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Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad

Summary

At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…

Matches: 15 hits

  • At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of  The variation
  • that he wasunwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a
  • persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled considerably. The
  • of man and his history' The first five months of 1863 contain the bulk of the
  • fromsome Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
  • … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
  • than  Origin had (see  Correspondence  vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
  • origins was further increased by the discovery in March 1863 of the Moulin-Quignon jaw, the first
  • bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, 23 June 1863 ). Although English experts
  • … ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). The botanist Asa Gray, Darwins friend in the United
  • Huxleys book would scare them off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In May, Darwin
  • and letter to  Athenæum , 18 April [1863] ). He told Gray: ‘Under the cloak of a fling at
  • Lyells  amended verdict on the Origin’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 20 April [1863] ). Darwin quoted a
  • 1862 (see  Correspondence  vol. 10). He sent a copy to Asa Gray to review in an American journal, …
  • January [1863] and 31 January [1863] , and letter to Asa Gray, 31 May [1863] ). Asa Gray

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: 18 hits

  • … – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as …
  • … quotes from the correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton …
  • … read the words of the following: Actor 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin …
  • … in which the play unfolds and acting as a go-between between Gray and Darwin, and between the …
  • … 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 …
  • … secret and potentially incendiary ideas. A younger Asa Gray (now in his mid 40s) arrives in …
  • … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
  • … 11   My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my …
  • … be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy it… His letter does strike me as most uncommonly …
  • … on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year …
  • … you might reasonably expect… Yours most sincerely Asa Gray. DARWIN:  16   My dear …
  • … a brace of letters 25   I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received …
  • … might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing …
  • … Atlantic. HOOKER:   28   Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which …
  • … of your darling. BOOKS BY THE LATE CHARLES DARWIN: 1863-1865 In which Drwin struggles …
  • … 1860 98 A GRAY TO ALPHONSE DE CANDOLLE, 16 FEB 1863 99  C DARWIN TO LYELL, …
  • … 1862 149 C DARWIN TO J. D. HOOKER 26 JULY 1863 150 C DARWIN TO J. D. …

Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments

Summary

1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…

Matches: 20 hits

  • … but really I do think you have a good right to be so’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 and] 20 …
  • … species. Darwin attempted to dissuade him from this view ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 [January 1862 …
  • … partially sterile together. He failed. Huxley replied ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 January 1862 …
  • … and pronounced them ‘simply perfect’, but continued ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 18 December [1862] ) …
  • … resigned to their difference of opinion, but complained ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1862 …
  • … letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] …
  • … protégé, telling Hooker: ‘he is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). …
  • … Towards the end of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): …
  • … and assistance with experiments. In January, he wrote to Asa Gray thanking him for some ‘new cases …
  • … had ‘different functions’. He continued to write to Gray throughout the year about his quest for …
  • … hopeful, became increasingly frustrated, telling Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 March [1862] ) …
  • … time on the problem: ‘the labour is great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ) …
  • … may be said to be generically distinct’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 14 July [1862] ). The case was so …
  • … seed. The case clearly excited Darwin, who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 9 August [1862] …
  • … that had given him ‘great pleasure to ride’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). But he …
  • … of natural selection through the back door ( letter to Asa Gray, 23[–4] July [1862] ). Moreover, …
  • … his opposition to the  Origin  ’ ( letter from Asa Gray, 2–3 July 1862 ). Henry Walter …
  • … part of his popular exposition of Darwin’s theory (Rolle 1863; see letter to Friedrich Rolle, 17 …
  • … ). War abroad. Anxiety at home As usual, Asa Gray took care that Americans should know …
  • … & genius you have for these researches’ ( letter from Asa Gray, 18 May 1862 ). In thanking …

Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics

Summary

On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…

Matches: 18 hits

  • learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January
  • out in the United States and in Germany, he expressed to Asa Gray his astonishment at the widespread
  • the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
  • he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] …
  • his theory would have beenutterly  smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A
  • from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
  • were inexplicable by the theory of creation. Asa Grays statement in his March review that natural
  • a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
  • phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
  • natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19
  • considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
  • naturalists because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). …
  • two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like
  • perfected structure as the eye. As Darwin admitted to Lyell, Gray, and others, imagining how
  • caused him greater discomfort. As he readily admitted to Gray: ‘The sight of a feather in a peacock
  • change of form’, namely those of embryology ( letter to Asa Gray, 10 September [1860] ). Only his
  • in letters to his closest confidants Hooker, Lyell, and Gray. Initially he found it curioushow
  • not thoroughly . . . I must be a very bad explainer.' Asa Gray and design in nature

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: 21 hits

  • … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
  • … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
  • … observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
  • … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
  • … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
  • … Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L …
  • … expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
  • … is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
  • … of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
  • … briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
  • … expression of emotion in dogs with Emma Darwin. Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, …
  • … birds, insects or plants on Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to …
  • … from Calcutta. Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 July 1862] Darwin …
  • Letter 4242 - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin, [16 July 1863] Hildebrand writes to …
  • Letter 4235 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [8 July 1863] Lydia Becker sends Darwin a …
  • Letter 4139  - Darwin, W. E. to Darwin, [4 May 1863] William sends the results of a …
  • Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [31 July 1863] Lydia Becker details her …
  • … 4233  - Tegetmeier, W. B. to Darwin, [29 June - 7 July 1863] Tegetmeier updates Darwin …
  • … 3896 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H, [before 25 February 1863] Darwin offers the results of …
  • Letter 4010 - Huxley, T. H. to Darwin, [25 February 1863] Huxley praises Henrietta’s …
  • Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 March 1863] Darwin secretly passes on …

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

  • 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
  • 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
  • D. Hooker. The second is between Darwin and Harvard botanist Asa Gray. Darwin and Hooker
  • and he is curious about Hookers thoughts. Letter 729Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., …
  • to Hookerit is like confessing a murder”. Letter 736Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • species to wide-ranging genera. Darwin and Gray Letter 1674Darwin, C. R. …
  • and relationships of alpine flora in the USA. Letter 2125Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
  • … . Letter 4611Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 13 Sept [1864] Darwin sends abstract
  • Letter 4170Becker, Lydia to Darwin, C. R., 18 May 1863 This is a very formal letter
  • Letter 4258Becker, Lydia to Darwin, C. R., 31 July [1863] Becker has found seeds produced
  • Letter 4260aDarwin, C. R. to Becker, L. E., 2 Aug [1863] Darwin thanks Lydia Becker for

The Lyell–Lubbock dispute

Summary

In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. …
  • … ‘Textual changes made to C. Lyell 1863c’). On 6 February 1863, Antiquity of man (C. Lyell 1863a) …
  • … Busk, Prestwich, and Galton.   In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, …
  • … Bath in 1864 (C. Lyell 1864). 3  By November 1863 a third edition of Antiquity of …
  • … of several aspects of the book. Throughout the first half of 1863, Darwin discussed the book in …
  • … aggrieved about Lyell’s failure to support him. In April 1863, in a letter to the Athenæum , he …
  • … transmutation; he also wrote to Lyell telling him about the letter to the Athenæum . 9 …
  • … 1863b, p. 213).  In May 1864, Lubbock received a letter from Falconer, who reiterated his …
  • … and went on to say that he intended to make a copy of his letter to show to friends. 18 In …
  • … wrote to Darwin to ask what he thought of the affair ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 June 1865] ). …
  • … he reiterated his admiration for Lubbock’s book ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [4 June 1865] ). A week …
  • … in the dispute. When Hooker pressed him for an opinion ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 July 1865 ), …
  • … with Huxley in June and July and had seen Huxley’s letter to Hooker about the affair, 24 he …
  • … note on p. 11.  Unlike the earlier controversies of 1863 where the disputants had quarrelled …
  • … 13). The third edition had originally appeared in November 1863. In spite of Lyell’s 1865 revisions, …
  • … (Original version of the last section, printed in November 1863) In conclusion, I wish it to …
  • … evidence appealed to.  53 Harley Street: November 1863  Preface, C. Lyell 1863c, pp. …
  • … in the interval between the autumn of 1861 and February 1863. In this long interval my thoughts had …
  • … 2. Letter from Charles Lyell to John Lubbock, 20 February 1863 (British Library, Add. MSS 49640). …
  • … of C. Lyell 1863a, see Darwin's Life in Letters, 1863 , (introduction to Correspondence …
  • … vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February [1863] . On Lyell’s unwillingness to commit …

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: 24 hits

  • 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] ). …
  • added, ‘I know it is folly & nonsense to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • ineffective, and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] …
  • of anything, & that almost exclusively bread & meat’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 August [1865] …
  • better, attributing the improvement to Joness diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] …
  • he wasable to write about an hour on most days’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 December [1865] ). …
  • others very forward, except the last & concluding one’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 March [1865] …
  • my book will be ready for the press in the autumn’ ( letter to John Murray, 4 April [1865] ). In
  • however, ‘I am never idle when I can do anything’ ( letter to John Murray, 2 June [1865] ). It was
  • might be more willing to bear the expense of the woodcuts ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865
  • … & I loathe the whole subject like tartar emetic’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 January [1865] ) …
  • 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
  • Scott had evidently started his crossing experiments in 1863 (see Correspondence  vol. 11, …
  • vol. 11, letter from J. D. Hooker, 10 June 1863 ). However, probably the most enthusiastic
  • Benjamin Dann Walsh in the Midwestern United States, and Asa Gray wrote a long review ofClimbing
  • that Lyell in his  Antiquity of man , published in 1863, had made unacknowledged use of Lubbocks

Climbing Plants

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A monograph by which to work After the publication of On the Origin of Species, Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, The Descent of Man, and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals in…

Matches: 9 hits

  • was led to take up this subject by reading a short paper by Asa Gray, published in 1858, on the
  • of Climbing Plants , Chapter 1. Papers Gray, Asa. "Note on the Coiling of
  • … , Vol. 4 (May 1857-May 1860). Letters Letter Packet: Climbing movement in
  • Darwin believed this was a wise course of action. Letter 8545 - Asa Gray to Charles
  • for how the stimulus travels in the plant. The rest of the letter is filled with news of Grays trip
  • publish with his old papers on climbing plants. Letter 8656 - Asa Gray to Charles
  • of experimental information is exchanged between Darwin and Asa Gray? Do you think Darwin was
  • seconds. Through this experiment the students, just like Asa Gray and Charles Darwin, were able to
  • of tendrils, as described in the following excerpt from an 1863 letter he wrote to the English

Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870

Summary

This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … to confide in his closest friends and associates by letter. The letters in this volume speak …
  • … of the Slave-holders being triumphant … Darwin to Asa Gray, in Boston, Mass., 1862. …
  • … derivation of Species … Darwin to Charles Lyell, 1863. Permit me again to …

Forms of flowers

Summary

Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…

Matches: 14 hits

  • … produced seed capsules. He told the American botanist Asa Gray , ‘ If it should prove that the …
  • … was read at a meeting of the Linnean Society on 3 February 1863. Forms of flowers …
  • … make 126 additional crosses!! ’ Nevertheless, on telling Gray about the need for this further work, …
  • … often adapted for insect visitation. In his reply to Darwin, Gray unsurprisingly revealed, ‘ I know …
  • … ‘They did not believe in my results’ In July 1863, when Lythrum was flowering, Darwin …
  • … believe in my results. ’ Undeterred, Darwin reported to Gray at the beginning of August, ‘I have …
  • … triple marriage between three hermaphrodite. ’ Gray replied, ‘ If your Lythrum -paper shall be …
  • … only produced seedlings of the same form, but in March 1863, Darwin told Scott that with regard to …
  • … , a species of lungwort also known as blue cowslip. He told Gray in October 1865 that with respect …
  • … of Origin . He encouraged Huxley to read it, noting, ‘ Asa Gray & Fritz Müller (the latter …
  • … in as many natural families as possible’, explaining to Gray that he had ‘ become convinced that …
  • … (p. 82) and clarified the meaning to Fritz Müller in a letter in September 1866, ‘ What I meant in …
  • … than in the short-styled form ’, Darwin annotated this letter, wondering, ‘Would it be worth while …
  • … term heterostyly in preference to di- or trimorphism. Gray objected and suggested his own …

Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute

Summary

Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…

Matches: 23 hits

  • suppose abuse is as good as praise for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] …
  • to the printer, but without the additional chapter. In a letter written on 8 February [1867] to
  • booksDescent  and  Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his
  • variation of animals and plants under domestication . In a letter to his son William dated 27
  • Vorlesungen über den Menschen  (Lectures on man; Vogt 1863) from German into French. With a
  • of his brothers embryological papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although
  • … . Indeed, he told his publisher, John Murray, in a letter of 4 April [1867] , not to send
  • tell me, at what rate your work will be published’ ( letter from J. V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). This
  • … & sent to him, he may wish to give up the task’ ( letter to Carl Vogt, 12 April [1867] ). …
  • fit personto introduce the work to the German public ( letter from J. V. Carus, 15 April 1867 ). …
  • Vogt should translate my book in preference to you’ ( letter to J. V. Carus, 18 April [1867] ). …
  • varieties at the eye, which resulted in a mottled hybrid ( letter from Robert Trail, 5 April 1867
  • it will be a somewhat important step in Biology’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 22 August [1867] ). …
  • if you attack it & me with unparalleled ferocity’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1867] …
  • own discretion; anyhow most ought to be introduced’ ( letter to W. S. Dallas, 8 November [1867] ). …
  • however, & I cannot get on so quickly as I could wish’ (letter from W. S. Dallas, 20 November
  • with me about 27 years old In a letter of 22 February [1867] to Fritz Müller in
  • chapter on the cause or meaning of Expression.’ With this letter Darwin enclosed a list of questions
  • … ‘Queries about Expression’. In a postscript to the letter he added, ‘But you must not plague
  • that Darwin send his queries to foreign newspapers. The letter also reveals that he did not share
  • the queries to acquaintances in remote areas. On 26 March, Asa Gray wrote, ‘You see I have  …
  • one to send them to, so do not want any more’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). …
  • … , 31 August 1867. Another version, possibly derived from Asa Grays printed queries, was published

Floral Dimorphism

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a series of smaller studies on botanical subjects. Titled The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, it consisted primarily of…

Matches: 6 hits

  • of his closest scientific colleagues and personal friends; Asa Gray and Joseph Dalton Hooker
  • Dimorphic Plants: Primulaceae Letters Letter Packet: Floral Dimorphism
  • find anything distinctly dimorphic in the Oxalis. Letter 3757 - Joseph Dalton Hooker to
  • and Darwin held Hookers work in high esteem. Letter 4053 - Darwin to Asa Gray, 20 March
  • 1. What tone does Darwin use in his letters to Asa Gray? Is it similar to his way of writing to
  • family, his personal health, and his botanic work all in one letter? Why or why not? …

Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health

Summary

On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’.  Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…

Matches: 22 hits

  • … a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864 : ‘the …
  • … the long illness that had plagued him since the spring of 1863. Because of poor health, Darwin …
  • … from that of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] …
  • … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
  • … As Darwin explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of 30 November [1864] , ‘the …
  • … leaf, and aerial roots. When his health deteriorated in 1863, he found that he could still continue …
  • … gradation by which  leaves  produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). …
  • … fearfully for it is a leaf climber & therefore sacred’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 June [1864] …
  • … matters which routinists regard in the light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 …
  • … the result of a long series of changes . . .’ When he told Asa Gray in a letter of 29 October …
  • …  paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] that nothing …
  • … of the two species with the common oxlip. In a letter of 22 October [1864] , Darwin triumphantly …
  • … the ‘splendid case of Dimorphism’ in  Menyanthes  ( letter from Emma and Charles Darwin to W. E. …
  • … this interest. At the start of the year, he received a letter, insect specimens, and an article on …
  • … that it was ‘the best medicine for my stomach’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 17 February [1864] ). …
  • …  species. References and enclosures in letters from Gray and Hooker show how Darwin was able to …
  • … activities of collectors and curators at a great distance. Gray forwarded a letter from Charles …
  • … scientific debate. He had begun taking the journal in April 1863 and was an enthusiastic subscriber. …
  • … old Testament’ ( Correspondence vol. 10, letter to Asa Gray, 6 November [1862] ). A …
  • … and their predecessors had continued to grow following the 1863 publication of Huxley’s  Evidence …
  • … failure to win the award in the two preceding years. An 1863 letter from the president of the Royal …
  • … read aloud to him by his ‘dear womenkind’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 29 October [1864] ). It was …

Capturing Darwin’s voice: audio of selected letters

Summary

On a sunny Wednesday in June 2011 in a makeshift recording studio somewhere in Cambridge, we were very pleased to welcome Terry Molloy back to the Darwin Correspondence Project for a special recording session. Terry, known for his portrayal of Davros in Dr…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … in a dramatisation of the correspondence between Darwin and Asa Gray. Re: Design toured Britain …
  • … help him with his research (e.g. to Lydia Becker, 2 August 1863 ; to Mary Treat, 5 January 1872 …
  • … seeking permission to go on the Beagle voyage, to a letter to C. A. Kennard written on 9 …
  • … from the youthful exuberance of the Beagle letters (e.g. letter to Caroline Darwin, 29 April …
  • … that led up to his ‘confessing a murder’ in his famous  letter to J. D. Hooker, in which he admitted …
  • … who was proofreading a draft chapter of Descent (letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …

Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest

Summary

The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of  Origin. Darwin got the fourth…

Matches: 20 hits

  • Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But
  • on the basis of alleged evidence of a global ice age, while Asa Gray pressed Darwins American
  • able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
  • once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
  • see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866
  • work doing me any harmany how I cant be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
  • production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January
  • hybrids, soliciting assistance from the American botanist Asa Gray, the nurseryman Thomas Rivers, …
  • ofDomestic Animals & Cult. Plantsto Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
  • good deal I think, & have come to more definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December
  • … ‘I quite follow you in thinking Agassiz glacier-mad’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8[–9] September
  • ten times more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] …
  • by Heinrich Georg Bronn, had been published in 1860 and 1863 by the firm E. Schweizerbartsche
  • across the Atlantic, despite much effort expended by Asa Gray in trying to secure a new American
  • changes, but their proposal was unsatisfactory to Darwin. Gray then approached another American firm
  • become interested in  Rhamnus  (buckthorn) in 1861, when Asa Gray informed him that a North
  • a subject of long discussion in previous years with Lyell, Gray, and Hooker. Wallaces
  • a subject of extensive correspondence between Darwin and Asa Gray for many years, was legally
  • fact that Slavery is at end in your country’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 April [1866] ). …
  • their fathers death in 1848 until Catherine married in 1863. Catherine had written shortly before

Climbing plants

Summary

Darwin’s book Climbing plants was published in 1865, but its gestation began much earlier. The start of Darwin’s work on the topic lay in his need, owing to severe bouts of illness in himself and his family, for diversions away from his much harder book on…

Matches: 16 hits

  • and Sciences , 4 (1857-60): 98-9 ) by the Harvard botanist Asa Gray. This brief paper sparked his
  • and told his best friend Joseph Dalton Hooker in January 1863, ‘ I have been trying for health
  • vomiting half the night— ' Darwins journal for 1863 resolutely records each chapter of
  • His letters tell a different story, though. In June 1863, Darwin reported to Gray that although the
  • regarding the tendrils of Echinocystis beyond what Gray had reported about their sensitivity to
  • at this early stage of his research is evident; he promised Gray, ‘ If I can make out anything
  • stage in his research, Darwin seems to have relied only on Grays brief notice. This might have been
  • and physiology of climbing in its many forms.   Asa Gray was soon to disabuse Darwin of the
  • Henslow says tendrils of Cucurbitaceæ are stipules Gray branches, & Thomson leaves—: what
  • I have no opinion of my own ’. By the beginning of August 1863, Darwin reported to Gray, ‘my
  • … ‘Not knowing what is knownGray was incredulous. ‘As to tendrils, What are Hooker
  • Mohls work had been translated into English, thanks to Gray, although as he grumbled, ‘ you
  • broken-down brother naturalistAs the summer of 1863 drew to a close, Darwins bouts of
  • paper to save my life ’. A week later, however, he wrote Asa Gray, ‘It is now six months since I
  • days later, Oliver apologised for the tone of his previous letter (‘more seemly if addressed to one
  • it is over ’, but by the months end he confessed to Gray, ‘ I have not been able to resist doing

3.4 William Darwin, photo 1

Summary

< Back to Introduction In the 1860s Darwin increasingly turned to two of his sons - first to William and later to Leonard - for the fashioning of his image. William, the eldest, apparently took up photography c.1857, when still in his teens, and…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … On 11 April 11 1861, Darwin wrote to the American botanist Asa Gray, who had become a valued friend, …
  • … described as ‘an ugly affair’. In a postscript to this letter, however, Darwin explained that he was …
  • … Son’. A photograph of Darwin which still exists in the Gray Herbarium, showing him as he looked in …
  • … me.’ If this was another print of the photograph sent to Asa Gray, Darwin was hazy on its dating, …
  • … 1862, to the botanist Alphonse de Candolle in January 1863, and to the naturalist Roland Trimen, …
  • … print 
 references and bibliography letter from Darwin to his son William in autumn 1857, …
  • … & down the House with your photographs’ (DCP-LETT-1619). Letter from Darwin to Asa Gray, 11 …
  • … and to Philip Gidley King, 16 Nov. [1862] (DCP-LETT-3809). Letter from Darwin to Alphonse de …

Rewriting Origin - the later editions

Summary

For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions.  Many of his changes were made in…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … edition published May 1862 2d German translation, 1863 2d French translation 1865 …
  • … buried Darwin under a blizzard of letters (see especially letter to Charles Lyell, 11 October …
  • … getting permission to quote prominently from Kingsley’s letter in the revised summary: A …
  • … sufficiently acknowledged earlier work.  According to a letter to Asa Gray he had yet to start …
  • … correspondent for the first set of revisions to Origin , Asa Gray, who masterminded the US …
  • … an animal’s colour and its immunity to poison (see letter from Jeffries Wyman, [ c . 15] …
  • … hitherto slurred it over. In his Christmas Day letter to his old friend Joseph Hooker, …
  • … of population increase in elephants in response to a letter published in the Athenaeum by a …

Darwin in Conversation exhibition

Summary

Meet Charles Darwin as you have never met him before. Come to our exhibition at Cambridge University Library, running from 9 July to 3 December 2022, and discover a fascinating series of interwoven conversations with Darwin's many hundreds of…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … 9 July – 3 December 2022 Milstein Exhibition Centre, Cambridge University …
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