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To T. H. Farrer   18 January [1874]

Summary

Thanks THF for information from Colonial Office on population statistics showing the inhabitants of some areas are far from becoming sterile.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer
Date:  18 Jan [1874]
Classmark:  Linnean Society of London (LS Ms 299/25)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-10362

From T. L. Brunton   23 May 1874

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Summary

Comments on his examination of slides [of milk casein?] sent by CD.

Surprised by CD’s finding that a drop of one per cent hydrochloric acid stops digestion of albumen by Drosera.

Author:  Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st baronet
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  23 May 1874
Classmark:  DAR 58.1: 120–2
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-10512

To Williams & Norgate   [November 1874 – May 1880]

Summary

Orders a copy of Dassen 1837, Onderzoek aangaande de bladbewegingen (research on leaf movements), published in Tijdschrift voor Natuurlijke Geschiedenis en Physiologie IV p. 106.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Williams & Norgate
Date:  [Nov 1874 – May 1880]
Classmark:  Ms Caroline Waid (private collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11028F

From Emma Darwin to ?   [October 1874 – April 1882]

Summary

CD cannot come to London to sit for photograph. Sends one taken by son [Leonard], which family considers the best likeness. CD would be glad to give a sitting at Down.

Author:  Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin
Addressee:  Unidentified
Date:  [Oct 1874 – Apr 1882]
Classmark:  Archives of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University (bMs 62.10.1)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13792

To Francis Darwin   [after 23 July 1874]

Summary

Asks for a specimen of Pinguicula.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Francis Darwin
Date:  [after 23 July 1874]
Classmark:  DAR 211: 9
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13796

To Francis Galton   [November 1874 – April 1882]

Summary

Invites FG to visit.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Francis Galton
Date:  [Nov 1874 – Apr 1882]
Classmark:  The British Library (IOL Mss Eur F127)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13811

To Japetus Steenstrup   23 May [1874 or 1875?]

Summary

"With kind regards, & many thanks for Prof. Steenstrup’s Photograph, which is most highly valued by C. Darwin"

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Johannes Japetus Smith (Japetus) Steenstrup
Date:  23 May [1874-5]
Classmark:  Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen (tipped into a copy of Orchids)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-5098

From Emma Darwin to J. B. Innes   24 June [1874]

Summary

Kind to send seeds of Aquilegia Brodii. Gives news on her sons. Glad of recent rain to help the hay.

Author:  Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin
Addressee:  John Brodie Innes
Date:  24 June [1874]
Classmark:  Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-6405F

To G. H. Darwin   30 January [1874?]

Summary

Returns and sends comments on Clarke Hawkshaw’s essay ‘The persistence of forms of life in the depths of the sea’.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  George Howard Darwin
Date:  30 Jan [1874?]
Classmark:  DAR 185: 152
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-7466F

To H. E. Litchfield   16 February [1874?]

Summary

On the "doubtful & obscure" subject of marriage of cousins, CD believes, that judging from the analogy of animals, no direct evil would follow from their marriage. He would, however, expect the offspring of unrelated parents to be somewhat superior in size and vigour. The injury from the increase of any bad tendency common to the family seems to CD more to be feared than mere consanguinity; "the good effects of crossing distinct families I look at as great & undoubted".

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Henrietta Emma Darwin; Henrietta Emma Litchfield
Date:  16 Feb [1874?]
Classmark:  The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-8207

To C. S. Tomes   16 February [1874]

Summary

Thanks for facts on inheritance

Thinks CST’s paper (C. S. Tomes 1874) about the enamel on the teeth of the armadillo is most remarkable.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Sissmore Tomes
Date:  16 Feb [1874]
Classmark:  Andrusier Autographs (dealer) (Spring 2013)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-8216F

To John Lubbock   8 April [1874]

Summary

Encloses a statement and circular he has been asked to send to JL.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury
Date:  8 Apr [1874]
Classmark:  Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-8283

To J. W. Spengel   27 November [1874]

Summary

Thanks for JWS’s updatings to his Darwinian bibliography and regrets he is a poor German scholar.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Johann Wilhelm Spengel
Date:  27 Nov [1874]
Classmark:  Sächsische Landesbibliothek (SLUB) (Mscr. Dresd. s 762)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-8650F

From Leonard Darwin   [after 14 February 1874]

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Summary

Statistics showing rate of decline of population in Sandwich Islands, 1832–72.

Author:  Leonard Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [after 14 Feb 1874]
Classmark:  DAR 90: 8
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-8709

From H. H. Howorth   3 January [1874]

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Summary

On the extinction of populations. [See Descent, 2d ed., p. 183.]

Author:  Henry Hoyle Howorth
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  3 Jan [1874]
Classmark:  DAR 90: 28–9
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-8722

From ?   [after 14 January 1874]

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Summary

Extract from the Honolulu Gazette on the decreasing population of the Sandwich Islands.

Author:  Unidentified
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [after 14 Jan 1874]
Classmark:  DAR 89: 120
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-8794

From T. H. Farrer   [before 10 April 1874]

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Summary

Observations on Coronilla.

Author:  Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [before 10 Apr 1874]
Classmark:  DAR 164: 77
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-8854

From C. S. Tomes   [before 16 February 1874]

Summary

Inherited dental abnormalities in man. [Enclosed are proofs of pp. 113–16 from J. Tomes, A system of dental surgery, 2d ed. (1873).]

Author:  Charles Sissmore Tomes
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [before 16 Feb 1874]
Classmark:  DAR 178: 129
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-9195

From Leonard Darwin   [before 27 June 1874]

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Summary

LD has misplaced some figures on which he was to work.

Author:  Leonard Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [before 27 June 1874]
Classmark:  DAR 186: 31
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-9196

From W. de W. Abney to Leonard Darwin   [before 27 June 1874]

Summary

Answers questions about chemistry (see 9202).

Author:  William de Wiveleslie Abney
Addressee:  Leonard Darwin
Date:  [before 27 June 1874]
Classmark:  DAR 58.1: 148
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-9196F
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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: 15 hits

  • … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the …
  • … 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

Darwin's 1874 letters go online

Summary

The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1874 through his letters and see a full list of the letters. The 1874 letters…

Matches: 9 hits

  • … of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. …
  • … , scurrilous accusation of [a] lying scoundrel.—  ( Letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] …
  • … are some other highlights from Darwin's correspondence in 1874: I feel as old as …
  • … everything more quietly, as not signifying so much.  ( Letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ) …
  • … more quietly was severely tested by some of the events of 1874. He had a clear idea of the shape of …
  • … have started the subject & that must be enough for me  ( Letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] …
  • … work takes five times more time than the positive  ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 August [1874] ) …
  • … enjoyed a day more in my life than this day’s work  ( Letter to D. F. Nevill, 18 September [1874] …
  • … alive, considering the work which you have to do—  ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 November [1874] …

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: 9 hits

  • … In 1874, the Catholic zoologist St George Jackson Mivart caused Darwin and his son …
  • … appeared to have created very little stir, until, in July 1874, Mivart published an anonymous review …
  • … 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
  • … a Pickwickian sense’ ( letter to John Murray, 18 October 1874 ). In other words, Mivart had used …
  • … reaction was savage ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [6 December 1874] ). Hooker and Huxley between them …

Lost in translation: From Auguste Forel, 12 November 1874

Summary

You receive a gift from your scientific hero Charles Darwin. It is a book that contains sections on your favourite topic—ants. If only you had paid attention when your mother tried to teach you English you might be able to read it. But you didn’t, and you…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … understand a word. Writing in French on 12 November 1874 to thank Darwin for the book, …
  • … the help of an English speaker. This relatively nondescript letter is a favourite of mine because it …
  • … Women like Emma To de Horst (credited by Forel in his letter and named in his memoirs) are not …

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: 27 hits

  • … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
  • … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
  • … observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
  • … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
  • … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
  • … Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L …
  • … Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
  • … expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
  • … is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
  • … of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
  • … briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
  • … expression of emotion in dogs with Emma Darwin. Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, …
  • … birds, insects or plants on Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to …
  • … of an angry pig and her niece’s ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
  • … that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … on her experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9426 - Story …
  • … without the birds attacking the buds and flowers. Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to …
  • … specimens and bird observations from Calcutta. Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 …
  • … “enthusiasm and indomitable patience”. Letter 4242 - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin …
  • … contained in “a little treatise”. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 …
  • … he has moved one or two of them into his bedroom. Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to …
  • … expression of emotion in chimpanzees and orangs. Letter 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von …
  • … to show in his museum in Canterbury, New Zealand. Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to …
  • … to be attracted to dark spots on the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. …
  • … 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, [22 August 1874] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, sends a …
  • Letter 9616  - Marshall, T.  to Darwin, [September 1874] Theodosia Marshall details …
  • Letter 9485 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [8 June 1874] Mary Treat details her experiments …

Joseph Simms

Summary

The American doctor and author of works on physiognomy Joseph Simms wrote to Darwin on 14 September 1874, while he was staying in London. He enclosed a copy of his book Nature’s revelations of character (Simms 1873). He hoped it might 'prove…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … physiognomy Joseph Simms wrote to Darwin on 14 September 1874 , while he was staying in London. …
  • … with rigid care at every object’. No reply to the letter has been found, and Darwin was not …
  • … please give your height while standing in stockings. (Letter from Joseph Simms, 14 …

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: 19 hits

  • … attack upon Darwin’s son George, in an anonymous review in 1874 (see Correspondence vol. 22, …
  • … On 8 January , he told Hooker: ‘I will write a savage letter & that will do me some good, if I …
  • … to the Editor … Poor Murray shuddered again & again’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 January …
  • … laid to rest, another controversy was brewing. In December 1874, Darwin had been asked to sign a …
  • … botanical research and had visited Down House in April 1874 (see Correspondence vol. 22, letters …
  • … offered to pay the costs for printing an additional 250 ( letter to John Murray, 3 May 1875 ). …
  • … & bless the day That ever you were born (letter from E. F. Lubbock, [after 2 …
  • … A scientific friendship had developed between the men in 1874, and this was enhanced by Romanes’s …
  • … that the originally red half has become wholly white’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [before 4 …
  • … 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 …
  • … both critical and reverential. On 16 July he received a letter from an advocate of women’s …
  • … 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 …
  • … had learned of Lyell’s failing health from Hooker in 1874 and January 1875. On 22 February, he was …
  • … 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 …

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: 30 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 …
  • … 9633 - Nevill, D. F. to Darwin, [11 September 1874] Dorothy Nevill tells Darwin …

Darwin as mentor

Summary

Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…

Matches: 13 hits

  • … of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 …
  • … sweeping conclusions on insufficient grounds. Letter 3934 - Darwin to Scott, J., [21 …
  • … how to make the material worthy of publication. Letter 4185 - Darwin to Scott, J., [25 …
  • … indefatigable worker you are!”. Letter 7605 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [20 March …
  • … memorial” in memory of the book. Letter 8140 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [3 …
  • … how he made so many observations without aid. Letter 8146 - Darwin to Treat, M., [5 …
  • … “in some well-known scientific journal”. Letter 8171 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L., [21 …
  • … that Lucy is worth her weight in gold. Letter 9005b - Darwin to Treat, M., [12 …
  • … flies until he had repeated the experiment. Letter 9580 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H. D., …
  • … should not yet be submitted to the publisher. Letter 9613 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
  • … and thinks that it ought to be published. Letter 10523 - Darwin to Treat, M., [1 June …
  • … in the pursuit of her “admirable work”. Letter 11096 - Darwin to Romanes, G. J., [9 …
  • … her manuscript to Nature for publication. Letter 13414 - Darwin to Harrison, L., …

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

Summary

George Eliot was the pen name of celebrated Victorian novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880). She was born on the outskirts of Nuneaton in Warwickshire and was educated at boarding schools from the age of five until she was 16. Her education ended when she…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … visitors (23 March 1873; Emma described his visit in a letter to Fanny Allen, [26 March 1873], DAR …
  • … it too hot and left before the manifestations started ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
  • … (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242) and Charles Darwin’s letter to Francis Darwin, [1 May 1876] ). …

4.24 'Daily Graphic', Nast satire

Summary

< Back to Introduction In 1874 the Harvard philosopher John Fiske published his magnum opus, Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, in which he set out to explain the far-reaching significance of Darwin’s and Herbert Spencer’s evolutionary theories. He…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … < Back to Introduction In 1874 the Harvard philosopher John Fiske published his magnum …
  • … in 1879 and 1880. When Cosmic Philosophy appeared in 1874, Fiske sent Darwin a copy, but …
  • … polemic was clearly an ordeal to the recipient. Darwin’s letter of thanks to Fiske was …
  • … mind generally towards the doctrine of Evolution in 1874-1875. I like to keep this design before me …
  • … bottom right) 
 date of creation September 1874 
 computer-readable date 1874-09 …
  • … and bibliography The Daily Graphic 5: 474 (12 Sept. 1874), front page. John Fiske, Outlines …
  • … and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, and London: Macmillan, 1874); there were many subsequent editions. …
  • … letters to Fiske about Outlines : DCP-LETT- 9706 (3 Nov. [1874]) and DCP-LETT- 9749 (8 Dec. [1874

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 …
  • … By November of that year, fourteen copies had been sold ( Letter 8044 ). Meanwhile, Darwin was …
  • … Darwin chose to print the photographic illustrations ( Letter 7773 ), proved to be expensive ( …
  • … proved very slow ( Letter 9071 ). At the end of 1874, Darwin offered Murray a new book,  …

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: 9 hits

  • … the present has given me & my family lasting pleasure. ( Letter to Pieter Harting, 19 March …
  • … Society) was chosen to co-ordinate the initiative, and a letter was circulated to potential …
  • … have also fallen on fertile soil in the Netherlands. ( Letter from A. A. van Bemmelen and H. J.  …
  • … of Natural Filosofy ’. Darwin welcomed the letter, replying: It is the highest …
  • … to interest other students, especially the younger ones. ( Letter to J. C. Costerus and N. D. …
  • … sent him a photograph of the two of them with Darwin’s letter . Another young man, Theodor Wilhelm …
  • … sees them for some are about 2 feet across!—  ( Letter from C. W. Thomson, 30 June 1877 ) …
  • … edition which has been any where published ( Letter to Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen, …
  • … Your loss is irreparable, & I feel deeply for you. ( Letter to F. C. Donders, 19 May 1870 ) …

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 …

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 …
  • … 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 …
  • … to take a long trip to Jamaica ‘for complete rest’ ( letter to Anthony Rich, 4 February 1882 ). …
  • … me more than anything else. I am now 73 years old’ ( letter to A. A. Reade, 13 February 1882 ). …
  • … father confessor. ( Letter from Charles Lyell, 1 September 1874 .) Darwin’s fame continued …

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: 29 hits

  • … What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 8 November [1872] …
  • … anything more on 'so difficult a subject, as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace,  27 July …
  • … best efforts, set the final price at 7 s.  6 d.  ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 February 1872 ) …
  • … condition as I can make it’, he wrote to the translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September …
  • … translation remained unpublished at the end of the year ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 23 November …
  • … to the comparative anatomist St George Jackson Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart,  11 January …
  • … comparison of Whale  & duck  most beautiful’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 3 March 1872 ) …
  • … a person as I am made to appear’, complained Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). …
  • … Darwin would renounce `fundamental intellectual errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January …
  • … was silly enough to think he felt friendly towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872 …
  • … hoping for reconciliation, if only `in another world’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart,  10 January …
  • … have been ungracious in him not to thank Mivart for his letter.  He promised to send a copy of the …
  • … partly in mind, `chiefly perhaps because I do it badly’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 3 August [1872] …
  • … Darwinism is to be the theme. Surely the world moves!’ ( letter from Mary Treat, 13 December 1872 …
  • … to find that Weismann accepted it at least in part ( letter to August Weismann, 5 April 1872 ). ‘I …
  • … few naturalists in England seem inclined to believe it’ ( letter to Herman Müller, [before 5 May …
  • … reached the buzzing place where I myself was standing’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, [before 5 May …
  • … ‘as for myself it is dreadful doing nothing’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was …
  • … to stand closer (a serried mass) and to be more erect’ ( letter to Briton Riviere, 19 May [1872] ) …
  • … and amused rather than offended by `that clever book’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 21 November 1872 …
  • … wrote offering Arthur May’s drawings shortly afterwards ( letter from Samuel Butler to Francis …
  • … 'exactly where, from his ignorance, he feels no doubts’ ( letter to F. C. Donders, 17 June …
  • … music provided by her husband, Richard Buckley Litchfield ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 13 May 1872 …
  • … to Henrietta; 'I know that I am half-killed myself’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 25 July 1872 …
  • … fellow’ was Darwin’s wholeheartedly partisan reply ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 May 1872 ). On 13 …
  • … was delivered to Gladstone a week later ( enclosure to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, …
  • … was `enough to make one turn into an old honest Tory’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 July [1872] ). …
  • … hypothesis of Mr.   Darwin , and Darwin wrote a cutting letter to  Nature  in Wallace’s defence …
  • … Ruck, the sister of an old schoolfriend; he married Amy in 1874.  Francis, still a medical student …

4.16 Joseph Simms, physiognomy

Summary

< Back to Introduction In September 1874, the American doctor Joseph Simms, then on a three-year lecture tour of Britain, sent Darwin a copy of his book, Nature’s Revelations of Character; Or, Physiognomy Illustrated. He was seeking a public…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … < Back to Introduction In September 1874, the American doctor Joseph Simms, then on a …
  • … physiognomy was not, however, restricted to the face. In his letter to Darwin he explained, ‘I wish …
  • … was anxious on occasion to disprove such associations. In a letter to Lyell of 21 August 1861, …
  • … and to Gray, 17 Sept. [1861] (DCP-LETT-3256]. Simms’s letter to Darwin, 14 Sept. 1874 (DCP-LETT-9637 …

Dramatisation script

Summary

Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007

Matches: 16 hits

  • … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
  • … 11   My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my …
  • … be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy it… His letter does strike me as most uncommonly …
  • … on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year …
  • … a brace of letters 25   I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received …
  • … might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing …
  • … Atlantic. HOOKER:   28   Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which …
  • … notions of natural Selection and would see whether it or my letter bears any date, I should be very …
  • … 55   My good dear friend, forgive me. This is a trumpery letter influenced by trumpery feelings. …
  • … do a good deal to secure it. Darwin passes Gray’s letter to Hooker with a cringe. …
  • … full relief from all anxiety. Darwin shows Gray’s letter to Hooker. DARWIN:  …
  • … back. JANE GRAY:   189   [Jane Gray. Letter to her sister. Fall, 1868.] Mr Darwin …
  • … DARWIN:   192   My dear Gray. When I look over your letter[s] … and see all the things you …
  • … me, and yet was most anxious till two days ago, when I got a letter from him in excellent spirits. …
  • … TO GRAY AT THIS TIME 189 JANE LORING GRAY, LETTER TO HER SISTER, 1868 or 1869 …
  • … A GRAY 3 AUGUST 1871 201  TO A GRAY 3 JUNE [1874] 202  FROM A GRAY 16 …

3.18 Elliott and Fry photos, c.1869-1871

Summary

< Back to Introduction The leading photographic firm of Elliott and Fry seems to have portrayed Darwin at Down House on several occasions. In November 1869 Darwin told A. B. Meyer, who wanted photographs of both him and Wallace for a German…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … 1869, and which in summer 1871: the indication in Darwin’s letter, quoted above, that one of the …
  • … 1871, but dates others (still with the spotted waistcoat) to 1874.   Elliott and Fry were …
  • … Table in November 1876. The Pictorial World of 6 June 1874 published a wood engraving which …
  • … taken in summer 1869 and summer 1871, possible also in 1874. 
 computer-readable date c …
  • … 140.1.9). Wood engraving in The Pictorial World (6 June 1874), p. 228 (DAR 140.1.3). Another …

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: 28 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 ). …
  • … Mivart made a slanderous attack on George Darwin in late 1874 in an anonymous article, which …
  • … 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 …
  • … 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 ). …
  • … 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 ) …
  • … request, with the ‘awful job’ of informing the author ( letter to G. G. Stokes, 21 April [1876] ). …
  • … thought the paper was ‘not worthy of being read ever’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 28 January 1876 …
  • … to William Thiselton-Dyer on 26 April that Tait’s letter about his ‘accursed paper’ had quite …
  • … minded Horace, however, who was the first to type a letter, telling George on 1 May (in the only …
  • … Henry Lewes for an article on the snail’s heart and a letter to Nature on the use of the …
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