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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

  • Re: DesignAdaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and othersby Craig
  • as the creator of this dramatisation, and that of the Darwin Correspondence Project to be identified
  • quotes from the correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton
  • read the words of the following: Actor 1Asa Gray Actor 2Charles Darwin
  • are described by his widow Jane the final days of Professor Asa Gray, Harvard Botanist. A series of
  • of the Life of Darwin. At this time in his life, Asa Gray is in his late 70s. JANE
  • his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention
  • 11   My dear HookerWhat 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 itHis 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
  • the Origin of Species…’ FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH: 1857-1858 In which Gray and Hooker
  • paragraph, in which I quote and differ from you[r178   doctrine that each variation has been
  • ARTS AND SCIENCES, PROCEEDINGS XVII, 1882 4  C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 10 MAY 1848
  • JUNE 1855 20  C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 1 JANUARY 1857 21  A GRAY TO C DARWIN, …
  • MARCH 1862 35  C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 1 JANUARY 1857 36  A GRAY TO C DARWIN

Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'

Summary

In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…

Matches: 19 hits

  • On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that heBegan by Lyells advice  writing
  • more for the sake of priority than anything elseDarwin was reluctant to squeeze his expansive
  • Natural selection . Determined as he was to publish, Darwin nevertheless still felt cautious
  • joined in 1856 by Hookers friend the American botanist Asa Gray and then by the specialist in
  • in London. Natural Selection Not all of Darwins manuscript on species has been
  • of information about his preoccupations during 1856 and 1857. They reveal little noticed aspects of
  • of pigeons, poultry, and other domesticated animals. As Darwin explained to Lyell, his studies, …
  • an illustration of how selection might work in nature ( letter from Charles Lyell, 12 May 1856, n. …
  • the real structure of varieties’, he remarked to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 September [1856
  • … ‘& I mean to make my Book as perfect as ever I can.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 8 February [1857] …
  • aspects of the question. Did naturalised plants, he asked Asa Gray, vary in the United States ( …
  • the alpine plants pretty effectuallycomplained Darwin in 1857 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [2 May
  • and different ways of working, in letters to Hooker, Gray, and Watson. The results seemed to
  • John Lubbock that his method of calculation was wrong ( letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1857] ). …
  • tend to show a separation of the sexes, a proposal that Asa Gray and Hooker confirmed during the
  • experiments on plants through the summers of 1856 and 1857, particularly with garden vegetables like
  • …  not a bird be killed (by hawk, lightning, apoplexy, hail &c) with seeds in crop, & it would
  • and the preparation of his manuscript ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 1 May 1857 ) seem innocuous and
  • views to explain them in explicit detail in a long letter to Asa Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 5

The "wicked book": Origin at 157

Summary

Origin is 157 years old.  (Probably) the most famous book in science was published on 24 November 1859.  To celebrate we have uploaded hundreds of new images of letters, bringing the total number you can look at here to over 9000 representing more than…

Matches: 8 hits

  • book appeared.   You can now see examples of letters to Darwin from nearly 250 different people, and
  • Lyell , and Joseph Hooker , the two men who arranged for Darwins and Wallaces ideas to be made
  • … ’s appearance, but there is a fascinating scrap from 1857 comparing his views on species to
  • the less well-known scientific collaborators who became Darwin's correspondents, Mary Treat
  • was co-opted as an observer in WalesLucy Wedgwood , Darwins neice, was one of those who
  • of water thrown over me on rising William Darwin Fox , Charless cousin and another
  • W. T. Thiselton-Dyer George Cupples H. C. Watson J. J. Weir H. W. Bates
  • Frederick Smith A. G. Butler John Lubbock R. I. Lynch J. B. Burdon Sanderson

Scientific Networks

Summary

Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…

Matches: 12 hits

  • … and colonial authorities. In the nineteenth-century, letter writing was one of the most important …
  • … the networks of others, such as Joseph Dalton Hooker and Asa Gray, who were at leading scientific …
  • … when strong institutional structures were largely absent. Darwin had a small circle of scientific …
  • … in times of uncertainty, controversy, or personal loss. Letter writing was not only a means of …
  • … contact. His correspondence with Joseph Hooker and Asa Gray illustrates how close personal ties …
  • … section contains two sets of letters. The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. …
  • … and he is curious about Hooker’s thoughts. Letter 729 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., …
  • … to Hooker “it is like confessing a murder”. Letter 736 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • … species to wide-ranging genera. Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. …
  • … species. Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. R., 22 May 1855 Gray recalled …
  • Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 20 July [1857] Darwin writes a challenging letter
  • … of the ephippium”, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 147 (1857): 79–100]. Darwin and Müller …

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: 19 hits

  • … |  Editors and critics  |  Assistants Darwins correspondence helps bring to light a
  • community. Here is a selection of letters exchanged between Darwin and his workforce of women
  • Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August
  • silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to
  • 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
  • her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L to Darwin, [8 & 9
  • Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] Darwin
  • Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 May 1870] …
  • from Calcutta. Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 July 1862] Darwin
  • the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9
  • Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris
  • Lychnis diurna. Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] …
  • lawn. Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin
  • 25, 26 March & 1 April 1864] Charles Wright tells Asa Gray of fieldwork he has
  • Letter 1701  - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris
  • 2055  - Langton, E. to Darwin,  F., [21 February 1857] Darwins nephew, Edmund, …
  • Letter 2069  - Tenant, J. to Darwin, [31 March 1857] James Tenant, keeper of the
  • garden ”. Letter 6083  - Casparay, J. X. R. to Darwin, [2 April 1868] …

What is an experiment?

Summary

Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…

Matches: 22 hits

  • Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute
  • was of course kept secret and worked upon for decades, as Darwin collectedall kinds of facts’ …
  • and acquire specimens for his own use. A portrait of Darwin in 1849 shows him with a specimen
  • rather than experimentation. According to this view, Darwin was aphilosophical naturalistwhose
  • than morphological affinity. The two-fold division of Darwins science between observation
  • authorities who could do the more advanced work of theory. Darwin contributed to this movement, …
  • of institutional heads like Joseph Dalton Hooker and Asa Gray. Darwin adopted a perspective of great
  • publications. The final picture that we then have of Darwin is that of a gentleman naturalist, able
  • a tradition on the wane, and it was gradually eclipsed in Darwins own lifetime by the more
  • is the sharp distinction between observation and theory. Darwin would be the first to defend the
  • men, with a curb on make far the best observers’ ( letter to C. H. L. Woodd , 4 March 1850 ). He
  • speculation there is no good & original observation’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 December
  • that were made to further substantiate evolutionary theory. Darwin was also greatly heartened by the
  • a highly controlled space with specialized equipment. In Darwins day this was by no means the case. …
  • sometimes to refer to naturally occurring phenomena. Darwin clearly regarded many of his domestic
  • miniature (small plots of land). Experimentation in Darwins day was not the monopoly of
  • and poultry fanciers, landowners, architects, and writers. Darwin sought the advice of an engineer
  • Scott). In his choice of correspondents and collaborators, Darwin valued patience, caution, and
  • and Michael Foster. A final feature to note about Darwins experimental life is the pleasure
  • … ‘I have become very fond of little experiments’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [21 March 1857] ; …
  • … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But
  • at Science … & am never happy except when at work’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 25 December [1880

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: 19 hits

  • 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working
  • dispute over an anonymous review that attacked the work of Darwins son George dominated the second
  • and traveller Alexander von Humboldts 105th birthday, Darwin obliged with a reflection on his debt
  • 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
  • Andone 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] …
  • Descent  was published in November 1874 ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Though
  • on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). …
  • in a few hours dissolve the hardest cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. …
  • whether at theclose of the putrefaction of flesh, skin &c, any substance is produced before
  • details of an Australian variety of sundew ( letter from T. C. Copland, 23 June 1874 ). …
  • it was a hoax till I came to the woman’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 3 June [1874] ). Response to
  • F. S. B. François de Chaumont, 29 April 1874 ). Asa Gray forwarded a letter from the
  • seen in bank with enormous tips to his ears ( letter from Asa Gray, 12 May 1874 ). The
  • Sharpe for promotion at the British Museum ( letter to R. B. Sharpe, 24 November [1874] ).  He
  • head that M r  Spencers terms of equilibration &c always bother me & make everything less

Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments

Summary

The year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend and supporter; Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and father of Darwin’s friend…

Matches: 25 hits

  • In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwins mind was the writing of  The variation of animals and
  • letters on climbing plants to make another paper. Darwin also submitted a manuscript of his
  • protégé, John Scott, who was now working in India. Darwins transmutation theory continued to
  • Argyll, appeared in the religious weeklyGood Words . Darwin received news of an exchange of
  • Butler, and, according to Butler, the bishop of Wellington. Darwins theory was discussed at an
  • in the  GardenersChronicleAt the end of the year, Darwin was elected an honorary member of
  • year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend of
  • The death of Hugh Falconer Darwins first letter to Hooker of 1865 suggests that the family
  • having all the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • had failed to include among the grounds of the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus
  • his letters to Darwin, and Darwin responded warmly: ‘Your letter is by far the grandest eulogium
  • may well rest content that I have not laboured in vain’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 6 January [1865] …
  • always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 February [1865] …
  • for our griefs & pains: these alone are unalloyed’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 February 1865
  • gas.— Sic transit gloria mundi, with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). …
  • … & that almost exclusively bread & meat’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 August [1865] ). By
  • on 2 February, and in April Darwin wrote to his friend Asa Gray, a botanist in the United States, …
  • be an unnatural parent, for it is your child’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 19 April 1865 ; Darwin noted
  • Darwin had received a copy of Müllers bookFür Darwin , a study of the Crustacea with reference
  • … … inheritance, reversion, effects of use & disuse &c’, and which he intended to publish in
  • Benjamin Dann Walsh in the Midwestern United States, and Asa Gray wrote a long review ofClimbing
  • He wrote to Hooker, ‘I doubt whether you or I or any one c d  do any good in healing this breach. …
  • Hookers behalf, ‘He asks if you saw the article of M r . Croll in the last Reader on the
  • How to manage it , a love-story set in the Indian Mutiny of 1857 to 1858 ( letter to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … ‘As for your thinking that you do not deserve the C[opley] Medal,’ he rebuked Hooker, ‘that I

Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin

Summary

The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…

Matches: 18 hits

  • 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwins life. From a quiet rural existence
  • he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This
  • the composition and publication, in November 1859, of Darwins major treatise  On the origin of
  • …  exceeded my wildest hopes By the end of 1859, Darwins work was being discussed in
  • has  infinitely  exceeded my wildest hopes.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). …
  • The 'big book' The year 1858 opened with Darwin hard at work preparing hisbig
  • completed his ninth chapter, on hybridism, on 29 December 1857, Darwin began in January 1858 to
  • to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
  • on variation under nature. Having learned in the summer of 1857 that his method for deriving
  • new to the experts. Darwin was delighted to hear from Asa Gray that he was not aware of such a
  • as evidence for what actually occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and  …
  • throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have
  • work—& that I confess made me a little lowbut I c d . have borne it, for I have the
  • his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
  • of his theory, along with an abstract of his views sent to Asa Gray in September 1857. The
  • points in Darwins work with which they disagreed. Both Gray and Huxley, who were to become Darwins
  • it is impossible that men like Lyell, Hooker, Huxley, H. C. Watson, Ramsay &c would change their
  • to note that in the list of corrections Darwin sent to Asa Gray for a possible American edition, the

Before Origin: the ‘big book’

Summary

Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…

Matches: 23 hits

  • Darwin begansorting notes for Species Theoryon 9 September 1854, the
  • day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles ( Darwin's Journal ). He had long
  • to paper in a more substantial essay. By this point, Darwin had also admitted to his close friend
  • he acknowledged, ‘ like confessing a murder ’. While Darwin recognised he had far more work to do
  • reaction to the transmutation theory it contained convinced Darwin that further evidence for the
  • of Vestiges to him. It took another ten years before Darwin felt ready to start collating his
  • six months before he started sorting his species notes, Darwin had worried that the process would
  • I shall feel, if I when I get my notes together on species &c &c, the whole thing explodes
  • to the entire natural history community by sending a letter to the GardenersChronicle , …
  • years (!) ago’, he wrote to the American botanist Asa Gray in July 1857, it occurred to me
  • geograph. distribution, geological historyaffinities &c &c &c.. And it seems to me, …
  • staggered about the permanence of species.— By 1857, Darwin had found the confidence to
  • … ‘many misgivings about the definiteness of species’, Gray expressed his interest in Darwins work
  • so favourable. His old friend Hugh Falconer, he confessed to Gray, ‘attacked me most vigorously, but
  • in me, when I ask you not to mention my doctrine’, he told Gray, ‘ the reason is, if anyone, like
  • And this much acceleration I owe to you. ’ In February 1857, the rate of this acceleration was
  • the way facts fall into groups ’, he told Fox in February 1857. Trials of strength
  • in theory of the descent of species ’. In December 1857, Darwin had expressed his satisfaction that
  • there is no good & original observation ’. In 1857, Darwin recorded in his journal that
  • varieties differ from each other’, he told Wallace in May 1857, before statingI am now preparing
  • it adequately. On 18 June 1858, Darwin received a now lost letter from Wallace enclosing his essay
  • I had, however, quite resigned myself & had written half a letter to Wallace to give up all
  • and a half chapters were edited and published in 1975 by R. C. Stauffer under the title Charles

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: 24 hits

  • In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to
  • … (DAR 119) opens with five pages of text copied from Notebook C and carries on through 1851; the
  • used these notebooks extensively in dating and annotating Darwins letters; the full transcript
  • … *128). For clarity, the transcript does not record Darwins alterations. The spelling and
  • book had been consulted. Those cases where it appears that Darwin made a genuine deletion have been
  • to be Read [DAR *119: Inside Front Cover] C. Darwin June 1 st . 1838
  • … [DAR *119: 2v.] Whites regular gradation in man [C. White 1799] Lindleys
  • 8 vo  p 181 [Latreille 1819]. see p. 17 Note Book C. for reference to authors about E. Indian
  • of the Caledonian Horticultural Society ]: Asa Gray & Torrey have published Botany of
  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824
  • 183440]: In Portfolio ofabstracts34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm
  • Gleanings in Nat. Hist in Knowsly. L d . Derby [J. E. Gray 184650] ( Royal. Soc ) many facts on
  • M rs  Frys Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … [Fellows 1839] Catherine 48 Life of Collins R.A. [Collins 1848] Phases of Faith
  • Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleays letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • 1719] Bub. Dodington Mem. [Bubb 1784] Skimmed Grays Poems. life, & letters [T. …
  • 112 Jukes. “Students Manual of Geology” [Jukes 1857]— published a few years ago, good on
  • Lucas lHeredite Naturelle [Lucas 184750] 1857 Nov. 15. Andersson Lake Gnami
  • Thackeray English Humourists [Thackeray 1853] 1857 Jan. Cockburn life of Selby [ …
  • 1848Memoirs of the life of William   Collins, Esq., R.A.  2 vols. London.  *119: 23; 119: …
  • by Richard Owen.  Vol. 4 of  The works of John Hunter, F.R.S. with notes . Edited by James F. …
  • Robert. 1843Memoirs of the life of John   Constable, R.A., composed chiefly of his letters. …
  • Peacock, George. 1855Life of Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.S.  London.  *128: 172; 128: 21
  • 3 vols. London119: 21b Torrey, John and Gray, Asa. 183843A flora of North   …