From Ernst Haeckel 9 February 1878
Summary
Sends birthday wishes.
Discusses his work on the Challenger [expedition] Radiolaria.
| Author: | Ernst Philipp August (Ernst) Haeckel |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 71 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11348 |
To Martin Beckhard 10 February [1878]
Summary
Thanks him for works by Lazarus Geiger [probably Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Menschheit (1871)
and Der Ursprung der Sprache, 2d ed. (1878)].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Martin Adolf (Martin) Beckhard |
| Date: | 10 Feb [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 73 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11349 |
To John Price 10 February [1878]
Summary
Thanks JP for congratulations on LL.D. [awarded by Cambridge University].
Comments on Rudolf Virchow’s book [Die Freiheit der Wissenschaft im modernen Staat (1877)].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Price |
| Date: | 10 Feb [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 147: 280 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11350 |
From Carl Kraus 10 February 1878
Summary
Thanks for photograph.
Sends birthday greetings.
Regrets CD has not lately published in Kosmos.
Requests photograph of CD’s family.
| Author: | Carl (Charles) Kraus |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 169: 103 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11351 |
To Raphael Meldola 12 February [1878]
Summary
Thanks RM for his interesting paper ["Entomological notes bearing on evolution", Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 5th ser. 1 (1878): 155].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Raphael Meldola |
| Date: | 12 Feb [1878] |
| Classmark: | Oxford University Museum of Natural History (Hope Entomological Collections 1350: Hope/Westwood Archive, Darwin folder) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11353 |
To Ernst Haeckel 12 February [1878]
Summary
Thanks EH for birthday greetings.
Mentions his work on movement of plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Ernst Philipp August (Ernst) Haeckel |
| Date: | 12 Feb [1878] |
| Classmark: | Ernst-Haeckel-Haus (Bestand A-Abt. 1: 1–52/44 [9897]) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11354 |
From W. D. Fox 12 February [1878]
Summary
Congratulates CD on his birthday.
WDF has been suffering from bronchitis.
| Author: | William Darwin Fox |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Feb [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 164: 202 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11355 |
From J. D. Hooker 14 February 1878
Summary
Asks opinion of his proposal to Bartholomew Price to translate and publish C. K. Sprengel [Das entdeckte Geheimniss (1793)] and Hermann Müller [Die Befruchtung der Blumen (1873)] in one volume.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 104: 113 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11356 |
From G. M. Asher 14 February 1878
Summary
Has forwarded CD’s request for wheat specimens to Mr Galkine-Wrasky, Governor of Saratoff in Russia. Asks CD to send his thanks to the Governor and to allow GMA to visit Down to explain the specimens when they arrive.
| Author: | Georg Michael Asher |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: 119 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11357 |
To W. D. Fox 14 February 1878
Summary
CD and Frank Darwin hard at work on physiology of plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | 14 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | University of British Columbia Library, Rare Books and Special Collections (Pearce/Darwin Fox collection RBSC-ARC-1721-1-74) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11358 |
From James Houston 14 February 1878
Summary
Praise for Descent with slight criticism of CD’s opinion that racial divergence occurred after the continents were settled.
| Author: | James Lennox Houston |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 273 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11359 |
To J. B. Thayer 14 February 1878
Summary
Acknowledges safe return of Chauncey Wright’s letters. Has no objection to JBT’s publishing extracts from CD’s letters to Wright. [See 11338.]
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | James Bradley Thayer |
| Date: | 14 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | Professor Robert J. Barney PhD (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11359A |
To J. D. Hooker 15 February 1878
Summary
Supports idea to translate C. K. Sprengel, but opposes publishing it together with H. Müller because this would raise price of Müller’s useful book.
Confirms JDH’s observation that only tip of cabbage radicle shows geotropism.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 15 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 95: 467 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11360 |
From G. M. Asher 16 February 1878
Summary
Apologises for taking liberty of request made in previous letter.
Tells CD ways in which large box of wheat specimens might be shipped from St Petersburg.
| Author: | Georg Michael Asher |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: 120 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11361 |
To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 16 February [1878]
Summary
Wants Trifolium resupinatum for "bloom" experiment.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Turner Thiselton-Dyer |
| Date: | 16 Feb [1878] |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Thiselton-Dyer, W. T., Letters from Charles Darwin 1873–81: 110–11) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11362 |
From Gaston de Saporta 16 February 1878
Summary
Discusses the difficulty of reconstructing angiosperm phylogeny.
Discovery of polar fossil plants helps explain migrations.
Hooker has identification of GdeS’s Permian fossil.
| Author: | Louis Charles Joseph Gaston (Gaston) de Saporta, comte de Saporta |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 35 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11363 |
To M. N. Galkin-Vraskoi 16 February 1878
Summary
CD has been informed by G. M. [Asher] that G-W has undertaken the shipment of "Froment des Steppes" for examination. He is most grateful. [See 11361.]
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Mikhail Nikolaevich Galkin-Vraskoi (Михаил Николаевич Галкин-Враской) |
| Date: | 16 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts (RGALI), Moscow (fund 1347, dossier 3, file 138) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11363A |
To Asa Gray 17 February [1878]
Summary
Heterostyly in Linum perenne. Believes the American form may be a distinct species.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 17 Feb [1878] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (129) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11364 |
From T. M. Reade 18 February 1878
Summary
TMR believes rate of limestone formation is same now as in past.
He expects his address [of 10 Oct 1876] on geological time [Proc. Liverpool Geol. Soc. 3 (1878): 211–35], which contradicts William Thomson’s view of the earth’s age, to appear soon.
| Author: | Thomas Mellard Reade |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 29 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11365 |
From Richard Randolph 19 and 20 February 1878
Summary
A Quaker essayist and poet who seeks to reconcile science and religion sends some samples of his work.
| Author: | Richard Randolph |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 19 and 20 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 201: 31 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11366 |
| Darwin, C. R. | (304) |
| Darwin, Francis | (24) |
| Torbitt, James | (16) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (12) |
| Meldola, Raphael | (10) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (258) |
| Darwin, Francis | (34) |
| Thiselton-Dyer, W. T. | (23) |
| Meldola, Raphael | (17) |
| Romanes, G. J. | (17) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (562) |
| Darwin, Francis | (58) |
| Thiselton-Dyer, W. T. | (30) |
| Meldola, Raphael | (27) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (26) |
Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
Matches: 17 hits
- … is to lessen injury to leaves from radiation In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his …
- … Hooker, ‘or as far as I know any scientific man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1878] ). …
- … plants.’ Movement in plants In the spring of 1878, Darwin started to focus on the …
- … or arched.… Almost all seedlings come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). …
- … when he finds out that he missed sensitiveness of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] …
- … Darwin complained. ‘I am ashamed at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). …
- … accursed German language: Sachs is very kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June …
- … have nobody to talk to, about my work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] …
- … but it is horrid not having you to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). …
- … determine whether they had chlorophyll, Francis reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 …
- … ‘There is one machine we must have’, Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July …
- … ‘He seems to me to jump to conclusions rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] …
- … the pot-plant every day & never the bedded out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July …
- … ‘I have borrowed Cieselski & read him,’ he reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [22 June 1878 …
- … books & red-wine which is here the cure for all evils’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [24 and 25 …
- … is very sweet & pretty,’ he added a week later ( letter to Francis Darwin, 14 July [1878] ). …
- … in a booboo, whereas I ought to have said a gee-gee’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 17 July [1878] ). …
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: 6 hits
- … this editor’s favourites, that always brings a smile, is a letter from Fritz Müller written 5 …
- … 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. …
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,…
Power of movement in plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Family experiments Darwin was an active and engaged father during his children's youth, involving them in his experiments and even occasionally using them as observational subjects. When his children…
Matches: 6 hits
- … its transmitted effects Letters Letter Pack: Power of movement in plants …
- … are in danger of compromising their character. Letter 10517 - Darwin to Francis …
- … about Francis’ experimental technique. Letter 11586 - Darwin to Francis Darwin, 2 …
- … been made, but that they would be worth making. Letter 11628 - Francis Darwin to …
- … remarking that he was “too floppy to work”. Letter 12152 - Francis Darwin to Darwin, …
- … latest experiment on movement in plants. By the time this letter was written, he and Darwin were …
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] …
- … experiments. Francis went to Germany in the summer of 1878 for more experience in physiological …
- … this to you’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [1 August 1878] ). The last years also saw Darwin …
- … and Earthworms , pp. 221–8). Darwin resumed contact in 1878. On receiving Darwin’s letter, …
- … at wormbs”’ ( letter from Mary Johnson, [after 22 July 1878] ). Edition complete …
Photograph album of German and Austrian scientists
Summary
The album was sent to Darwin to mark his birthday on 12 February 1877 by the civil servant Emil Rade, and contained 165 portraits of German and Austrian scientists. The work was lavishly produced and bound in blue velvet with metal embossing. Its ornate…
Matches: 6 hits
- … is by far the greatest honour which I have ever received ( Letter to Ernst Haeckel, 16 February …
- … to them when first laid before the scientific world.— ( Letter from Leonard Blomefield, 12 March …
- … which I don’t feel myself worth to give you ( Letter from J. V. Carus, 22 March 1877 ) …
- … man is to my understanding his scientific work. ( Letter from C. G. Semper, 26 April 1877 ) …
- … east Bohemia, sent Darwin birthday wishes a year too late in 1878 and pleaded to have his photograph …
- … Sir, will kindly incorporate it in the German album ( Letter from Carl Kraus , 10 February 1878 …
3.8 Leonard Darwin, interior photo
Summary
< Back to Introduction Leonard Darwin, who created the distinctive image of his father sitting on the verandah at Down House, also portrayed him as a melancholy philosopher. His head, brightly lit from above, emerges from the enveloping darkness; he…
Matches: 7 hits
- … when he took his photographs. This one must be before August 1878, when it was reproduced as a …
- … copies in the Darwin archive say the photograph was taken in 1878. The latter date is accepted by …
- … above, it would need to have been early in that year. A letter which Leonard wrote to his father …
- … of the photograph at Down House that he took it in 1878. It was this photograph which …
- … date of creation undated; probably early 1878 computer-readable date c.1878-01-01 to c …
- … DAR 186.34 (DCP-LETT-11484), Leonard Darwin’s letter to his father, enclosing unidentified …
- … Cambridge University Press, 1909), p. 47, no. 252. Rich’s letter to the Darwin family mentioning …
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: 24 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 …
- … relationship with Murray on the outcome ( enclosure to letter from G. H. Darwin, 6 [August] 1874 ) …
- … is refused I’m really no worse off than if I had sent my letter direct to the Editor & it had …
- … M. M. Radovanović, 17 September 1874 ), which appeared in 1878. Books and articles were …
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
- … had considered combining the works in a single volume ( letter to J. V. Carus, 7 February 1875 ). …
- … son Francis worked in this laboratory in the summers of 1878 and 1879, he encountered some of the …
- … , a plant that exhibited all three types of movement ( letter from R. I. Lynch, [before 28 July …
- … Movement in plants , p. 179. In May 1878, Darwin had pointed out the importance of …
- … his experiments on the function of bloom. By December 1878, Darwin was thinking about the …
- … 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 ). …
Darwin and the Church
Summary
The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It shows another side of the man who is more often remembered for his personal struggles with faith, or for his role in large-scale controversies over the…
Matches: 22 hits
- … & I can see it even through a grove of Palms.—’ (letter to Caroline Darwin, 25–6 April [1832] …
- … wrote to the contrary: ‘I am sorry to see in your last letter that you still look forward to the …
- … near the British Museum or some other learned place’ (letter from E. A. Darwin, 18 August [1832] …
- … it is a sort of scene I never ought to think about—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, [9–12 August] 1835 ). …
- … However, what remains is cordial; in the first extant letter of the correspondence, Darwin wrote to …
- … (a local charity), which he administered from 1848 to 1869 (letter to J. B. Innes, [8 May 1848] …
- … he would make an excellent Guardian [of the Poor Fund]’ (letter to J. W. Lubbock, 28 March [1854] …
- … club the use of his own lawn for its meetings (Moore 1985; letter to J. S. Henslow, 17 January …
- … the family’s dog, Quiz, when he moved away from Down (letter to J. B. Innes, 15 December [1861] ) …
- … was considered to be a cross between a cow and a red deer (letter from J. B. Innes, 7 December …
- … ancestor. Please think of my request favourably—’ (letter from J. B. Innes, 26 May 1871 ). Indeed …
- … and leaves Moses to take care of himself. Letter from J. B. Innes, 1 December 1878 …
- … take care of the financial complications he left behind (letter from S. J. O’H. Horsman, 2 June …
- … seemed to have made off with the church’s organ fund (letter to J. B. Innes, 15 June [1868] ). So …
- … by Horsman relating to the Down school and organ funds (letter to J. B. Innes, 13 January 1871 ). …
- … Dissenters’ chapel, rather than the Down parish church (letter to J. B. Innes, 1 December 1868 ). …
- … in the Parish, but preaches, I hear, very dull sermons’ (letter to J. B. Innes, 18 January [1871] …
- … capital testimonials to his wife’s qualifications’ (letter from J. B. Innes, 5 June 1871 ). …
- … support, and presented their answer to the School Committee (letter to Down School Board, [after …
- … of letters to both men, vainly seeking to reconcile them (letter from John Lubbock, 5 April [1875] …
- … During the reign of Ffinden, there is an interesting letter from Darwin to the evangelist J. W. C. …
- … do not know that there is a drunkard left in the village’ (letter to J. W. C. Fegan, [December …
Dining at Down House
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's Domestic Life While Darwin is best remembered for his scientific accomplishments, he greatly valued and was strongly influenced by his domestic life. Darwin's…
Matches: 10 hits
- … and Conclusion”). Letters Letter Packet: Dining at Down House …
- … ill health began on his Beagle voyage. In this letter (written amidst the excitement of South …
- … difficulties of traveling on horseback while ill. Letter 465 —Emma Wedgwood (Emma Darwin …
- … making himself agreeable” for her sake. Letter 3626 —Emma Darwin to T. G. Appleton, 28 …
- … to thank Appleton for gifts sent from America. Letter 3597 —Darwin to Joseph Dalton …
- … to Henrietta Darwin, [5 September 1868] In this chatty letter to her daughter Henrietta, who …
- … typical nineteenth-century luncheon fare. Letter 8296 —Darwin to Francis Galton, 21 …
- … Leonard Darwin to George Darwin, 8 February [1878] Darwin’s youngest son, Leonard (Lenny), …
- … who was then a professor at Cambridge University. This letter is full of news about the political …
- … his letters. They were particularly intrigued by this letter written from Emma to Charles before …
Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots
Summary
Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…
Matches: 28 hits
- … his publishers, he warned that it was ‘dry as dust’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 9 September 1879 ). …
- … turned out, alas, very dull & has disappointed me much’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 15 [June …
- … home again’, he fretted, just days before his departure ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [after 26 …
- … many blessings, was finding old age ‘a dismal time’ ( letter to Henry Johnson, 24 September 1879 ) …
- … wrinkles one all over like a baked pear’ ( enclosure in letter from R. W. Dixon, 20 December 1879 …
- … itself, or gone some other way round?’ At least the last letter of 1879 contained a warmer note and …
- … office to complete Horace’s marriage settlement ( letter from W. M. Hacon, 31 December 1879 ). …
- … but they were ‘as nice and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ) …
- … on your life’s work, which is crowned with glory’ ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 9 February 1879 ). …
- … to wish Darwin a ‘long and serene evening of life’. This letter crossed with one from Darwin, …
- … the statement ‘In the beginning was carbon’ ( letter from Hermann Müller, 14 February 1879 ). …
- … as the ‘organ of “uncultivated materialism”’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 2 June 1879 ]). …
- … up the glory & would please Francis’, he pointed out ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 13 March [1879 …
- … wholly & shamefully ignorant of my grandfathers life’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 14 March 1879 …
- … known philosopher and poet’ ( Correspondence vol. 1, letter from Francis Beaufort to Robert …
- … these things with the when & the where, & the who—’ ( letter from V. H. Darwin, 28 May …
- … paternal grandparents thought ‘perfect in every way’ ( letter from E. A. Wheler, 25 March 1879 ). …
- … heard of him ‘constantly, & always with pride’ ( letter from Reginald Darwin, 29 March 1879 ). …
- … essay might end up ‘interfering with each other’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 27 March 1879 ). Darwin …
- … made such an introduction ‘almost indispensable’ ( letter from Ernst Krause, 7 June 1879 ). Darwin …
- … everything into ridicule. He hates scientific men’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 14 May 1879 ). …
- … must be ‘in some degree interesting to the public’ ( letter to Reginald Darwin, 10 April [1879] ). …
- … ‘very tastefully and well, and with little fatigue’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 , and …
- … ‘more perplexed than ever about life of D r . D’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 12 July [1879] ). …
- … telling, and he regretted going beyond his ‘tether’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 5 June 1879 …
- … never again to be tempted out of his ‘proper work’ ( letter to James Paget, 14 July 1879 ). At …
- … of the tips of radicles, the embryonic roots of seedlings ( letter to Francis Darwin, 16 June [1879 …
- … cross-fertilisation, had first contacted Darwin in 1876. By 1878, Darwin was sufficiently impressed …
Darwin’s Photographic Portraits
Summary
Darwin was a photography enthusiast. This is evident not only in his use of photography for the study of Expression and Emotions in Man and Animal, but can be witnessed in his many photographic portraits and in the extensive portrait correspondence that…
Matches: 6 hits
- … to the copy he had sent five years previously in his 1860 letter to Hooker , Darwin exclaimed …
- … gaze. These photographs were rarely included in a Darwin letter, save for perhaps a very few close …
- … taken for public consumption. Responding to a letter from a German translator – Adolph …
- … which you do me the honour to wish to possess.” As the letter and photograph had to travel from Down …
- … than a postman’s bag. Image: Charles Darwin, 1878, Leonard Darwin, Dar 225:119, ©Cambridge …
- … on a wicker chair. Image: Charles Darwin, 1878, Leonard Darwin, Dar 225:1, ©Cambridge …
1.13 Louisa Nash, drawing
Summary
< Back to Introduction This sketch portrait of Darwin was drawn by Louisa A‘hmuty Nash as a memento of her friendship with the Darwin family and a token of her unbounded admiration and affection for Darwin himself. She and her husband, the lawyer…
Matches: 6 hits
- … charitable involvement in local community projects. A letter from Emma Darwin to Revd John Brodie …
- … tragedy that prompted the couple to emigrate to Oregon in 1878. In a letter to Wallis Nash deploring …
- … ‘L.A’hN’. date of creation c.1873–1878 computer-readable date 1873-01-01 to …
- … indian ink washes references and bibliography letter from Emma Darwin to Revd. Innes, 24 …
- … A’hmuty Nash (her middle name is wrongly given as Ann). Letter of 26 April 1978 from Freeman to the …
- … of Nash’s drawing of Darwin, and the Registrar’s letter of thanks; both are kept in registered …
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: 4 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 …
- … A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this letter has been found, but Darwin had long …
- … A. W. Rimpau, 10 December 1877 ). By the end of February 1878, Murray was ready to print the second …
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 ). …
- … 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 …
- … anyone who wrote a lot, but the novelty soon wore off and in 1878 the machine was given away. …
- … Henry Lewes for an article on the snail’s heart and a letter to Nature on the use of the …
2.23 Hope Pinker statue, Oxford Museum
Summary
< Back to Introduction Henry Richard Hope Pinker’s life-size statue of Darwin was installed in the Oxford University Museum on 14 June 1899. It was the latest in a series of statues of great scientific thinkers, the ‘Founders and Improvers of Natural…
Matches: 7 hits
- … mimicry among insects. Alfred Russel Wallace, in a letter to his daughter dated 27 November 1896, …
- … lap. It compensated him for the rebuff he had received in 1878, when his proposal to create a bust …
- … they were ‘quite common place without being vulgar’. A letter in the Hope Pinker collection of …
- … in Caen limestone references and bibliography Letter from William Darwin to his father …
- … of letters, Royal Academy archive, HRHP/LPM/UVW31). Undated letter from H.E. Luxmoore of Eton …
- … Selection (London, Paris, Melbourne: Cassell, 1896). Letter from Poulton to Acland, 25 Nov. 1896, …
- … 2, 1897 ), proof copy, OUM archive, Box 1, HM 1874–1902. Letter, dated ‘Oxford, Dec. 10’ [c. 1896 …
3.14 Julia Margaret Cameron, photos
Summary
< Back to Introduction In the summer of 1868 Darwin took a holiday on the Isle of Wight with his immediate family, his brother Erasmus, and his friend Joseph Hooker. The family’s accommodation at Freshwater was rented from the photographer Julia…
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: 4 hits
- … become her partner for the next 25 years, until his death in 1878. Lewes was already married but …
- … 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] ). …
'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: 15 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 …
- … to the RSPCA in 1852 for working horses with sore necks (see letter from Emma Darwin to William …
- … threatened to report a similar case of cruelty in 1866 (see letter to [Local landowner], [1866], …
- … 1854 to 1861, in 1863 and 1864, from 1871 to 1875, and in 1878 and 1880 (CD’s Classed account books …
- … , 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 …
