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Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles

Summary

Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…

Matches: 22 hits

  • Species theory In November 1845, Charles Darwin wrote to his friend and confidant Joseph
  • hurrah for my species-work’ ( Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November
  • activity. There are, for example, twenty lengthy letters to Charles Lyell from these years and a
  • William Herschel, to write the chapter on geology ( letter to J. F. W. Herschel, 4 February [1848] …
  • by Darwin on the use of microscopes on board ship ( see letter to Richard Owen, [26 March 1848] ). …
  • carefully re-examined his own thesis in letters to Milne, Lyell, and Robert Chambers, and, in
  • asked for it to be destroyed. Only the draft of Darwins letter remains ( letter to the  Scotsman
  • that his original fieldwork wastime thrown away’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8 [September 1847] ) …
  • formations. Darwins explanation, originally suggested by Lyell, was that the boulders were
  • failed to convince other prominent geologists, among them Lyell, so Darwin was keenly interested in
  • in the subject. The letters also reveal that Lyell sought Darwins advice in the preparation
  • …  and  Manual of elementary geology . In addition, Lyell asked for Darwins view of his major new
  • or nearly so, or whether they had grown gradually, as Lyell maintained, from one envelope of lava
  • critical point in the controversy, and the point on which Lyell at the time felt it necessary to
  • volcanic islands that some craters could not be explained by Lyells view. Apparently convinced by
  • that it would be athorn in the side of É de B.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 3 January 1850 ). …
  • marine invertebrates himself (see Correspondence vol. 2, letter to Leonard Jenyns, 10 April [1837]) …
  • opinion that such a monograph was adesideratum’ ( letter to J. L. R. Agassiz, 22 October 1848 ), …
  • abortive stamens or pistils ( Correspondence  vol. 2, letter from J. S. Henslow, 21 November
  • care what you say, my species theory is all gospel.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 May 1848 ). …
  • sacrifice the rule of priority for the sake of expedience ( letter to H. E. Strickland, [4 February
  • remained unmarried. Each daughter was bequeathed £10,000, Charles was bequeathed £15,500, and his

Darwin in letters, 1844–1846: Building a scientific network

Summary

The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but he broadened his continuing investigations into the nature and origin of species. Far from being a recluse, Darwin was at the heart of British scientific society,…

Matches: 18 hits

  • his  Journal of researches  for a second edition in 1845, having already provided corrections in
  • vice-presidents in 1844 and remaining on the council from 1845 onwards; he was a conscientious
  • Government grant was exhausted ( Correspondence  vol. 2, letter to A. Y. Spearman, 9 October 1843, …
  • were not neglected either, as the correspondence with Charles Lyell, George Robert Waterhouse, John
  • his ideas on species mutability with Hooker, Horner, Jenyns, Lyell, Owen, and Charles James Fox
  • are not (it is like confessing a murder) immutable’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [11 January 1844] ). …
  • the essay of 1844 to read (see  Correspondence  vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 [February 1847]) …
  • attacked the work vehemently in the  Edinburgh Review  (1845), while other colleagues like Edward
  • himself: as he told his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of [24 April 1845] , he felt he
  • Natural selection Perhaps the most interesting letter relating to Darwins species theory, …
  • listed possible editors: at first he proposed any one of Lyell, Henslow, Edward Forbes, William
  • of elevation’, which formed the basis of discussions with Charles Lyell and Leonard Horner in
  • the geology of this vast area, reflecting the influence of Lyells  Principles of geology  (18303
  • Darwin not only used his personal notes and records but, by letter, marshalled the resources of
  • of his  Journal of researches  for a second edition in 1845. At Lyells recommendation, …
  • the original publisher, to John Murray, and throughout 1845 Darwin worked hard to provide manuscript
  • on board the Beagle  back to Tierra del Fuego. By 1845, Darwin was in full command of a
  • of the laws of creation, Geographical Distribution’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 February 1845] ) …

Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants

Summary

Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863  greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…

Matches: 27 hits

  • … purposes’ (see  Correspondence  vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1862] , and …
  • … book (Down House MS) and  Correspondence  vol. 5, letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 April [1855] ). …
  • … its sensitivity to touch (see  Correspondence  vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December …
  • … his employer’s hothouses over the previous two years. In a letter of 24 December [1862] ( …
  • … he had had, he would ‘probably have made a mess of it’ (letter to G. H. Turnbull, [16? February …
  • … adding ‘I shall keep to curious & experimental plants’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January …
  • … of Westerham, with whom he had dealt over many years. In his letter to Hooker, Darwin mentioned that …
  • … of the plants you want before going to Nurserymen’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 January 1863] ) …
  • … I shall avoid[,] of course I must not have from Kew’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 January [1863] ) …
  • … him: ‘I long to stock it, just like a school-boy’ (letter to J. D.  Hooker, 15 February [1863] ). …
  • … which I wished for, but which I did not like to ask for’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, [21 February …
  • … in a particular mixture of moss, peat, and charcoal (see the letter from Henrietta Emma Darwin to …
  • … of his plants, proffering further advice on cultivation (see letter from J. D. Hooker, [6 March …
  • … sh d . not see such transcendent beauty in each leaf’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
  • … to envision the tropics (see  Correspondence  vol. 1, letter to Caroline Darwin, [28 April 1831] …
  • … of my old friends again’ ( Correspondence  vol. 1, letter to Catherine Darwin, May–June [1832] …
  • … of the tropics ( Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to Charles Lyell, 8 October [1845] ). …
  • … to identify the families to which they belonged. In his letter to Hooker of 5 March [1863] , he …
  • … for experiments, which seem to me really worth trial’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 21 February [1863] …
  • … [that is, cool hothouse]’ ( Correspondence  vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26[–7] March 1864 …
  • … Tait that he had ‘4 houses of different temperatures’ (letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March [1869 …
  • … to the greenhouses ( Correspondence  vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, [25 January 1864] ). …
  • … out’ on that list the plants he could not supply (see letter from J. D. Hooker, [16 February 1863] …
  • … ‘Gloxinia droopy & upright’ both in this list and in his letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 February …
  • … Treviranus 1863a, which he received in mid-February (see letter from L. C. Treviranus, 12 February …
  • … that Darwin made of the plants sent to him by Hooker (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 March [1863] …
  • … as having been sent to Darwin from Kew. Darwin said in the letter to Hooker of 5 March [1863] …

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: 26 hits

  • by H. W. Rutherford ( Catalogue of the library of Charles Darwin now in the Botany School, …
  • on Instinct [F. G. Cuvier 1822] read Flourens Edit [Flourens 1845] read L. Jenyns paper on
  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824
  • Louisiana [darby 1816] & Finch Travels [Finch 1833]. (Lyell) Maximilian in Brazil [Wied
  • 183440]: In Portfolio ofabstracts34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm
  • of Mexico [W. H. Prescott 1843], strongly recommended by Lyell (read) Berkeleys Works
  • 18349] Carlyles Oliver Cromwell [Carlyle 1845] (read) Keppells(?) voyage to Borneo
  • Exploring Expedition towards the Rocky Mountains [Frémont 1845]. (amusing extracts). perhaps for
  • America  by A. Downing Wiley & Putnam. 14 s . [Downing 1845] (Brit. Museum) (read) good
  • … [DAR *119: 22] Eyeres Travels [E. J. Eyre 1845] very amusing Tschudis Travels in
  • Campbells Lives of Chancellors [J. Campbell 18457] last vol. Ludlows Memoirs
  • M rs  Frys Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • 1844] L d  Cloncurry Memm [Lawless 1849] Lady Lyell Sir J Heads Forest scenes in
  • Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleays letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • round world 18036 [Lisyansky 1814]— nothing Lyells Elements of Geology [Lyell 1838] …
  • J 57  Brownes Religio Medici [T. Browne 1643] Lyells Book III 5th Edit 58  [Lyell 1837] …
  • … —— 30 th  Lyells Principles. 3. Vol. 6 th  Edit [Lyell 1840]— references at end.— April 6
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • 1859]. (goodish) 1  The personal library of Charles Stokes from whom CD borrowed books
  • of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to
  • … ( Notebooks , pp. 31928). 55  The letter was addressed to Nicholas Aylward Vigors
  • Erskine. 2 vols. London.  *119: 14 Babington, Charles Cardale. 1839Primitiæ floræ   …
  • of Useful Knowledge.) London.  *119: 13 Badham, Charles David. 1845Insect life . …
  • … [Abstract in DAR 205.3: 180.] 119: 21a Bell, Charles. 1806Essays on the anatomy of
  • of the London Clay . London.  *119: 12v. Brace, Charles Loring. 1852Hungary in 1851: …
  • life from 1838 to the present   time . Edited by John Charles Templer. 3 vols. London128: 9

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: 18 hits

  • hundred letters from Darwin, from his first negotiations in 1845 until his final years. Although
  • came to discuss a second edition, probably at the end of 1845, Darwin was not happy with Colburns
  • John Murray, to open negotiations with his own publisher ( Letter 824 ). Lyells talk with Murray
  • Colonial Library in three monthly parts (July to September 1845) before being reissued in a single
  • you have transacted the business with me’ (27 August [1845] Letter 908 ). Thus began the business
  • copies some pages in Darwins chapter were transposed ( Letter 1244 ). Darwin was anxious lest an
  • … & make the poor workman some present’ (12 June [1849] Letter 1245 ). Darwins next
  • hisbig species book’; on 18 June 1858, he received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace with the
  • In order to ensure Darwins priority, his friends Charles Lyell and Joseph Hooker hastily arranged
  • by means of natural selection (Origin) . Again he asked Lyell to act as his intermediary with John
  • 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 Murrays
  • … – and a second edition was immediately called for ( Letter 2549 ). In the end Murray paid Darwin
  • Murray made a successful business decision when he included Charles Darwin among his authors and
  • geology was his favourite hobby and he continued to publish Charles Lyells books he was not himself
  • … (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

Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'

Summary

The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…

Matches: 18 hits

  • by all the leading geologists of Englandamong them Charles Lyell, Sedgwick, and Buckland (see the
  • of South America”, Darwin continued to defend his and Lyells theory that floating icerather than
  • and G. A. W. Arnott 1836, 1841; J. D. Hooker 18447, 1845, 1846, 18535, and 1860). In 1980, two
  • lists of Darwins plants (see D. M. Porter 1981). Charles Lyell In the extensive
  • correspondent, both scientifically and personally, was Charles Lyell. The letters Darwin and Lyell
  • had declared himself to be azealous discipleof Lyell, but his theory of coral reef formation, …
  • Their correspondence began in 1836 and from the start Lyell accepted Darwin on equal terms as a
  • versions in Life and Letters , and from excerpts that Lyell made in his notebooks. Lyells
  • portfolios together with parts of letters he had cut from Lyells originals for use in his work. …
  • The letters show that at least five of his friendsLyell, Henslow, Jenyns, Waterhouse, and his
  • of fact . . . on the origin & variation of species” ( Letter to J. S. Henslow, [November 1839] …
  • that he had a sound solution to what J. F. W. Herschel in a letter to Lyell had called themystery
  • about searching for evidence to support his hypothesis. In a letter to Lyell, [14] September [1838
  • just the same, though I know what I am looking for' ( Letter to G. R. Waterhouse, [26 July
  • there were no doubts as to how one ought to act’ ( Letter from Emma Darwin, [  c.  February 1839] …
  • In 1840 the illness was different. As he wrote to Charles Lyell, [19 February 1840] , “it is now
  • for several months (See  Correspondence  vol. 1, letter to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 , …
  • notebook). See also Allan 1977, pp. 12830). The letter, onDouble flowersto the  …

Journal of researches

Summary

Within two months of the Beagle’s arrival back in England in October 1836, Darwin, although busy with distributing his specimens among specialists for description, and more interested in working on his geological research, turned his mind to the task of…

Matches: 8 hits

  • Chapter’, Darwin wrote to his sister Caroline, adding that Charles Lyellsays it beats all the
  • get lost as part of three-volume set. In September 1838, Charles Lyell reported that his father
  • of his work, and especially appreciated the positive view of Charles Lyell Sr, claiming thatto
  • Alexander von Humboldt, who wrote a long and appreciative letter about theexcellent et admirable
  • a penny from Colburn, Darwin had few scruples when, in 1845, at Lyells suggestion, he asked whether
  • German edition produced in 1844, needed to be returned. ‘ Lyell recommended me to write to the
  • were issued separately between late June and late August 1845, with the slightly amended title
  • however, not least because it would have been anathema to Charles Lyell, to whom Darwin dedicated

Robert FitzRoy

Summary

Robert FitzRoy was captain of HMS Beagle when Darwin was aboard. From 1831 to 1836 the two men lived in the closest proximity, their relationship revealed by the letters they exchanged while Darwin left the ship to explore the countries visited during the…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … Chapter’, Darwin wrote to his sister Caroline, adding that Charles Lyell ‘ says it beats all the …
  • … of New Zealand in 1843, but was relieved of this post in 1845 after he worsened (through his support …
  • … In 1859, Darwin guessed that FitzRoy was the author of a letter to The Times, full of ‘ conceit …