 24 January 1874
Summary
Has grown haricots in England following CD’s suggestion in the Origin that this had never been done.
Wishes to see CD.
| Author: | Isaac Louis Roberti |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 Jan 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 183, 183/1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9254 |
| letter | (50) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (14) |
| Carus, J. V. | (2) |
| Howorth, H. H. | (2) |
| Murray, John (b) | (2) |
| Reinwald, C.-F. | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (35) |
| Carus, J. V. | (2) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (1) |
| Crichton-Browne, James | (1) |
| Darwin, Emma | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (49) |
| Carus, J. V. | (4) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (2) |
| Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen, Hermanus | (2) |
| Howorth, H. H. | (2) |
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: 1 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I …
John Murray
Summary
Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was …
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The …
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: 1 hits
- … Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
Rewriting Origin - the later editions
Summary
For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions. Many of his changes were made in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … If I lived 20 more years, & was able to work, how I sh d . have to modify the “Origin”, & …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, seeing the publication of his …
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: 1 hits
- … Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants …
St George Jackson Mivart
Summary
In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1874, the Catholic zoologist St George Jackson Mivart caused Darwin and his son George serious …
Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex
Summary
The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If …
John Maurice Herbert
Summary
John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. He was affectionately called ‘Cherbury’ by Darwin, a reference to the seventeenth-century philosopher Edward Herbert, Baron Cherbury, who, like John Herbert, hailed from…
Matches: 1 hits
- … John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. He was affectionately …
Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Earthworms and Wedgwood cousins …
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The following extracts and selected letters explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual …
Survival of the fittest: the trouble with terminology Part II
Summary
The most forceful and persistent critic of the term ‘natural selection’ was the co-discoverer of the process itself, Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace seized on Herbert Spencer’s term ‘survival of the fittest’, explicitly introduced as an alternative way of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … This term is the plain expression of the facts,—Nat. selection is a metaphorical …
Forms of flowers
Summary
Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species , published in 1877, …
Movement in Plants
Summary
The power of movement in plants, published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work that Darwin wrote. It was the only work in which the assistance of one of his children, Francis Darwin, is mentioned on the title page. The research for this…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The power of movement in plants , published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical …
4.14 'Fun' cartoon, 'That troubles'
Summary
< Back to Introduction Of all the cartoons showing Darwin as an ape, ‘That troubles our monkey again’ by John Gordon Thomson is the only one that hints, albeit playfully, at improper behaviour. Descent of Man had been criticised for its apparent…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Of all the cartoons showing Darwin as an ape, ‘That troubles …
Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts
Summary
At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of …
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: 1 hits
- … On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July …
