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Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex

Summary

The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…

Matches: 24 hits

… On 6 March 1868 , Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If any …
… he ought to do what I am doing pester them with letters.’ Darwin was certainly true to his word. The …
… and sexual selection. In Origin , pp. 87–90, Darwin had briefly introduced the concept of …
… process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864, Darwin claimed that sexual selection was ‘the …
… to the stridulation of crickets. At the same time, Darwin continued to collect material on …
… and his immediate circle of friends and relations. In July 1868 Darwin was still anticipating that …
… which was devoted to sexual selection in the animal kingdom. Darwin described his thirst for …
… and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868 ] ). My book is horribly …
… as early as 1865, the two-volume work appeared in January 1868 . A final delay caused by the indexing …
… Murray to intervene, complaining on 9 January , ‘M r . Dallas’ delay … is intolerable … I am …
… look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). Darwin sympathised, replying on …
… fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868 ] ). But such worries were laid to …
… was clearly impressed by Lewes’s reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from …
… it was by Gray himself, but Darwin corrected him: ‘D r Gray would strike me in the face, but not …
… . It is a disgrace to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868 ] ). The review was …
… April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d C. Darwin M.d’; Binstead evidently assumed …
… I did not see this, or rather I saw it only obs[c]urely, & have kept only a few references.’ …
… as life he wd find the odour sexual!’ ( letter to A . R. Wallace, 16 September [1868 ] ). Francis …
… south of France to Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood on 9 Novembe r, describing sphinx moths that were …
… question of the “Origin of Species”’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 4 October 1868 ). …
… hands of the enemies of Nat. Selection’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). …
… mission stations in Victoria, Australia ( letter from R. B. Smyth, 13 August 1868 ); lengthy …
… of her two-month old daughter Katherine ( letter from C. M. Hawkshaw to Emma Darwin, 9 February …
… rest mostly on faith, and on accumulation of adaptations, &c) … Of course I understand your …

Darwin’s queries on expression

Summary

When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…

Matches: 26 hits

… When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect …
… for ease of distribution sometime in late 1867 or early 1868 . Darwin went over his questions, …
… was the collection of observations on a global scale. Darwin was especially interested in peoples …
… cultural and conventional, or instinctive and universal. Darwin used his existing correspondence …
… and with the mouth a little drawn back at the corners?” Darwin’s questionnaire was an extension of …
… was also carefully devised so as to prevent the feelings of Darwin’s remote observers from colouring …
… in Ceylon, wrote the botanist George Thwaites on 22 July 1868 , “all endeavour to drill their …
… Scottish botanist John Scott wrote from Calcutta, 4 May 1868 : “Shame is … expressed by an …
… and not the susceptibilities of a moral nature.” Darwin did not typically countenance such …
… the collection of information to its display in print. After Darwin received all of the replies to …
… except “yes” or “no.” “The same state of mind” Darwin would later assert in Expression of the …
… uniformity.” Table of Correspondence about Darwin’s Questionnaire (click on the letter …
… nodding vertically Blair, R.H. 11 July …
… Fuegians Brooke, C.A.J. 30 Nov 1870 …
… Dyaks Brooke, C.A.J. 30 April 1871 …
… Bulmer, J 13 Aug 1868 [Gipps Land, nr. Flemington? …
… Bunnett, Templeton 13 Aug 1868 Echuca, Australia …
… Darwin, W.E. [after 29 March 1868 ] Chester Place, …
… Darwin, W.E. [7? April 1868 ] Southampton, England …
… Darwin, W.E. [22? April 1868 ] Southampton, England …
… Forbes, David 26 March 1868 Boulton, England (about …
… Geach, F.F. April 1868 Johore, Malaysia …
… Glenie, S.O. 22 July 1868 Peradeniya, Ceylon …
… Glenie, S.O. [July 1868 ] Trincomalee, Ceylon …
… Reade, Winwood W. [c.8 or 9 Apr 1870] Accra, West …
… in Hottentots Smyth, R. Brough 13 Aug 1868 …

6430_10256

Summary

From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hookerf1 25 October 1868Lund (Suède)25 Okt. 1868.Monsieur le Professeur! J’ai écrit à deux de mes amis qui ont des connaissances personnelles à la Lapponie, pour avoir les…

Matches: 13 hits

… From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hooker f1 25 October 1868 Lund (Suède) 25 Okt. 1868. …
… attendant je preds la liberté de Vous avertir ou plutôt M r . Darwin par Vous, qu’il se trouve …
… que Vous avez la bonté de me recommender chez M r . Darwin pour avoir la sienne. Je me suis …
… CD’s query, see the letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 August 1868. Hooker passed CD’s query to Nilsson at …
… in Norwich (see letter from J. D. Hooker, 30 August 1868). f3 Nilsson sent the response in …
… An English translation was never published. Earlier in 1868, Longman’s, Green, and Company had …
… of northern Europe during the Stone Age (Nilsson 1868); see letter to John Lubbock, 15 February …
… on Nilsson’s view in Lubbock’s introduction to Nilsson 1868, pp. xxxv–xxxvi. …
… From Sven Nilsson to J. D. Hooker f1 25 October 1868 Lund (Sweden) 25 Oct. 1868 …
… knowledge of Lapland, to obtain the information that M r . Darwin wanted about Reindeer Antlers …
… I shall take the liberty of advising you or rather M r . Darwin through you, that a description of …
… one can read, it seems to me, the major part of what M r . Darwin wants to know. f4 Regarding …
… Men of Science, the photographs of yourself and of M r . Darwin are still missing. In your case I …

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: 27 hits

… the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells …
… on plants with two or three different forms of flowers, Darwin had focused on the anatomical and …
… of different forms of pollen. Although many plants that Darwin observed had flowers with adaptations …
… rates, growth, and constitutional vigour. Although Darwin was no stranger to long months and years …
… … is highly remarkable’ In September 1866, Darwin announced to the American botanist …
… several years ( To Édouard Bornet, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin began a series of experiments, …
… ). It was only after a new season of experiments that Darwin would confirm that this poppy shed its …
… access to flowers was only the tip of the iceberg. Darwin next focused on the California …
… conditions’ ( From Fritz Müller, 1 December 1866 ). Darwin’s interest was piqued and he described …
… when self-fertilised, although fewer than crossed plants. Darwin sent some of these seeds to Müller, …
… to produce capsules’ ( To Fritz Müller, 30 January [1868 ] ). Müller, in turn, sent seeds from his …
… Müller remarked, on receiving a new batch of seeds from Darwin, ‘that it was ‘curious to see, on …
… ( From Fritz Müller, 15 June 1869 ). By May 1870, Darwin reported that he was ‘rearing crossed …
… From a fairly early stage in his experimental programme, Darwin began to pay more attention to the …
… seeds of Ipomœa. I remember saying the contrary to you & M r Smith at Kew. But the result is …
… the sweet pea ( Lathyrus odoratus ), and in October 1867, Darwin wrote to James Moggridge to ask …
… of the year ( To J. T. Moggridge, 1 October [1867] ). Darwin was beginning to suspect that the …
… simply did not exist in Britain. During a visit to Darwin in May 1866, Robert Caspary, a …
… produced by the former ( From Robert Caspary, 18 February 1868 ). Darwin eagerly requested seed …
… their power of growth’ ( To Robert Caspary, 25 February [1868 ] ). By this time he had already …
… (Variation 2: 128-9), which was published on 30 January 1868 . In April 1868 , Darwin informed …
… quite intelligible to me’ ( To George Bentham, 22 April 1868 ). A month later, he had another set …
… taken from the same plant!’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 21 May [1868 ] ) Pollen tubes, or rapidly elongating …
… he told Müller ( To Fritz Müller, 28 November 1868 ). In March 1869, Müller reported results of …
… I am already plagued by foreign Translators, Reviewers, &c.’ ( To John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). …
… the set of all my works, I would suggest 1,500’ ( To R. F. Cooke, 16 September 1876 ). In the …
… of hybrids, has not yet been produced’ ( From A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this …

5935_4582

Summary

From J. D. Hooker 26[–7] February 1868KewFeby 26th/68Dear Darwin I have been bursting with impatience to hear what you would say of the Athenæum Review & who wrote it— I could not conceive who…

Matches: 7 hits

… From J. D. Hooker 26[–7] February 1868 Kew Feby 26 th /68 Dear Darwin …
… has “covered itself with infamy”.— The G. C. article is weak, watery— It is hard to decide …
… i.e. where furthest removed from the action of light air &c, (as Spermatic cells) or in the most …
… to Richard Owen (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 February [1868 ]); the review was by John Robertson ( …
… 1867) was reviewed in the Athenæum , 8 February 1868 , pp. 217–18. f3 CD had discussed …
… CD’s reply. See letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 February [1868 ] and nn. 8–10. …
… Letter details From Hooker, J. D. To Darwin, C. R. Sent from Kew …

5873_1488

Summary

From B. J. Sulivan 13 February [1868]f1 Bournemouth Feby. 13. My dear Darwin As Mr Stirling has sent me the recpt. you may as well have it with the Photo of the four Fuegian boys which he wishes me to send you in case you have not seen it. He…

Matches: 2 hits

… From B. J. Sulivan 13 February [1868] f1 Bournemouth Feby. 13. My dear …
… social behaviour Please cite as Darwin Correspondence Database, http://www …

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: 24 hits

… | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a …
… community. Here is a selection of letters exchanged between Darwin and his workforce of women …
… Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August 1849] Darwin …
… peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to Darwin, [29 October …
… in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [6 June 1864] …
… Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] Darwin …
… Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H., [30 January 1868 ] Darwin asks Thomas Huxley to …
… Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5 May 1870] …
… 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S. E., [9 November 1868 ] Darwin’s nephew, Edmund, …
… 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 …
… in Llandudno. Letter 4823 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, H. E., [May 1865] …
… Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868 ] Doubleday responds to Darwin’s …
… Letter 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] Darwin asks his niece, …
… 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 …
… Letter 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, [22 August 1874] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, …
… Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris …
… Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868 ] John Weir describes experiments …
… garden ”. Letter 6083 - Casparay, J. X. R. to Darwin, [2 April 1868 ] …
… Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868 ] Naturalist Henry Doubleday …
… Letter 7858 - Darwin to Wa llace, A. R., [12 July 1871] Darwin tells Wallace that …
… Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868 ] John Weir describes experiments …
… Letter 6066 - Weir, H. W. to Darwin, [28 March 1868 ] Harrison Weir passes on …

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: 24 hits

… Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig …
… as the creator of this dramatisation, and that of the Darwin Correspondence Project to be identified …
… correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring …
… Actor 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin Actor 3 – In the dress of a modern day …
… Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart Mill, Emma Darwin, Horace Darwin… and acts as a sort …
… the play unfolds and acting as a go-between between Gray and Darwin, and between the audience and …
… this, he sends out copies of his Review of the Life of Darwin. At this time in his life, Asa …
… friends in England, copies of his ‘Review of the Life of Darwin’… pencilling the address so that it …
… Joseph D Hooker GRAY: 3 Charles Darwin… made his home on the border of the little …
… are kept in check by a constitutional weakness. DARWIN: A plain but comfortable brick …
… by every blessing except that of vigorous health… DARWIN: 4 My confounded stomach …
… pursuits and the simplicity of his character. DARWIN: 5 I am allowed to work now …
… own house, where he was the most charming of hosts. DARWIN: 6 My life goes on …
… being a part of [an unpublished] manuscript. Darwin settles down to write. His tone is …
… fade. GRAY PAYS DARWIN A VISIT AT DOWN: 1868 In which Gray announces his …
… apart theologically. GRAY: 175 Summer. 1868 . The gist of my present note is to …
… paragraph, in which I quote and differ from you[r] 178 doctrine that each variation has been …
… 189 [Jane Gray. Letter to her sister. Fall, 1868 .] Mr Darwin [is].. fascinating… [he has] the …
… THE OLDER ONE GETS THE MORE THERE IS TO DO: 1868 -1876 In which the friends consider the …
… ARTS AND SCIENCES, PROCEEDINGS XVII, 1882 4 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 10 MAY 1848 …
… 24 JULY 1865 175 A GRAY TO RW CHURCH, 22 JUNE 1868 176 TO A GRAY 15 AUGUST …
… TO A GRAY 15 APRIL 1867 180 TO A GRAY 8 MAY 1868 181 FROM A GRAY 25 MAY …
… TIME 189 JANE LORING GRAY, LETTER TO HER SISTER, 1868 or 1869 190 C DARWIN …
… A GRAY 9 AUGUST 1876 194 FROM A GRAY 25 MAY 1868 195 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER …

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: 13 hits

… Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those …
… a broad variety of women had access to, and engaged with, Darwin's published works. A set of …
… women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
… that his views are original and will appeal to the public. Darwin asks Murray to forward the …
… and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [11 May 1859] …
… typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] …
… Letter 5861 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [11 February 1868] Zoologist Edward Blyth sends …
… Letter 5928 - Gray, A. to Darwin, [25 February 1868] American naturalist Asa Gray …
… Letter 6040 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [23 March 1868] Haeckel informs Darwin …
… Letter 6110 - Samuelson, J. to Darwin, [10 April 1868] James Samuel, editor of …
… Variation . Letter 6126 - Binstead, C. H. to Darwin, [17 April 1868] …
… of Variation . Letter 6237 - Bullar, R. to Darwin, [9 June 1868] …
… Letter 6335 - Innes, J. B. to Darwin, [31 August 1868] John Innes reports that he has …

Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts

Summary

At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…

Matches: 27 hits

… At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of …
… appeared at the end of 1866 and had told his cousin William Darwin Fox, ‘My work will have to stop a …
… vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868 ] ). He may have resented the interruption to his …
… material on emotional expression. Yet the scope of Darwin’s interests remained extremely broad, and …
… plants, and earthworms, subjects that had exercised Darwin for decades, and that would continue to …
… Carl von Nägeli and perfectibility Darwin’s most substantial addition to Origin was a …
… a Swiss botanist and professor at Munich (Nägeli 1865). Darwin had considered Nägeli’s paper …
… principal engine of change in the development of species. Darwin correctly assessed Nägeli’s theory …
… in most morphological features (Nägeli 1865, p. 29). Darwin sent a manuscript of his response (now …
… are & must be morphological’. The comment highlights Darwin’s apparent confusion about Nägeli’s …
… ‘purely morphological’. The modern reader may well share Darwin’s uncertainty, but Nägeli evidently …
… pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide Darwin with botanical examples he could use …
… problems of heredity Another important criticism that Darwin sought to address in the fifth …
… prevailing theory of blending inheritance that Jenkin and Darwin both shared, would tend to be lost …
… now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , and …
… of information which I have sent prove of any service to M r . Darwin I can supply him with much …
… & proximate cause in regard to Man’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). More …
… and the bird of paradise (Wallace 1869a; letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 March [1869] ), and …
… an injustice & never demands justice’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). …
… species that Darwin had investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February 1869 ). In a …
… genus that he had studied in the early 1860s ( letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March 1869 ). This …
… on the German translation of Variation (Carus trans. 1868 ). The French translation proved …
… the French edition of Variation (Moulinié trans. 1868 ), and CD now extended his permission for …
… Sweetland Dallas’s edition of Fritz Müller’s Fü r Darwin (Dallas trans. 1869). The book, an …
… creation, if he is not completely staggered after reading y r essay’. The work received a …
… whole meeting was decidedly Huxley’s answer to D r M c Cann. He literally poured boiling oil …
… Scientific Opinion , launched towards the end of 1868 , was one of several periodicals begun in …

Religion

Summary

Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…

Matches: 16 hits

… the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same …
… nineteenth century were different in important ways. Many of Darwin's leading supporters were …
… their religious beliefs with evolutionary theory. Darwin's own writing, both in print and …
… much as possible. A number of correspondents tried to draw Darwin out on his own religious views, …
… political contexts. Design Darwin was not the first to challenge …
… on the controversial topic of design. The first is between Darwin and Harvard botanist Asa Gray, …
… Origin . The second is a single letter from naturalist A. R. Wallace to Darwin on design and …
… Darwin and Gray Letter 2814 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 22 May [1860] Darwin …
… questions about design. Letter 6167 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 8 May [1868] …
… Darwin and Wallace Letter 5140 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 2 July 1866 …
… Darwin and Graham Letter 13230 — Darwin, C. R. to Graham, William, 3 July 1881 …
… 6223 — Horsman, S. J. H. to Darwin, C. R., 2 June [1868] Horsman attempts to convince Darwin …
… Letter 6241 — Innes, J. B. to Darwin, C. R., 13 June 1868 J. B. Innes, vicar of Down writes …
… Letter 6486 — Darwin, C. R. to Innes, J. B., 1 Dec 1868 Darwin writes to J. B. Innes, vicar …
… Letter 6492 — Innes, J. B. to Darwin, C. R., 4 Dec 1868 J. B. Innes, vicar of Down provides …
… Letter 6501 — Innes, J. B. to Darwin, C. R., 12 Dec 1868 J. B. Innes, vicar of Down is …

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: 26 hits

… The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It …
… unique window into this complicated relationship throughout Darwin’s life, as it reveals his …
… belief (and doubt) than many non-conformist denominations. Darwin’s parents attended a Unitarian …
… the necessary studies to be a clergyman. During Darwin’s lifetime, the vast majority of the …
… income was essential to enjoy a gentlemanly lifestyle. For Darwin, who could rely on the financial …
… compatible with the pursuit of scientific interests. Indeed, Darwin’s Cambridge mentor, John Stevens …
… (Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine (1887): 321). Darwin started on his journey around the world …
… it even through a grove of Palms.—’ (letter to Caroline Darwin, 25–6 April [1832] ). Darwin’s …
… Museum or some other learned place’ (letter from E. A. Darwin, 18 August [1832] ). Writing to Fox …
… about—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, [9–12 August] 1835 ). Darwin’s doubts about orthodox belief, and …
… in 1838 and 1839, as can be read here. In the end, Darwin chose a middle course—a life of ease in …
… within six years of his return from the Beagle voyage, Darwin moved to Down House, in the …
… where their children Mary and Charles were buried; later Darwin’s brother Erasmus, Emma’s sister …
… of Emma, whose religious scruples are discussed here. But Darwin’s correspondence reveals his own …
… Although he was not the principal landowner in Down, Darwin was a gentleman of means, and clearly …
… made inroads on Anglican authority in the countryside. The Darwin family took an interest in, and …
… Many of the letters highlighted in this section focus on Darwin’s long-standing relationship with …
… To the end of his life Innes refused to be persuaded by Darwin’s theory of evolution, but …
… cordial; in the first extant letter of the correspondence, Darwin wrote to Innes expressing concern …
… letter of 1854 in which he said, From all I have seen of M r Innes’ conduct towards the poor &amp …
… a cow and a red deer (letter from J. B. Innes, 7 December 1868 ). Innes had a tendency to tease …
… he left behind (letter from S. J. O’H. Horsman, 2 June [1868 ] ). Among the reasons justifying his …
… the church’s organ fund (letter to J. B. Innes, 15 June [1868 ] ). So embroiled in this process …
… the Down parish church (letter to J. B. Innes, 1 December 1868 ). Darwin wrote of the next …
… Innes informed Darwin that though he ‘heard all good of M r . Ffinden’s moral character, his …
… an interesting letter from Darwin to the evangelist J. W. C. Fegan. Darwin whole-heartedly supported …

Inheritance

Summary

It was crucial to Darwin’s theories of species change that naturally occurring variations could be inherited. But at the time when he wrote Origin, he had no explanation for how inheritance worked – it was just obvious that it did. Darwin’s attempt to…

Matches: 9 hits

… to advance the hypothesis of Pangenesis (Charles Darwin, Variation , vol. 2, p. 357). …
… worked – it was just obvious that it did. Darwin’s attempt to describe how heredity might …
… ‘The whole subject of inheritance is wonderful’ Darwin wrote,‘When a new character arises, whatever …
… 26 [March 1863] ). Years before he published, Darwin sent a draft manuscript on Pangenesis …
… Huxley was worried that its speculative nature would give Darwin’s critics ammunition, but didn’t …
… T. H. Huxley, 16 July 1865 ). 'Your last note' Darwin replied, 'made us …
… was indeed 'abominably wildly, horridly speculative'. Darwin never completely gave …
… some other name. ( to J. D. Hooker, 23 February '1868 ] ) And took …
… place,—and that I think hardly possible. ( from A. R. Wallace, 24 February 1868 ) …

Controversy

Summary

The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…

Matches: 13 hits

… the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely variable. Many of …
… was itself an important arena of debate, one that Darwin greatly preferred to the public sphere. …
… and support sustained in spite of enduring differences. Darwin's correspondence can thus help …
… Disagreement and Respect Darwin rarely engaged with critics publically. Letters exchanged …
… Richard Owen, the eminent comparative anatomist, show how Darwin tried to manage strong disagreement …
… were less severe, the relationship quickly deteriorated and Darwin came to regard him as a bitter …
… Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, C. R., 24 Nov 1859 Adam Sedgwick thanks Darwin for …
… Letter 6024 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 19 Mar 1868 Wallace writes to Darwin with a …
… Letter 6033 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., [21 Mar 1868] Darwin lets Wallace know he has …
… Letter 6045 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 24 Mar [1868] Wallace returns George Darwin’s …
… Letter 6058 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., 27 Mar [1868] Darwin writes to Wallace saying …
… Letter 6095 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., 6 Apr [1868] Darwin writes to Wallace on the …
… Letter 6104 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. R., 8 [Apr] 1868 Wallace says if Darwin is not …

Natural Science and Femininity

Summary

Discussion Questions|Letters A conflation of masculine intellect and feminine thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity. Working from the private domestic comfort of their homes and exercising…

Matches: 15 hits

… thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity …
… feminine powers of feeling and aesthetic appreciation, Darwin and his male colleagues struggled to …
… Letters Letter 109 - Wedgwood, J. to Darwin, R. W., [31 August 1831] Darwin …
… professional work on his return. Letter 158 - Darwin to Darwin, R. W., [8 & 26 …
… and taking in the aesthetic beauty of the world around him. Darwin describes the “striking” colour …
… and walks into town with Emma. Letter 555 - Darwin to FitzRoy, R., [20 February 1840] …
… an Infant ’. Letter 2781 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [3 May 1860] Doubleday …
… borders of his garden. Letter 2864 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [12 July 1860] …
… saw anything so beautiful”. Letter 4230 - Darwin to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [2 July 1863] …
… brought into the house immediately after a rain storm. Here, Darwin’s scientific investigation is …
… Letter 6044 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H., [24 March 1868 ] Darwin relays his discussion with …
… Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, [24 March 1868 ] John Weir describes experiments he …
… Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868 ] Doubleday details his experiments …
… Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S. E., [9 November 1868 ] Darwin’s nephew, Edmund, …
… on the bedroom wallpaper. Letter 10821 - Graham C. C. to Darwin, [30 January 1877] …

Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution

Summary

The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…

Matches: 21 hits

… The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the …
… in relation to Sex’. Always precise in his accounting, Darwin reckoned that he had started writing …
… gathered on each of these topics was far more extensive than Darwin had anticipated. As a result, …
… and St George Jackson Mivart, and heated debates sparked by Darwin’s proposed election to the French …
… Finishing Descent; postponing Expression Darwin began receiving proofs of some of the …
… ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ). Darwin was still working hard on parts of the …
… style, the more grateful I shall be’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). She had …
… , the latter when she was just eighteen years of age. Darwin clearly expected her to make a …
… have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). Henrietta …
… so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February 1870] ). …
… philanthropist Frances Power Cobbe. At Cobbe’s suggestion, Darwin read some of Immanuel Kant’s …
… ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] ). Cobbe accused Darwin of smiling in his beard with …
… as animals: ears Despite Cobbe’s plea, most of Darwin’s scientific attention in 1870 was …
… fairy in Shakespeare’s A midsummer night’s dream. Darwin obtained a sketch of a human ear from …
… of a pointed tip projecting inward from the folded margin. Darwin, who had posed for the sculptor in …
… vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868 ] ; this volume, letter to Thomas Woolner, 10 …
… muscles A more troubling anatomical feature for Darwin was the platysma myoides, a band of …
… of fright’, and one of his photographs, later used by Darwin in Expression , showed a man whose …
… letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March 1870 ). Indeed, Darwin noted the same longitudinal …
… who sent a sketch of a baby’s brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). He also wrote to …
… (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …

Have you read the one about....

Summary

... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.

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… ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …

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: 22 hits

… There are summaries of all Darwin's letters from the year 1879 on this website. The full texts …
… 27 of the print edition of The correspondence of Charles Darwin , published by Cambridge …
… to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an …
… the sensitivity of the tips. Despite this breakthrough, when Darwin first mentioned the book to his …
… a holiday in the Lake District in August did little to raise Darwin’s spirits. ‘I wish that my …
… W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [after 26] July [1879] ). From July, Darwin had an additional worry: the …
… that his grandfather had felt the same way. In 1792, Erasmus Darwin had written: ‘The worst thing I …
… all over like a baked pear’ ( enclosure in letter from R. W. Dixon, 20 December 1879 ). The year …
… contained a warmer note and the promise of future happiness: Darwin learned he was to be visited by …
… Hacon, 31 December 1879 ). Seventy years old Darwin’s seventieth birthday on 12 …
… the veteran of Modern Zoology’, but it was in Germany that Darwin was most fêted. A German …
… nice and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ). The masters of …
… accepted in Germany. ‘On this festive day’, Haeckel told Darwin, ‘you can look back, with justified …
… Hermann Müller wrote on 12 February to wish Darwin a ‘long and serene evening of life’. This …
… of the Admiralty described the unknown young man as ‘A M r Darwin grandson of the well known …
… him on 9 June not to ‘expend much powder & shot on M r Butler’, for he really was not worth …
… leaving Darwin ‘more perplexed than ever about life of D r . D’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 12 …
… the highest point, for his “why”—“what for” &c are incessant’, Darwin joked on 2 July (first …
… and Farrer had corresponded on scientific topics since 1868 and after Farrer’s second marriage to …
… which is his profession tho’ not a profitable one; also D r C[lark]’s opinion that he was so …
… greatly amused Darwin, who felt it was ‘very acute of M r Ruskin to know that I feel a deep & …
… and prevent ‘Cattle diseases, Potato diseases &c’, probably did not know that Darwin had already …

Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions

Summary

Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...

Matches: 1 hits

… Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive …

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: 13 hits

… activities for building and maintaining such connections. Darwin's networks extended from his …
… when strong institutional structures were largely absent. Darwin had a small circle of scientific …
… section contains two sets of letters. The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. …
… about Hooker’s thoughts. Letter 729 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., [11 Jan 1844] …
… confessing a murder”. Letter 736 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 23 Feb [1844] …
… Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 25 Apr [1855] Darwin …
… species. Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. R., 22 May 1855 Gray recalled …
… flora in the USA. Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 20 July [1857] Darwin …
… information exchange. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] …
… name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 3 Feb 1849 In this gossipy …
… species descriptions. Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 12 Oct 1849 …
… Letter 1319 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 6 & 7 Apr 1850 Hooker apologises for the …
… Letter 5770 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., Jan [1868 ] Müller thanks Darwin for his …

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