658 Items
To William Marshall 29 May 1875
Summary
Comments on WM’s paper about ostrich feathers.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Adolf Ludwig (William) Marshall |
| Date: | 29 May 1875 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.469) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10000 |
From R. F. Cooke 29 May 1875
Summary
Asks whether enclosure [missing] has the correct title of Insectivorous plants.
| Author: | Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 May 1875 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 454 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10001 |
To Asa Gray 30 May [1875]
Summary
Wants seeds of Nesaea verticillata for crossing experiments to see whether seedlings from "illegitimate unions" are sterile like true hybrids.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 30 May [1875] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (121) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10002 |
To C. V. Riley 30 May 1875
Summary
Thanks for the seventh of CVR’s Annual reports on the noxious, beneficial and other insects in the state of Missouri (Riley 1869–77).
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Valentine Riley |
| Date: | 30 May 1875 |
| Classmark: | Kenneth W. Rendell (dealer) (August 2005) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10002F |
From Anton Dohrn 31 May 1875
Summary
AD is aware of revolutionary character of his pamphlet [Ursprung der Wirbelthiere]. Authorities will not agree with him. Carl Gegenbaur and Ernst Haeckel are opposed. Younger biologists are disposed to accept his views. All he can expect is to put a stop to "the Amphioxus–Ascidian affair, and to open a road for speculation and for investigation on the side of the Annelid-homology".
| Author: | Felix Anton (Anton) Dohrn |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 31 May 1875 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 216 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10003 |
To Linnean Society 1 January [1875]
Summary
Asks permission to republish his climbing plants paper [J. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Bot.) 9 (1867): 1–118] in a corrected form [Climbing plants].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Linnean Society |
| Date: | 1 Jan [1875] |
| Classmark: | DAR 97: C12 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10004 |
From Francis Galton 2 June 1875
Summary
Interested to hear about the peas.
| Author: | Francis Galton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 June 1875 |
| Classmark: | DAR 105: A79 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10005 |
From William Marshall 2 June 1875
Summary
Discusses feather as case of evolutionary atavism.
Will soon publish on siliceous sponges
and the skin of caterpillars.
| Author: | William Adolf Ludwig (William) Marshall |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 June 1875 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 48 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10006 |
From Lawson Tait 2 June [1875]
Summary
Paralysis of the nervous system of Dionaea. Uses of tails of mice.
| Author: | Robert Lawson (Lawson) Tait |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 June [1875] |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10007 |
From Francis Darwin [after 3 June 1875]
Summary
Returns corrected proofs [of Insectivorous plants].
| Author: | Francis Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 3 June 1875] |
| Classmark: | DAR 274.1: 35 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10007F |
To A. E. J. Modderman 3 June 1875
Summary
Thanks for the diploma conferring on him an honorary doctorate of medicine from Leiden University.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Antony Ewoud Jan Modderman |
| Date: | 3 June 1875 |
| Classmark: | Leiden University Libraries (shelfmark ASF inv.nr. 327 document 86) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10007G |
From Otto Zacharias 3 June 1875
Summary
Intends to set up a biological periodical called “Darwinia” to spread and popularise Darwin’s theories; hopes CD may contribute a few words to the opening issue.
| Author: | Otto Zacharias |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 June 1875 |
| Classmark: | DAR 184: 1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10008 |
To Lawson Tait 4 June [1875]
Summary
CD’s observations on the power of movement and transmission of motor impulses in plants. If RLT succeeds with the tails of mice, it will be "a beautiful little discovery"; CD will enjoy it the more "because some German sneered at natural selection and instanced the tail of the mouse" [see 10013].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Lawson (Lawson) Tait |
| Date: | 4 June [1875] |
| Classmark: | Natural History Museum, Library and Archives (General Special Collections DC AL 1/19) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10009 |
From T. H. Huxley 5 June 1875
Summary
Playfair "disgusted at our pronunciamentos against the Bill". Burdon Sanderson and William Sharpey agreed to it. THH feels he must serve on Vivisection Commission.
| Author: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 5 June 1875 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 341 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10010 |
From Lawson Tait 5 June [1875]
Summary
May publish a lecture on insectivorous plants and would like to dedicate it to CD.
Wishes to become an F.R.S.
| Author: | Robert Lawson (Lawson) Tait |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 5 June [1875] |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 8 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10011 |
From Ernst Haeckel 6 June 1875
Summary
Comments on Fritz Schultze, Kant und Darwin [1875].
Describes recent activities.
| Author: | Ernst Philipp August (Ernst) Haeckel |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 June 1875 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 64 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10012 |
To Lydia Wendland 7 June [1875]
Summary
Is very grateful for the gift of a fender-stool. Will send her a copy of Insectivorous plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Lydia Wendland |
| Date: | 7 June [1875] |
| Classmark: | Sotheby’s (dealers) (13 December 2007) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10012F |
To Lawson Tait 11 June [1875]
Summary
Has found that H. G. Bronn in the chapter appended to his translation of Origin cited ears and tail of mice as facts opposed to natural selection. Suggests RLT examine hairs of tails of mice for possible nerves.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Lawson (Lawson) Tait |
| Date: | 11 June [1875] |
| Classmark: | DAR 221.5: 24–5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10013 |
To Otto Zacharias [11 June 1875]
Summary
CD is convinced by the conclusions of Malthus.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Otto Zacharias |
| Date: | [11 June 1875] |
| Classmark: | Zacharias 1882, p. 80 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10013F |
From Fritz Schultze 12 June 1875
Summary
Comments on his book [Kant und Darwin: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Entwicklungslehre (1875)].
| Author: | Fritz Schultze |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 June 1875 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 67 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10014 |
Author
| Darwin, C. R. | (307) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (26) |
| John Murray | (26) |
| Tait, Lawson | (26) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (23) |
Addressee
| Darwin, C. R. | (329) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (20) |
| Tait, Lawson | (15) |
| Unidentified | (15) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (12) |
Correspondent
| Darwin, C. R. | (636) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (43) |
| Tait, Lawson | (41) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (38) |
| John Murray | (35) |
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54 Items
Origin is 160; Darwin's 1875 letters now online
Summary
To mark the 160th anniversary of the publication of Origin of species, the full transcripts and footnotes of nearly 650 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1875 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1875…
Matches: 10 hits
- … of nearly 650 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1875 are published online for the first …
- … it behaved in similar ways to the Drosera secretion. In 1875, Klein was a very controversial …
- … I liked the man .’ Other highlights from the 1875 letters include: I am very …
- … very much more about the wide distribution of my books. ( Letter to R. F. Cooke, 29 June [1875] ) …
- … over the sickening work of preparing new Editions . ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 August [1875] ) …
- … insensible, if the experiment made this possible ( Letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January [1875] …
- … me in the vestry of having made false statements ( Letter to John Lubbock, 8 April 1875 ) …
- … Such energy as yours almost always succeeds ( Letter to G. H. Darwin, 13 October [1875] ) …
- … help his father and brothers with scientific instruments: in 1875, he designed a hygrometer. …
- … act which any scientific Socy. has done in my time ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, [12 December 1875] ) …
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 25 hits
- … during his periods of severe illness. Yet on 15 January 1875 , Darwin confessed to his close …
- … On 8 January , he told Hooker: ‘I will write a savage letter & that will do me some good, if I …
- … mouthpiece of ‘Jesuitical Rome’ ( Academy , 2 January 1875, pp. 16–17). ‘How grandly you have …
- … to the Editor … Poor Murray shuddered again & again’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 January …
- … learned of Klein’s testimony from Huxley on 30 October 1875 : ‘I declare to you I did not believe …
- … carried out on live animals in laboratories. In January 1875, he received details of experiments by …
- … offered to pay the costs for printing an additional 250 ( letter to John Murray, 3 May 1875 ). …
- … in a review of the book in the Academy , 24 July 1875, by Ellen Frances Lubbock: ‘in Utricularia …
- … & bless the day That ever you were born (letter from E. F. Lubbock, [after 2 …
- … which I had long wished to see,’ he wrote on 21 April 1875 , ‘and now that I have seen it, I am …
- … do a good deal of “hammering”,’ he wrote on 14 July 1875 . ‘I shall not let Pangenesis alone …
- … that the originally red half has become wholly white’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [before 4 …
- … his own theory of heredity in a series of articles in 1875 and 1876, based partly on his studies of …
- … pp. 188–90). He drew attention to this discussion in a letter to George Rolleston, remarking on 2 …
- … Darwin wrote, ‘I beg ten thousand pardon & more’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [ c . February …
- … signed himself, ‘Your affect son … the proofmaniac’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, 1 and 2 May [1875 …
- … on astronomy, or the Duke of Wellington on art (Max Müller 1875, pp. 305–7). The debate between Max …
- … both critical and reverential. On 16 July he received a letter from an advocate of women’s …
- … researches (Carus trans. 1875b; the series is Carus trans. 1875–87). More controversial was the …
- … Darwin wrote: ‘An anonymous compliment | received Feb 16th 1875’. The great and the good …
- … her presentation copy of Insectivorous plants ( letter to D. F. Nevill, 15 July [1875] ). Such …
- … of my house within the short time I can talk to anyone’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 3 May [1875] ). …
- … and had agreed to see him at Down with Thiselton-Dyer ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 7 July 1875 …
- … lay of hair in eyelashes and on arms, a typically lengthy letter full of personal observations, …
- … examination it was pronounced to be of a ‘high type’ ( letter from Woodward Emery, 17 September …
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: 17 hits
- … me) attack on Virchow for experimenting on the Trichinae’ (letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January …
- … progress of physiology. He reiterated these concerns in a letter to Thomas Henry Huxley ten days …
- … I love with all my heart’ ( Correspondence vol. 19, letter to ?, 19 May [1871] ). As a …
- … farmers and their staff (see Correspondence vol. 14, letter to a local landowner, [1866?] ). …
- … by the prospect of animals suffering for science. In a letter to E. Ray Lankester, he wrote: ‘You …
- … I shall not sleep to-night’ ( Correspondence vol. 19, letter to E. R. Lankester, 22 March [1871 …
- … was a sensitive subject within Darwin’s family. In his letter of 14 January 1875 to Huxley, …
- … ones (men of course) or I might get one or two’ (letter from Emma Darwin to F. P. Cobbe, 14 …
- … to serve as the basis for a petition, and gave it to Huxley (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, …
- … with Huxley, who produced a new sketch for a petition (letter from T. H. Huxley, [4 April 1875] ) …
- … had already been prepared for the House of Lords (see letter to J. S. Burdon Sanderson, [11 April …
- … Royal Society of London (letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 April [1875] ). The next day he wrote to …
- … else you think best’ (letter to E. H. Stanley, 15 April 1875 ). After further consultations, a …
- … are evident in Darwin’s correspondence in April and May 1875. The initial petition (DAR …
- … order of the clauses. In the revised sketch, dated 24 April 1875, the penalty for unlawful …
- … at this alteration (letter from T. H. Huxley, 19 May 1875 , letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, …
- … corrections had been made (letter to Lyon Playfair, 26 May 1875 , and letter from Lyon Playfair, …
I never trusted Drosera: From E. F. Lubbock, [after 2 July] 1875
Summary
Francis Neary has set his favourite letter to music (with additional vocals and bass by Deen Manning). The satirical verses were sent to Darwin by Ellen Frances Lubbock in 1875 after the publication of his book on insectivorous plants. They…
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: 14 hits
- … by the prospect of animals suffering for science. In a letter to E. Ray Lankester, he wrote: ‘You …
- … another word about it, else I shall not sleep to-night’ ( letter to E. R. Lankester, 22 March [1871 …
- … pangenesis. Darwin was taken aback, and swiftly replied in a letter to Nature , insisting that he …
- … deserved credit for his ‘ingenuity and perseverance’ ( letter to Nature , [before 27 April 1871] …
- … for further cross-circulation and ‘Siamesing’ ( letter from Francis Galton, 13 September 1871 ). …
- … Some of the results were promising, but inconclusive (see letter from G. J. Romanes, 14 July 1875 …
- … results will be necessary to convince physiologists’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 18 July 1875 ). …
- … for your work; & I suppose birds can be chloroformed (letter to G. J. Romanes, 27 December …
- … branded physiologists as ‘demons let loose from hell’ ( letter to F. B. Cobbe, [14 January 1875] ) …
- … detail here . He stated his position most frankly in a letter to Henrietta, 4 January [1875] . …
- … point of view I have rejoiced at the present agitation. ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January …
- … science of Physiology as doomed to death in this country. ( letter To T. H. Huxley, 14 January 1875 …
- … are now in the position of a persecuted religious sect’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 4 June [1876] ) …
- … of the utility of experiment amongst people in general’ ( letter from T. L. Brunton, 12 February …
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: 12 hits
- … 17 March [1867] ). He noted another factor in a letter to Gray, remarking, ‘I am going on with my …
- … [1873] ). In September, Darwin wrote a long letter to Nature commenting on a seemingly …
- … on this subject. ( To J. V. Carus 7 February 1875 ). In fact, Darwin had planned a new set of …
- … fact seems to me all important.’ ( To Asa Gray, 30 May [1875] ). In earlier papers on plants with …
- … any material aid to plants in fertilization?’ (Meehan 1875) prompted Darwin to inform him that he …
- … to plants to intercross’ ( To Thomas Meehan, 3 October 1875 ). Hermann Müller had also read Meehan …
- … obscure this matter’ ( From Hermann Müller, 23 October 1875 ). The Italian botanists were …
- … plants that crossing was of little importance (Pedicino 1875; Comes 1875). Darwin was philosophical, …
- … Kölreuter’s papers’ ( To Hermann Müller, 26 October 1875 ). Darwin’s copy of Johann Kölreuter’s …
- … in the conditions’ ( To Ernst Haeckel, 13 November 1875 ). He added on a darker note, ‘What I …
- … papers in the same book ( To J. V. Carus, 25 December 1875 ). As Darwin continued to write …
- … A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this letter has been found, but Darwin had long …
Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Matches: 11 hits
- … whom he exchanged information and ideas. Letter 346: Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, C. S., 27 Feb …
- … Caucasian languages separated from one stock.” Letter 2070: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to Darwin, …
- … is the grinding down of former continents.” Letter 3054: Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 2 …
- … former,—which I tell him is perfectly logical.” Letter 5605: Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. …
- … whilst young, do they scream & make loud noise?” Letter 7040: Wedgwood, Hensleigh to …
- … speech from gradually growing to such a stage” Letter 8367: Darwin, C. R. to Wright, …
- … & thus unconsciously altering the breed. Letter 8962: Darwin, C. R. to Max Müller, …
- … judge of the arguments opposed to this belief[.]” Letter 10194: Max Müller, Friedrich to …
- … want, at least in the Science of Language […]” Letter 9887: Dawkins, W. B. to Darwin, C. R. …
- … hold that language is not a test of race […]” Letter 11074: Sayce, A. H. to Darwin, C. R., …
- … of wanting to eat, for this movement makes a sound like the letter m.” “For some time past I have …
Thomas Burgess
Summary
As well as its complement of sailors, the Beagle also carried a Royal Marine sergeant and seven marines, one of whom was Thomas Burgess. When the Beagle set sail he was twenty one, having been born in October 1810 to Israel and Hannah Burgess of Lancashire…
Matches: 4 hits
- … probably never thought about him again until he opened a letter from him in March 1875 . It was …
- … Orme sr in 1860 (TNA RG11/3490/34/13). In his second letter Burgess explained that he had never …
- … a copy of one. Darwin complied and Burgess sent a third letter expressing his thanks for the …
- … friend ‘who Doubted Some of my Assertions’. Presumably a letter and photograph were not sufficient …
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: 25 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] ). …
- … as father and son agonised over the wording of both the letter to the editor and the letter to …
- … (Correspondence vol. 23, from J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1875] ), preferring to attack Mivart in …
- … Anthropogenie in the Academy (2 January 1875; see Appendix V, pp. 644–5) . The affair …
- … wrote a polite, very formal letter to Mivart on 12 January 1875 , refusing to hold any future …
- … and a second French edition was published in January 1875 ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald , 4 February …
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: 27 hits
- … ‘my wife … poor creature, has won only 2490 games’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876 ). …
- … 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 ). …
- … end of the previous year. He had been incensed in December 1875 when the zoologist Edwin Ray …
- … 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 …
- … The controversial issue had occupied Darwin for much of 1875. In January 1876, a Royal Commission …
- … to Insectivorous plants , which was published in July 1875, with a US edition published later …
- … 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 ). …
- … in February 1876 (despite bearing a publication date of 1875), Darwin must have been gratified by …
- … 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 ) …
- … Darwin, who had communicated the paper to the society in 1875 at Tait’s request, with the ‘awful job …
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: 28 hits
- … preparing a second edition, which eventually appeared in 1875. In the same year, Darwin published a …
- … had considered combining the works in a single volume ( letter to J. V. Carus, 7 February 1875 ). …
- … , a plant that exhibited all three types of movement ( letter from R. I. Lynch, [before 28 July …
- … the woodblock using photography for scientific accuracy ( letter from J. D. Cooper, 13 December …
- … lost colour, withered, and died within a couple of days ( letter from A. F. Batalin, 28 February …
- … how their observations could have been so much at odds ( letter to Hugo de Vries 13 February 1879 …
- … the botanist Gaetano Durando, to find plants and seeds ( letter to Francis Darwin, [4 February – 8 …
- … only the regulator & not cause of movement ’. In the same letter, Darwin discussed terminology, …
- … to replace Frank’s ‘Transversal-Heliotropismus’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 10 February [1880] ). …
- … experiments and devised a new test, which he described in a letter to his mother, ‘ I did some …
- … and it appeared in 1880 (F. Darwin 1880b). In the same letter, Francis revealed the frustration of …
- … on holiday in the Lake District, Darwin received a long letter from De Vries detailing his latest …
- … described as ‘little discs’ and ‘greenish bodies’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 29 October 1879 …
- … of cotton that he had not been able to observe earlier ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 20 …
- … might have been too weak to lift the weight of the seed ( letter from Asa Gray, 3 February 1880 ). …
- … germination occurred, the plant would be killed by frost ( letter from Asa Gray, 4 April 1880 ). …
- … Plants’ or ‘The Nature of the Movements of Plants’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 23 April [1880] ). …
- … Phytographie (A. de Candolle 1880). In his letter of thanks for the book, Darwin promised to send …
- … for advice about the number of copies they should print ( letter to John Murray, 10 July 1880 ). …
- … works, Murray was willing to publish on the usual terms ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 15 July 1880 ). …
- … only suggest printing more copies or raising the price ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). …
- … Stahl’s paper with him, for the relevant page numbers ( letter to Francis Darwin, 5 August [1880] …
- … publisher, Eduard Koch had already agreed to publish it ( letter from J. V. Carus, 18 September …
- … as stereotypes of the text were available from Murray ( letter from D. Appleton & Co., 17 …
- … corollas or the reactive movement of pistils and stamens ( letter from Édouard Heckel, 23 September …
- … for the translations and asked about the cost of these ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 16 October 1880 ). …
- … last chapter & you will know whole contents of book ’. No letter to Balfour survives, but …
- … from colleagues at home and abroad. Cohn concluded his letter of praise, remarking, ‘ I don’t know …
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,…
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: 29 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 …
- … are a few things which must be altered”. Letter 5928 - Gray, A. to Darwin, [25 …
- … to be made to the text for the second edition. Letter 6040 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to …
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: 25 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 …
- … had taken a strong interest in the vivisection debate in 1875, and had even testified before a Royal …
- … a solid scientific foundation cannot be overestimated’ ( letter to William Jenner, 20 March [1882] …
- … to delight in his children’s accomplishments. In a letter to Anthony Rich, he shared several of his …
- … for divorce’ ( letter to H. K. Rusden, [before 27 March 1875] ). In Descent of man , p. 103, …
- … vol. 23, letter from Charlotte Papé, 16 July 1875 ). She now addressed Francis, who could best …
Climbing Plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A monograph by which to work After the publication of On the Origin of Species, Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, The Descent of Man, and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals in…
Matches: 6 hits
- … expressed. The paper was little noticed, but when in 1875 it was corrected and published as a …
- … , Vol. 4 (May 1857-May 1860). Letters Letter Packet: Climbing movement in …
- … Darwin believed this was a wise course of action. Letter 8545 - Asa Gray to Charles …
- … for how the stimulus travels in the plant. The rest of the letter is filled with news of Gray’s trip …
- … publish with his old papers on climbing plants. Letter 8656 - Asa Gray to Charles …
- … as described in the following excerpt from an 1863 letter he wrote to the English botanist J.D. …
Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions
Summary
Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …
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: 21 hits
- … end of 1845, Darwin was not happy with Colburn’s terms ( Letter 856 ). Instead he asked his friend …
- … John Murray, to open negotiations with his own publisher ( Letter 824 ). Lyell’s talk with Murray …
- … have transacted the business with me’ (27 August [1845] Letter 908 ). Thus began the business …
- … copies some pages in Darwin’s chapter were transposed ( Letter 1244 ). Darwin was anxious lest an …
- … & make the poor workman some present’ (12 June [1849] Letter 1245 ). Darwin’s next …
- … his ‘big species book’; on 18 June 1858, he received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace with the …
- … asked Lyell to act as his intermediary with John Murray ( Letter 2437 ), who, without even reading …
- … not repent of having undertaken it’ (15 October [1859] Letter 2506 ). Murray decided on a retail …
- … proud at the appearance of my child’ ([3 November 1859] Letter 2514 ). In the event, all Murray’s …
- … – and a second edition was immediately called for ( Letter 2549 ). In the end Murray paid Darwin …
- … (Variation ), but work progressed slowly ( Letter 3078 ); meanwhile in 1862 Murray published On …
- … Murray only offered Darwin half profits for this title ( Letter 3261 ); it was never a best-seller …
- … ‘I fear it can never pay’ (3 January [1867] Letter 5346 ). In the end Murray decided to print …
- … to Brazil, the beginning of a life-long correspondence ( Letter 4881 ). Subsequently Darwin …
- … the risk himself. Murray suggested printing 750 copies ( Letter 6597 ), but Darwin decided on 1000 …
- … fail, I think, to be much read’ (28 September [1870] Letter 7329 ). Murray decided to print 2500 …
- … hope to Heaven book will sell well’ (12 January [1871] Letter 7438 ). A second printing was …
- … America, of St George Mivart‘s Genesis of species ( Letter 7907 ) ; this was Darwin’s …
- … more about the wide distribution of my books’ (29 June [1875] Letter 10035 ). When the book went …
- … & lo & behold we have sold some 1700 Copies!!!’ (3 July 1875 Letter 10040 ). In all 3000 …
- … plants , but even so only 130 were left by the end of 1875 ( Letter 10297 ). The following year …
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: 19 hits
- … to an end. The dispute was not resolved until early 1875, and, even then, not to Darwin’s complete …
- … it for publication in the next issue of the Quarterly ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 29 July 1874 …
- … kind of thing Murray would be likely to wish to circulate ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] …
- … them explicitly, he might be thought to endorse them ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 5 August 1874 ). …
- … of encouraging licentiousness. A postscript to Darwin’s letter, which may belong to another letter, …
- … on board Darwin’s comments and sent a fair copy of his letter with his letter of 6 [August] 1874 …
- … of words having been used in a Pickwickian sense’ ( letter to John Murray, 18 October 1874 ). In …
- … Huxley’s protégé, and Huxley’s reaction was savage ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [6 December 1874] ). …
- … have Mivart admit his authorship of the attack on George ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December 1874 …
- … unjustifiably attacked a friend of mine.’ ( Enclosure to letter from J. D. Hooker, 21 December 1874 …
- … , felt to be due to Mr Darwin. For when I read his letter in August, I certainly felt that he …
- … Archives) Huxley did not share this letter with Darwin but wrote to him, ‘he not …
- … he is not devoid of all the instincts of a gentleman’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 23 December 1874 …
- … of London.) Mivart swiftly replied to Huxley’s letter : again, Darwin did not see this. …
- … Confidential Dear Huxley, I thank you for your letter of yesterday’s date as also for …
- … from J. D. Hooker, 29 December 1874 ). By January 1875, Mivart had still not made any …
- … book Anthropogenie , in the Academy , 2 January 1875. ‘Possessed by a blind animosity against …
- … (Mivart was a Catholic convert.) On 12 January 1875 , Darwin finally wrote to Mivart, …
- … article in a letter published in the Academy , 16 January 1875, p. 66, signed, ‘The Quarterly …
Insectivorous Plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Plants that consume insects Darwin began his work with insectivorous plants in the mid 1860s, though his findings would not be published until 1875. In his autobiography Darwin reflected on the delay that…
Matches: 9 hits
- … mid 1860s, though his findings would not be published until 1875. In his autobiography Darwin …
- … 1 The resulting volume, Insectivorous Plants (1875), was one in a series of works in which …
- … SOURCES Books Darwin, Charles. 1875. Insectivorous Plants. London: John …
- … Scott's objection to Natural Selection. Letter 2951 - Charles Darwin to Daniel …
- … ammonia as a substitute for flies on Drosera . Letter 2932 - Charles Darwin to J.S. …
- … teacher during Darwin's students days at Cambridge. In this letter Darwin asks Henslow whether …
- … the Drosera is a known or common phenomenon. Letter 8113 - Mary Treat to Charles …
- … observations in gratitude for Darwin's own work. Letter 9005 - Charles Darwin to …
- … of utricularia expressed by Mary Treat in an 1874 letter to Charles Darwin: I …
1.6 Ouless oil portrait
Summary
< Back to Introduction The first commissioned oil portrait of Darwin was painted by Walter William Ouless, who was given sittings at Down House in March 1875. The idea for such a portrait came from Darwin’s son William, who as far back as 1872 had…
