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To Philip Henry Stanhope   30 July [1852]

Summary

Declines invitation to Chevening [Lord Stanhope’s residence].

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope
Date:  30 July [1852]
Classmark:  Archives of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University (bMs 7.10.3 (1))
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13844

To ?   31 December [1852–3]

Summary

Responds to correspondent’s request for information about shells from the Coquimbo beds in Chile. Difficulty in deciding on age of deposits and species. Notes views of Alcide d’Orbigny.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Unidentified
Date:  31 Dec [1852-3]
Classmark:  Houghton Library, Harvard University (Autograph File, D)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13872

To ?   19 December [1852 or 1854]

Summary

Ray Society has given CD 22 copies [of Living Cirripedia, vol. 1].

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Unidentified
Date:  19 Dec [1852 or 1854]
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.100)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1464

To J. S. Henslow   [1852–60]

Summary

Sends an enclosure forwarded from Down.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Stevens Henslow
Date:  [1852–60]
Classmark:  Harvard Medical Library in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine (H MS c3.3)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1466F

To Japetus Steenstrup   3 January [1852]

Summary

Asks JS to compare cirripede specimens with those of Lorenz Spengler to establish comparative nomenclature.

Requests reference to article describing Xenobalanus.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Johannes Japetus Smith (Japetus) Steenstrup
Date:  3 Jan [1852]
Classmark:  Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen (NKS 3460 4to)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1469

To Gardeners’ Chronicle   [before 10 January 1852]

Summary

Asks readers of Gardeners’ Chronicle whether they have experience with light wire rope instead of chain in drawing water buckets from deep wells. Describes the problem of his own well with its 325 foot chain.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Gardeners’ Chronicle
Date:  [before 10 Jan 1852]
Classmark:  Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, no. 2, 10 January 1852, p. 22
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1470

To Edward Forbes   23 January [1852?]

Summary

Discusses Balanus unguiformis. Promises to return specimen.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Edward Forbes
Date:  23 Jan [1852?]
Classmark:  Florida State University Libraries, Strozier Library Special Collections Vault (tipped into a copy of Origin, QH365 .O2 1859)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1472

To Edwin Lankester, Ray Society   30 January [1852]

Summary

The Binder "by some wonderful Blunder" has bound the enclosed in all of CD’s copies [of Living Cirripedia, vol. 1]. He requests that it be pulled out. It may belong to W. A. Leighton’s volume [Lichens (1851)].

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Edwin Lankester
Date:  30 Jan [1852]
Classmark:  DAR 221.5: 19 photocopy; John Wilson (dealer) (Catalogue 56)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1472A

To J. D. Dana   15 February [1852]

Summary

Sending first volumes on Living and Fossil Cirripedia. Solicits JDD’s opinion, especially on sexual relations of Scalpellum and Ibla, on which he "hardly expect[s] to be believed".

Sends unusual crustacean specimen collected by B. J. Sulivan.

The Sporillus sent by JDD is a very curious species of Acasta [see Living Cirripedia 2: 319].

Asks JDD to identify and give geographical distribution of pieces of coral in which some cirripedes are imbedded.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  James Dwight Dana
Date:  15 Feb [1852]
Classmark:  Yale University Library: Manuscripts and Archives (Dana Family Papers (MS 164) Series 1, Box 2, folder 43)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1473

To W. E. Darwin   24 [February 1852]

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Summary

Is glad WED has made a good beginning [at Rugby?].

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Erasmus Darwin
Date:  24 [Feb 1852]
Classmark:  DAR 210.6: 3
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1474

To A. A. Gould   29 February [1852]

Summary

Sends presentation copy of Fossil Cirripedia.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Augustus Addison Gould
Date:  29 Feb [1852]
Classmark:  Houghton Library, Harvard University (Augustus A. Gould papers, 1831–66 MS Am 1210: 226)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1475

To W. D. Fox   7 March [1852]

Summary

Congratulates and "condoles" with WDF on a tenth child.

On education, he has not had courage to break away from "the old stereotyped stupid classical education"; has sent William to Rugby.

The first Ray Society volume [Living Cirripedia] is finished.

Has joined in a society to prosecute violators of the act against use of children in climbing chimneys.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Darwin Fox
Date:  7 Mar [1852]
Classmark:  Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 80)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1476

To Syms Covington   14 March 1852

Summary

Asks for details about the discoveries of gold in Australia.

Has published one book on barnacles [1851].

Sulivan has just returned from his cattle farm in the Falklands.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Syms Covington
Date:  14 Mar 1852
Classmark:  Sydney Mail, 9 August 1884, p. 254
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1477

DCP-LETT-1478

Summary

Cancelled: draft of 1496.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Joseph Dalton Hooker
Date:  [Apr 1852]
Classmark:  DAR 206: 40
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1478

From Japetus Steenstrup    8 April 1852

Summary

His difficulties in answering CD’s letter of 3 Jan [1852] [see 1469]. There is no Lepas mitra in the Lorenz Spengler collection. He undertakes to compare the specimens of Balanus sent by CD with those of Spengler.

He thanks CD for his book [Fossil Cirripedia (1851)].

His work with Professor Forchhammer and Mr Worsaae.

Author:  Johannes Japetus Smith (Japetus) Steenstrup
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  8 Apr 1852
Classmark:  Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1478A

To George Crawford Hyndman   16 April [1852]

Summary

Thanks GCH for Balanus specimens.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  George Crawford Hyndman
Date:  16 Apr [1852]
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.101)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1479

To John William Parker   5 May [1852]

Summary

As an author of some scientific works CD is of the opinion that each bookseller should settle, each for himself, the retail price.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John William Parker
Date:  5 May [1852]
Classmark:  Stationers’ Company (Records Pt XI (III) J. W. Parker: autograph letters from authors (TSC/1/F/07/22))
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1480A

To J. D. Dana   8 May [1852]

Summary

Gratified by JDD’s opinion of his work.

Discusses problem of homologies of cirripede larva in first stage and reasons for his view.

JDD’s information on corals was just what CD needed.

Would like specimen of blind cave rat described by B. Silliman [Jr] ["On the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky", Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 11 (1851): 336] for Waterhouse to examine.

Discusses origin of Australian valleys; he disagrees with JDD’s river-erosion hypothesis.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  James Dwight Dana
Date:  8 May [1852]
Classmark:  Yale University Library: Manuscripts and Archives (Dana Family Papers (MS 164) Series 1, Box 2, folder 43)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1481

To Henry Norton Shaw, Secretary, Royal Geographical Society   17 May [1852]

Summary

Asks for catalogue and latest number of the Journal [of the Royal Geographical Society].

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Henry Norton Shaw; Royal Geographical Society
Date:  17 May [1852]
Classmark:  Royal Geographical Society
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1482

To John Higgins   19 June [1852]

Summary

Discusses his account and rent reduction. Comments on agricultural prices.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Higgins
Date:  19 June [1852]
Classmark:  Lincolnshire Archives (HIG/4/2/1/54)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1483
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Edward Lumb

Summary

Edward Lumb was born in Yorkshire. According to the memoirs of his daughter Anne, Lady Macdonell, he travelled to Buenos Aires aged sixteen with his merchant uncle, Charles Poynton, and after some fortunate enterprises set up in business there. In 1833…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … in Argentina and Uruguay. Edward Lumb gave Darwin a letter of introduction to them , and Mr and …
  • … correspondence after Darwin’s return to England, since a letter of 1847 refers to information …
  • … , and there met Mr Blackmore who had just received a letter from Mr Lumb. Lady Macdonell recorded …

Darwin’s reading notebooks

Summary

In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … through 1851; the second (DAR 128) continues the list from 1852 to 1860, when, except for a few odd …
  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
  • … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
  • … M rs  Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … John Davies. China during the War and Peace [J. F. Davis 1852]. read Books Read, 1838–51 …
  • … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … [Southey 1834–47]. Poor. skimmed Books to be Read, 1852–60 [DAR *128: Cover] …
  • … of 1851 on silk-worms & sheep, selection & crossing [R. Owen 1852]. Also hybrid-wheat …
  • … & Triticum 84 Knox on Anatomy & Art [R. Knox 1852]. London Library (read) …
  • … Work on Hybridism reviewed in Gardeners Chronicle in 1852. by Wagner? [Unger 1852] 85  Read …
  • … vols. The Vegetation of Europe by A. Henfrey [Henfrey 1852]. (remarks on Geograph. Distrib. …
  • … very expensive Coll. of Surgeons? M r  Highley. 88  1852 French Translation of Von …
  • … Life of L d . Jeffrey. Colburn Cockburn [Cockburn 1852] Our antipodes by Colonel Mundy [G. …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
  • … ( Notebooks , pp. 319–28). 55  The letter was addressed to Nicholas Aylward Vigors …
  • … to William Jackson Hooker. See  Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
  • … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832.  A letter in vindication of   the principles of …
  • … by Bekhur to   Garoo and the Lake Manasarowara: with a letter from … J.   G. Gerard, Esq. …
  • … 1830. On the dying struggle of the dichotomous sytem. In a letter to N. A. Vigors.  Philosophical …
  • … *119: 8v., 22v.; *128: 165 ——. 1850a. Letter to the Rev. John Bachman, on the question of …
  • … art of improving the   breeds of domestic animals. In a letter addressed to the   Right Hon. Sir …
  • … 1820.  Remarks on the improvement of   cattle, &c. in a letter to Sir John Saunders Sebright, …

Darwin and Fatherhood

Summary

Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … he had just sent his eldest son William to Rugby School in 1852, Darwin admitted that ‘No one can …
  • … through the trammels.’ (Darwin to W. D. Fox,  7 March [1852] ). A more modern and scientific …
  • … were favourite family games, and in 1859 he ended a letter to his oldest son with the exclamation ‘I …
  • … (Darwin to his son William,  [30 October 1858] ). In one letter in 1856, he explained his paternal …

Living and fossil cirripedia

Summary

Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … year on cirripede anatomy, Darwin wrote a rather reflective letter to his former professor and …
  • … his conclusions about larval-adult homologies in a letter to Dana in December 1853 . …
  • … bears the date 1851, it did not appear until January 1852 . By 1852, Darwin was well …
  • … so that the volume, at first promised by the end of 1852 then the summer of 1853 was only …

Scientific Practice

Summary

Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…

Matches: 24 hits

  • … | Microscopes | Collecting | Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of …
  • … with detailed correspondence about barnacles. Letter 1514 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. …
  • … of one idea. – cirripedes morning & night.” Letter 1480 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, …
  • … on embryological stages than Huxley thinks. Letter 1592 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H …
  • … and difficulties of botanical experimentation. Letter 4895 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J …
  • … on Anelasma which he thinks seems probable. Letter 5173 — Müller, J. F. T. to …
  • … and on some plants which seem to be dichogamous. Letter 5429 — Müller, J. F. T. to …
  • … and crossed with pollen of other species. Letter 5480 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. …
  • … Claus, Die freilebenden Copepoden [1863]. Letter 5551 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. …
  • … on the use and importance of the microscope. Letter 207 — Darwin, C. R. to Fox, W. D., …
  • … with a microscope ranks second only to geology. Letter 1018 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, …
  • … “take advantage of your wicked offer of assistance”. The letter is full of observations on barnacles …
  • … ed., Manual of scientific enquiry (1849)]. Letter 1167 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, …
  • … finds this microscope “wonderfully superior”. Letter 1174 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
  • … specimens and information for his barnacle book. Letter 1140 — Darwin, C. R. to Ross, J …
  • … to the Arctic in search of Sir John Franklin. Letter 1262 — Darwin, C. R. to Hancock, …
  • … discusses Lithotrya and its burrowing habits. Letter 1495 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … at his collection to check on his suspicions. Letter 1370 — Darwin, C. R. to Covington, …
  • … only one specimen is known to exist in the world. Letter 1251 — Darwin, C. R. to Gould, …
  • … between theory and practice in natural history. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, …
  • … first describer’s name to specific name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., …
  • … perpetuity of names in species descriptions. Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
  • … with the former and deferring the species paper. Letter 1319 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, …
  • … have progressed but Hooker is not converted. Letter 1339 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …

'An Appeal' against animal cruelty

Summary

The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against the cruelty of steel vermin…

Matches: 13 hits

  • … was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 …
  • … of the pamphlet in August and September 1863 (see letter from G. B. Sowerby Jr to Emma Darwin, 22 …
  • … 1863, pp. 821–2, under the title `Vermin and traps' ( Letter no. 4282). The wording of the …
  • … and to 'a good many persons Squires Ladies & MPs' (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D …
  • … more success with the campaign than she expected (see the letter from Emma Darwin to William Erasmus …
  • … s. 6 d. for distributing the 'cruelty pamphlet', and letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. …
  • … involved no more cruelty than the possible alternatives (see letter from E. L. Darwin, 7 September …
  • … animals, reporting a neighbouring farmer to the RSPCA in 1852 for working horses with sore necks …
  • … , pp. 44, 54–5, 78, and Correspondence vol. 2, letter to W. D. Fox, 28 August [1837]). Later he …
  • … Autobiography , pp. 78–9, Correspondence vol. 7, letter to W. E. Darwin, 22 [September 1858], …
  • … Gardeners’ Chronicle , 29 August 1863, pp. 821–2 ( Letter no. 4282). The woodcut was arranged …
  • … is to William Howitt; the quotation is taken from Howitt"s letter to the Morning Star , 8 …
  • … Gardeners’ Chronicle , 29 August 1863, pp. 821–2 ( Letter no. 4282). 7 Edward Strong …

Darwin's health

Summary

On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to Hooker’s letter which he put down to his exceptionally …
  • … I was rapidly going the way of all flesh.  See the letter At various periods in his …
  • … months while he took Dr Gully’s water cure. In Darwin’s letter to Hooker, he described Dr Gully’s …
  • … certain that the Water Cure is no quackery.—  See the letter After returning from …
  • … which increased in severity in the years around 1848, 1852, 1859, and 1863. In a letter to Hooker in …
  • … as my retching is apt to be extremely loud.—  See the letter Besides experimenting …
  • … the vomiting wonderfully & I am gaining vigour .’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 April [1864] ) …
  • … these grounds (see, for example, Correspondence vol. 2, letter to J. S. Henslow, 14 October …
  • … first mentioned attacks of ‘periodical vomiting’ in a letter to W. D. Fox, [7 June 1840] ( …
  • … sickness in 1849, describing ‘incessant vomiting’ in his letter to Richard Owen, [24 February 1849 …
  • … he was sick almost daily (see Correspondence vol. 12, letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [6 …
  • … before Darwin’s decision to consult John Chapman.  In a letter to J. D. Hooker, [20-] 22 February …
  • … after eating, and that he seldom threw up food.  In his letter to Chapman of 16 May [1865] , …
  • … and correspondence during periods of sickness in 1848, 1852, and 1859 (see Colp 1977, pp. 38, 47, 64 …
  • … and care see, for example, Correspondence vol. 4, letter to Emma Darwin, [27-8 May 1848] . …
  • … had suffered from gout (see Correspondence vol. 1, letter to W. D. Fox, [25-9 January 1829] , …
  • … see King-Hele 1999, pp. 161-2). Erasmus also wrote a letter to Darwin’s father, in which he claimed …
  • … are discussed in Colp 1977, pp. 31-2, 47, 98. In his letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 March [1863] ( …
  • … feel a little alive’. See also Correspondence vol. 12, letter from Emma Darwin to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … the treatment (see, for example, Correspondence vol. 4, letter to W. D. Fox, 24 [March 1849] …
  • … at Down for several years (see Correspondence vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October 1849 …
  • … September and October 1863 (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, …
  • … checked his chronic vomiting ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 April [1864] …

3.9 Leonard Darwin, photo on horseback

Summary

< Back to Introduction It is so rare to encounter an image of Darwin in a specific locale that a family photograph of him riding his horse Tommy takes on a special interest. He is at the front of Down House, the door of which is open; it seems as…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … paces.’ Henrietta’s brother George reported to her in a letter of February 1870, ‘I have been doing …
  • … the RSPCA to prosecute a man living in Down village in 1852 on a charge of cruelty to his horses, …
  • … c.1866, acting as the local magistrate, he wrote a warning letter to another local farmer, whose …
  • … references and bibliography Darwin’s draft letter to a local farmer, c.1866, about the state of …
  • … Darwin’s accident when riding Tommy on 9 April 1869. Letter from George Darwin to his sister …

New material added to the American edition of Origin

Summary

A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…

Matches: 12 hits

  • … Soon after Origin was published, Darwin received a letter from Asa Gray offering to arrange an …
  • … Darwin responded favourably to Gray’s proposal in his letter of 21 December [1859] ( Correspondence …
  • … had been fixed through the process of stereotyping (see letter from Asa Gray, 23 January [1860] and …
  • … of species; Darwin sent this off to Gray enclosed in his letter of [8 or 9 February 1860]. He had …
  • … [1860] and 1 February [1860]). A month later, in his letter of 8 March [1860], Darwin sent …
  • … (especially that given by Hewett Cottrell Watson in his letter of [3? January 1860]) that Darwin …
  • … changes he intended to make in the American edition in the letter to Lyell, 18 [and 19 February 1860 …
  • … corrected Second Edition with additional corrections” (letter to Asa Gray, 1 February [1860]). …
  • … resulting from three separate printings of Origin (see letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] and …
  • … in an Essay (originally published in the Leader, March, 1852, and republished in his Essays, 1858), …
  • … of each mental power and capacity by gradation. In 1852 (Revue Horticole, p. 102), M. Naudin, …
  • … of Origin ( Origin 3d ed., pp. 363–6). See also letter from John Lubbock, [after 28 April …

George Busk

Summary

After the Beagle voyage, Darwin’s collection of bryozoans disappears from the records until the material was sent, in 1852, for study by George Busk, one of the foremost workers on the group of his day. In 1863, on the way down to Malvern Wells, Darwin had…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … the records until the material was sent, in 1852, for study by George Busk, one of the foremost …
  • … for their ostracism by Charles and Lady Lyell ( letter from J. D. Hooker [2 June 1865] ).  …

Hermann Müller

Summary

Hermann (Heinrich Ludwig Hermann) Müller, was born in Mühlberg near Erfurt in 1829. He was the younger brother of Fritz Müller (1822–97). Following the completion of his secondary education at Erfurt in 1848, he studied natural sciences at Halle and Berlin…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … and Berlin, focusing on botany, zoology, and geology. In 1852, he qualified as a teacher, but …
  • … Darwin initiated a correspondence with Müller, but that letter has not been found; however, Müller …
  • … gaining access. In October 1867, Müller sent Darwin a letter describing his discovery of …

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: 7 hits

  • … botanists such as George Bentham and Francis Boott.  In one letter Bentham reported to her on the  …
  • … of  ‘about  40 ladies  and a few gentlemen’ (letter to Jane Gray from George Bentham, 10 March …
  • … sending him observations about the behaviour of her dog (letter from J. L. Gray, 14 February 1870 …
  • … of Darwin’s current research preoccupations. In their letter to Darwin from Egypt, Jane Gray wrote: …
  • … The other women only the up & down wrinkles— (letter from Asa Gray and J. L. Gray, 8 …
  • … whilst I have won, hurrah, hurrah, 2795 games. (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876 ) …
  • … boys and for the gift of pincushions sent back with them (letter from Emma Darwin to Jane Gray, 28 …

Wearing his knowledge lightly: From Fritz Müller, 5 April 1878

Summary

Darwin received letters from so many people and wrote so many fascinating letters himself, that it’s hard to choose from many letters that stand out, but one of this editor’s favourites, that always brings a smile, is a letter from Fritz Müller written 5…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … this editor’s favourites, that always brings a smile, is a letter from Fritz Müller written 5 …
  • … had emigrated to the German colony of Blumenau in Brazil in 1852. He had a PhD in natural sciences …
  • … natural world. Müller begins this letter by mentioning notes that he has …
  • … or sexual selection. The next section of the letter demonstrates not only Müller’s skill …
  • … Vatican Council of 1869–70). Müller closes the letter with a complaint that a yellow …
  • … to correspond.    What shines through in this letter is Müller’s enthusiasm for his …
  • … discussion, and shows a sense of fun. Müller in this letter, as always, wears his knowledge lightly. …

Alfred Russel Wallace

Summary

Wallace was a leading Victorian naturalist, with wide-ranging interests from biogeography and evolutionary theory to spiritualism and politics. He was born in 1823 in Usk, a small town in south-east Wales, and attended a grammar school in Hertford. At the…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … most of his collection in a fire on the return to England in 1852, Wallace became known for his …
  • … by Wallace’s observations and theoretical abilities. In a letter of 1 May 1857, he alluded to his …
  • … as too metaphorical and prone to misinterpretation (see letter from A. R. Wallace, 2 July 1866). …
  • … phenomena, open to scientific investigation (see letter from A. R. Wallace, 18 April [1869]). …
  • … letters to Wallace, 17 June 1876 and 7 January 1881, and the letter from A. R. Wallace, 29 January …
  • … chief”, while Darwin was the “great General” (letter to Charles Kingsley, 7 May 1869). In later …
  • … jealousy towards each other, though in one sense rivals” (letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870]). …

Arthur Mellersh

Summary

Arthur Mellersh was a midshipman (promoted to mate during the voyage) serving on the Beagle at the time when Darwin was travelling around the world. One account suggests an inauspicious start to their friendship; apparently Mellersh introduced himself…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … on the HMS Rattler during the Burma Campaign in 1852, and in 1853 Darwin learned in a letter

Darwin’s observations on his children

Summary

Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children, began the research that culminated in his book The Expression of the emotions in man and animals, published in 1872, and his article ‘A biographical sketch of an infant’, published in Mind…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … However, at this point the record breaks off until January 1852, by which time the Darwin family had …
  • … our door N o  12 and N o  11 is in the slit for the Letter box.— he decidedly ran past N o  11 …
  • … has learned them from my sometimes changing the first letter in any word he is using—thus I say …
  • … to change “Yours is larger than mine Annie.” Jan. 1852 Lizzy 4½ years old.[60] She has always …
  • … , pp. 131–2. [6]  Correspondence  vol. 2, letter from Emma Wedgwood, [23 January 1839] . …

Syms Covington

Summary

When Charles Darwin embarked on the Beagle voyage in 1831, Syms Covington was ‘fiddler & boy to Poop-cabin’. Covington kept an illustrated journal of his observations and experiences on the voyage, noting wildlife, landscapes, buildings and people and,…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … to work his passage to Sydney, Australia. Darwin wrote a letter of recommendation for him in 1839, …
  • … Pambula, 280 miles south of Sydney, where he then lived. In 1852 Darwin had  asked about the gold …
  • … office, and possibly a general store. Darwin’s  last letter  to Covington was enclosed with a …

The evolution of honeycomb

Summary

Honeycombs are natural engineering marvels, using the least possible amount of wax to provide the greatest amount of storage space, with the greatest possible structural stability. Darwin recognised that explaining the evolution of the honey-bee’s comb…

Matches: 19 hits

  • … in no other place, could have been given to it’ (Kirby 1852, 2: 246). Darwin’s copy of …
  • … principles and the proximity of other cells. Darwin’s letter has not been found, but from Waterhouse …
  • … were not subject to the space constraints of other cells. (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 14 April …
  • … diameter being determined by her power of reaching.’ (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 10 February …
  • … were exercising their minds on the problem. In his next letter, Waterhouse described wasps’ nests …
  • … formal constraints as a group of bees working together. (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 13 February …
  • … mind on the subjects of wasp’s nests. He sent another long letter to Darwin on the subject, this …
  • … the other straight sides that were bounded by other cells (letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 17 April …
  • … arranged to look at Tegetmeier’s piece of honeycomb (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, [21 April 1858] …
  • … to keep an eye out for the first beginnings of the comb (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 9 May [1858] …
  • … has not correctly described their manner of building’ (letter to W. E. Darwin, [26 May 1858] .) …
  • … hardly been begun; & all must be very minute. ( See the letter ) Darwin was …
  • … asked Tegetmeier to look out for isolated cylindrical cells (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 5 June …
  • … ordering another hive from Tegetmeier, and buying a swarm (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 8 [June …
  • … Waterhouse reviewed the latest controversies in his letter to Darwin of 2 August 1858 . The …
  • … of bee cell sizes might have a simple explanation. (Letter to Richard Hill, 8 August [1859] .) …
  • … are different sizes) was carried out in different ways (letter from Jeffries Wyman, 11 January …
  • … Darwin’s conclusions about the building of cells. (Letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 8 September [1858] …
  • … bought to bear, a myth. In 1865, Darwin received a letter from Edward Cresy (letter from …

Darwin's bad days

Summary

Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …

Fritz Müller

Summary

Fritz Müller, a German who spent most of his life in political exile in Brazil, described Darwin as his second father, and Darwin's son, Francis, wrote that, although they never met 'the correspondence with Müller, which continued to the close of…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … he had the strongest regard. Fritz Müller, in a letter to Ernst Krause written shortly …
  • … had begun to consider emigrating. The plan was realised in 1852 when he, his brother August, and …
  • … a complete stranger, Darwin’s tone in this first letter was already collegial; he was clearly …
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