Bad Request
Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
Apache Server at dcp-public.lib.cam.ac.uk Port 443
Search:
in keywords
40 Items
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: 13 hits
- … was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, …
- … series of guides and also published travel books. Successive John Murrays ran the publishing house; …
- … University Library a similar number of letters from John Murray and Robert Cooke, his cousin and …
- … end of 1845, Darwin was not happy with Colburn’s terms ( Letter 856 ). Instead he asked his friend …
- … had proved to be a scientific best-seller for the second John Murray, to open negotiations with his …
- … have transacted the business with me’ (27 August [1845] Letter 908 ). Thus began the business …
- … Navy: and adapted for travellers in general edited by John Herschel, but there was an error at …
- … copies some pages in Darwin’s chapter were transposed ( Letter 1244 ). Darwin was anxious lest an …
- … & make the poor workman some present’ (12 June [1849] Letter 1245 ). Darwin’s next …
- … his ‘big species book’; on 18 June 1858, he received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace with the …
- … . Again he asked Lyell to act as his intermediary with John Murray ( Letter 2437 ), who, without …
- … not repent of having undertaken it’ (15 October [1859] Letter 2506 ). Murray decided on a retail …
- … that more than a few hundred copies w d . be sold’ (11 April 1877 Letter 10926 ). Murray …
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: 26 hits
- … be done by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August …
- … pleasures of shooting and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ). Such …
- … And … one looks backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). …
- … was an illusory hope.— I feel very old & helpless’ ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] …
- … inferred that he was well from his silence on the matter ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 26 October …
- … in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
- … that Mr Williams was ‘a cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). …
- … his, ‘& that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874 …
- … had been in two volumes and had cost twenty-four shillings.) Murray’s partner, Robert Francis Cooke, …
- … Quarterly Review discussing works on primitive man by John Lubbock and Edward Burnett Tylor. It …
- … of anonymous reviews. Its proprietor was none other than John Murray, Darwin’s publisher. So …
- … wording of both the letter to the editor and the letter to Murray to accompany it. The depth of …
- … a new publisher’ and advised that Darwin should not push Murray to the point of cutting off …
- … [6 or 7 August 1874] ). When the letter was finally sent to Murray, Darwin referred only to their …
- … to review me in a hostile spirit’ ( letter to John Murray, 11 August 1874 ). Darwin was …
- … Correspondence vol. 20, letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). To Darwin’s relief, …
- … number of the Review & in the same type’ ( letter from John Murray, 12 August 1874 ). George …
- … anonymous reviews. While staying with Hooker over Christmas, John Tyndall, professor at and …
- … as ‘the natural outflow of his character’ ( letter from John Tyndall, 28 December 1874 ). …
- … to purchase the wooded land, which he had been renting from John Lubbock, led to a straining of …
- … the sale was agreed in April for £300 ( letter from John Lubbock, 2 April 1874 ), a high price …
- … the moment of being hatched ( letter to Nature , 7 and 11 May [1874] ; Spalding 1872a). …
- … & that must be enough for me’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). Plants that eat . …
- … cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). His research …
- … Correspondence vol. 21, letter from Francis Darwin, [11 October 1873] ). Darwin wasted …
- … the photograph he sent highly ( letter from D. F. Nevill, [11 September 1874] ). At the …
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: 24 hits
- … In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
- … species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. …
- … on the topic. Lyell also added the following note on page 11: *Mr. John Lubbock published …
- … Galton. In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, evidently in response …
- … 2 have struck out Galton & Prestwich at p. 11 who will be surprisd [ sic ] to …
- … about Lyell’s failure to support him. In April 1863, in a letter to the Athenæum , he discussed a …
- … transmutation; he also wrote to Lyell telling him about the letter to the Athenæum . 9 …
- … had done ‘an injustice’ to Falconer and Prestwich. 11 In the same review Lubbock expressed …
- … 1863b, p. 213). In May 1864, Lubbock received a letter from Falconer, who reiterated his …
- … he took exception to the wording of the note on p. 11 of C. Lyell 1863c, which implied that Lubbock …
- … The statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in a note to page 11 of his work, that my article on the …
- … and went on to say that he intended to make a copy of his letter to show to friends. 18 In …
- … wrote to Henrietta Emma Darwin, ‘whereas after talking to John, he thought him not wrong, after …
- … avoiding any mention of the note in the preface (letter to John Lubbock, 11 June [1865] ). No …
- … of the preface of C. Lyell 1863c and reworded the note on p. 11. Unlike the earlier …
- … Lyell revised both the preface and the note on page 11 of the third edition of Antiquity of man …
- … on page 11, C. Lyell 1863c (original version) *Mr. John Lubbock published, after these sheets …
- … on page 11, C. Lyell 1863c (revised version) *Mr. John Lubbock published, in the October …
- … Van Riper 1993. 2. Letter from Charles Lyell to John Lubbock, 20 February 1863 (British …
- … of the origin of species by variation . London: John Murray. Lyell, Charles. 1863b. The …
- … species by variation. 2d edition, revised. London: John Murray. Lyell, Charles. 1863c. …
- … of species by variation . 3d edition, revised. London: John Murray. Lyell, Charles. 1864. …
- … geological monuments . 6th edition, revised. London: John Murray. Lyell, Katharine Murray, …
- … in the struggle for life . By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859. Owen, Richard. 1863 …
Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?
Summary
'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…
Matches: 24 hits
- … What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 8 November [1872] …
- … anything more on 'so difficult a subject, as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 27 July …
- … to spread my views’, he wrote to his publisher, John Murray, on 30 January , shortly after …
- … The public are accustomed to novels for 1s’, he wrote to Murray on 8 January , but Murray …
- … best efforts, set the final price at 7 s. 6 d. ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 February 1872 ) …
- … condition as I can make it’, he wrote to the translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September …
- … translation remained unpublished at the end of the year ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 23 November …
- … the new edition in the United States, Darwin arranged with Murray to have it stereotyped. Before the …
- … to the comparative anatomist St George Jackson Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January …
- … comparison of Whale & duck most beautiful’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 3 March 1872 ) …
- … a person as I am made to appear’, complained Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). …
- … Darwin would renounce `fundamental intellectual errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January …
- … was silly enough to think he felt friendly towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872 …
- … Mivart not to acknowledge it ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). 'I hate …
- … attacks on Darwin became notorious, had written on 11 May expressing concern that his recently, …
- … Hooker’s cause was taken up by his friends, in particular John Lubbock and John Tyndall, as one …
- … well informed: `The die is cast’, he wrote excitedly on 11 May , when the matter was first raised …
- … to Gladstone a week later ( enclosure to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, 20 June 1872 …
- … photographic plates with his overseas publishers, and with John Murray’s assistant, the excitable …
- … of the booksellers, encouraged an originally cautious John Murray to gamble on the book’s success: & …
- … attractive dishes in his `Literary Banquet’ (letters from John Murray, 6 November [1872] and 9 …
- … in those born blind, and filed away other letters, but Murray’s confidence proved misplaced; demand …
- … to supply comparative observations, and Darwin’s protégé John Scott, now employed as a curator in …
- … a copy of Expression to another old Cambridge friend, John Maurice Herbert, who when they were …
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: 25 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 …
- … of sterility between varieties of Verbascum . When John Scott, foreman of the propagating …
- … letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] …
- … Towards the end of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): …
- … and added, ‘new cases are tumbling in almost daily’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). In …
- … hopeful, became increasingly frustrated, telling Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 March [1862] ) …
- … on the problem: ‘the labour is great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ), ‘I …
- … to publish on Linum ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), writing up his …
- … buy it. When he submitted the manuscript to his publisher, John Murray, he boasted: ‘I can say with …
- … in the least , whether the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] ). To his …
- … [1862] ). He warmly recommended Bates and his book to Murray, who swiftly agreed to publish the …
- … paper for the Natural History Review ( see letter to John Lubbock, 16 [December 1862] ). Aware …
- … of Natural History’ ( letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 11 July [1862] ). She had had assistance …
- … for a second edition ( letter from H. G. Bronn, [before 11 March 1862] ), Darwin asked him to use …
- … see letter from E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 11 July 1862 ). Yet Darwin was now …
- … interest. He told Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 11 September [1862] ): ‘This is a nice, but …
- … of the old Beagle crew, Bartholomew James Sulivan, John Clements Wickham, and Arthur Mellersh, …
- … of this, he prescribed strict conditions for a meeting with John Lubbock: ‘if you could … let me go …
- … at 9 o clock I do not think it would hurt me’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 23 October [1862] ). …
- … on botany. Even at the start of their correspondence he told John Scott: ‘Botany is a new subject to …
- … from one parent’ ( letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 11 July [1862] ). really good …
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: 25 hits
- … that he was ‘unwell & 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 …
- … from ‘some 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] ). …
- … from animals like the woolly mammoth and cave bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, 23 …
- … leap from that of inferior animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
- … regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). The botanist Asa Gray, …
- … by descent put him ‘into despair’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). In the same letter, he …
- … bottom of seas, lakes, and rivers ( Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix VII). Quarrels at …
- … were himself, Hooker, Huxley, Alfred Russel Wallace, and John Lubbock. Honours abroad …
- … Academy of Sciences, Berlin (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix III), and of the Société des …
- … unsuccessful ( see letter from E. A. Darwin to Emma Darwin, 11 November [1863] ). The council of …
- … of the Royal Society ( see letter from Edward Sabine to John Phillips, 12 November 1863 ). …
- … [9 May 1863] , and memorandum from G. H. Darwin, [before 11 May 1863]) . As he struggled …
- … to drive the quietest man mad’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). Hooker and Gray agreed …
- … year with the Hertfordshire nurseryman Thomas Rivers. John Scott Darwin had found a …
- … of hybridity and sterility at the end of the previous year. John Scott, a gardener at the Royal …
- … the results of which were published in 1868 ( see letter to John Scott, 25 and 28 May [1863] ). …
- … hoped would counteract Huxley’s criticism ( letter from John Scott, 23 July [1863] ). Darwin …
- … Darwin had also encouraged him to write ( see letter to John Scott, 12 April [1863] ). In this …
- … that your paper will have permanent value’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ). Scott received …
- … tropical plants than before (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix VI). He was fascinated with …
- … pistils mature at different times ( see letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). The fertility of …
- … ‘Crossing & Sterility’ (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix II). When Darwin finished, by …
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: 22 hits
- … of the size of the two-volume work from his publisher, John Murray, he wrote to Murray on 3 …
- … a chapter ‘on Man’. After a few days, he wrote back to Murray proposing that some of the more …
- … 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 …
- … books, Descent and Expression . In the same letter, Darwin revealed the conclusion to his …
- … and the tedious work of correction began. Darwin wrote to Murray on 18 March to say that he …
- … variation of animals and plants under domestication . In a letter to his son William dated 27 …
- … of his brother’s embryological papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although …
- … to translate Variation . Indeed, he told his publisher, John Murray, in a letter of 4 April …
- … 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 person’ to 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 …
- … seems to me, if true, a wonderful physiological fact’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 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] …
- … time it took William Sweetland Dallas to prepare the index. John Murray had engaged Dallas and …
- … asking again for information on Fuegian expressions. On 11 January 1867, Sulivan replied , …
- … to Alfred Russel Wallace, who suggested in his response of 11 March [1867] that Darwin send his …
- … was sure that the colours were protective and suggested that John Jenner Weir might conduct …
- … Darwin’s theory (letter from Fritz to Hermann Müller, 11 February 1867, in Möller ed. 1915–21, 2: …
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: 23 hits
- … on a paper on Verbascum (mullein) by CD’s protégé, John Scott, who was now working in India. …
- … also a serious dispute between two of Darwin’s friends, John Lubbock and Charles Lyell . These …
- … The death of Hugh Falconer Darwin’s 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] …
- … Appendix II). In May, he invited a new doctor, John Chapman, to Down and began a course of Chapman’s …
- … 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 Jones’s diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] …
- … Variation . In March Darwin wrote to his publisher, John Murray, ‘Of present book I have 7 …
- … will be ready for the press in the autumn’ ( letter to John Murray, 4 April [1865] ). In early …
- … ‘I am never idle when I can do anything’ ( letter to John Murray, 2 June [1865] ). It was not …
- … questions and suggesting new lines of research. John Scott A similar, though not so …
- … effort took place in the beginning of the year when John Scott, a protégé of Darwin’s whom Darwin …
- … varieties (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter to John Scott, 19 November [1862] ). Darwin had …
- … crossing experiments in 1863 (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from John Scott, 21 September …
- … interest in Darwin’s theory ( Correspondence vol. 11, letter from J. D. Hooker, 10 June 1863 ) …
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: 22 hits
- … Were women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
- … chapters of Origin of Species to his publisher, John Murray. He hopes that his views are …
- … her to read to check that she can understand it. Letter 7312 - Darwin to Darwin, F. …
- … from all but educated, typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E …
- … he seeks her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 …
- … in order to minimise impeding general perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, …
- … he uses to avoid ownership of indelicate content. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to …
- … so as not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
- … which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to …
- … Darwin’s female readership Letter 5391 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [6 February …
- … of the Manchester Ladies Literary Society . Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to …
- … the chapter on pangenesis, which is a revelation. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. …
- … Darwin assumes that 'A. B. Blackwell' is a man. Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to …
- … him to the psychology of Herbert Spencer. Letter 7624 - Bathoe, M . B. to Darwin …
- … his statements on a lack of reasoning in animals. Letter 7644 - Barnard, A. to …
- … during a visit to an asylum with her father. Letter 7651 - Wedgwood, F. J. to …
- … on any comments that she feels might be suitable. Letter 7411 - Pfeiffer, E. J. to …
- … and beauty in the process of sexual selection. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, …
- … of a woman’s natural thinking”. Letter 8778 - Forster, L. M . to Darwin, H. …
- … work. Letter 5861 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [11 February 1868] Zoologist …
- … - Innes, J. B. to Darwin, [31 August 1868] John Innes reports that he has read …
- … Letter 9633 - Nevill, D. F. to Darwin, [11 September 1874] Dorothy Nevill tells …
Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest
Summary
The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…
Matches: 26 hits
- … on 24 February, and all 2500 copies were sold in a week. ‘Murray says he is “torn to pieces” by …
- … on 28 February . Demand continued throughout the year, and Murray produced three more printings, …
- … do to talk about it, which no doubt promotes the sale’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 26 March 1871 ) …
- … £1470 for the first two printings, Darwin wrote to Murray on 20 March 1871 , ‘It is quite a grand …
- … to her liking, ‘to keep in memory of the book’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, 20 March 1871 ). …
- … and had forsaken his lunch and dinner in order to read it ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 19 …
- … they believe to be the truth, whether pleasant or not’ (letter from W. W. Reade, 21 February 1871). …
- … and Oldham … They club together to buy them’ ( letter from W. B. Dawkins, 23 February 1871 ). …
- … one’s n th . ancestor lived between tide-marks!’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 February 1871 ). …
- … habits, furnished with a tail and pointed ears” (letter from Asa Gray, 14 April 1871) …
- … ‘will-power’ and the heavy use of their arms and legs ( letter from C. L. Bernays, 25 February 1871 …
- … in order to make it darker than the hair on his head ( letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, [before 25 …
- … together with an image of an orang-utan foetus ( letter from Hinrich Nitsche, 18 April 1871 ). …
- … of himself, adding that it made a ‘very poor return’ ( letter to Hinrich Nitsche, 25 April [1871] …
- … each night, returning to its allotted space each morning ( letter from Arthur Nicols, 7 March 1871 …
- … without having a high aesthetic appreciation of beauty ( letter from E. J. Pfeiffer, [before 26 …
- … endowment of spiritual life’ at some time in the past ( letter from Roland Trimen, 17 and 18 April …
- … expressed by Darwin’s old friend, the former vicar of Down John Brodie Innes. Darwin and Innes had …
- … ‘a windbag full of metaphysics & classics’ ( letter to John Murray, 13 April [1871] ). …
- … Gazette , and wrote to its author, who turned out to be John Morley, a leading advocate of …
- … and transmitted by culture, not biology ( letter from John Morley, 30 March 1871 ). …
- … by his wife and children. William offered his assessment of John Stuart Mill’s theory of …
- … he suspected that very few would actually sell (letters to John Murray, 17 August [1871] and …
- … Wallace, 4 August [1871] ). On 23 September he informed Murray that owing to poor health he had …
- … years following the publication of Origin of species . Murray convinced him to appear in Vanity …
- … a ‘venerable old Ape’ ( letter from D. Thomas, [after 11 March 1871] ). Descent and …
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: 10 hits
- … 1 st to 2 nd editions I have heard from Murray today that he sold whole Edition …
- … incessantly receiving letters with references’ he told Murray , with friends suggesting expansion …
- … 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 …
- … an animal’s colour and its immunity to poison (see letter from Jeffries Wyman, [ c . 15] …
- … Hist. progresses so quickly’, he complained to Murray , ‘that I must make a good many corrections …
- … hitherto slurred it over. In his Christmas Day letter to his old friend Joseph Hooker, …
- … a larger target audience were also made. Darwin persuaded John Murray to include a glossary of …
- … of population increase in elephants in response to a letter published in the Athenaeum by a …
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: 23 hits
- … March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If any man wants to …
- … in satisfying female preference in the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864, …
- … of changing the races of man’ (Correspondence vol. 12, letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May 1864] ). …
- … book would take the form of a ‘short essay’ on man ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 3 July 1868 ). But …
- … as well say, he would drink a little and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868] ) …
- … domestication . Having been advertised by the publisher John Murray as early as 1865, the two …
- … increased the amount of work substantially. Darwin asked Murray to intervene, complaining on 9 …
- … would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s angry letter to Murray crossed one from Dallas to …
- … of labour to remuneration I shall look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). …
- … a cheque to Dallas for £55 s ., and recommended to Murray that Dallas receive additional payment. …
- … if I try to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). …
- … of the book were sold within a month of its release, and Murray made immediate arrangements for a …
- … reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from the Isle of Wight on the formation …
- … profound contempt of me. I feel convinced it is by Owen’. John Edward Gray, a colleague of Richard …
- … would strike me in the face, but not behind my back’ ( letter to John Murray, 25 February [1868] ) …
- … ignorant article… . It is a disgrace to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] …
- … the enthusiastic breeder, who apologised in a letter of 11–13 May 1868 for his ‘voluminuous zeal …
- … a letter of thanks to the naturalist and customs offcial John Jenner Weir for a paper on apterous …
- … Weir, 30 May [1868] ). Sexual selection On 11 February , Darwin wrote to the …
- … views differed. Of deer-hounds, Cupples wrote between 11 and 13 May , ‘much depends on the …
- … ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868], n. 11 ). ‘I am not sure’, Darwin reflected in a …
- … the whole System is sustained.’ The former Down clergyman, John Brodie Innes, passed easily over …
- … letter to J. B. Innes, 1 December 1868 ), his replacement, John Warburton Robinson, proved no …
Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Matches: 26 hits
- … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
- … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
- … In January, Darwin corresponded with George John Romanes about new varieties of sugar cane produced …
- … François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20 …
- … quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January …
- … probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
- … we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He …
- … of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
- … find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
- … Quarterly Review , owned by Darwin’s publisher John Murray, carried an anonymous article on the …
- … 1882, p. 179). Darwin commented at length on the review to Murray. He was pleased by ‘the few first …
- … sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
- … leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
- … on the summit, whence it rolls down the sides’ ( letter from J. F. Simpson, 7 January 1882 ). The …
- … rather the best of the fight’ ( letter from G. F. Crawte, 11 March 1882 ). The battle apparently …
- … Darwin had a less heated discussion with the painter John Collier on the topic of science and art. …
- … himself to so dreadful a man, as Huxley’ ( letter to John Collier, 16 February 1882 ). Collier had …
- … be the same without my consciousness?’ ( letter from John Collier, 22 February 1882 ; T. H. Huxley …
- … a ‘Glycerin Pepsin mixture’ (letters to W. W. Baxter, 11 March 1882 and 18 March [1882 ]). …
- … immediately wrote to George, who had visited Down on 11 April (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)). …
- … and admirers. One of the most touching was from John Lubbock, whose interest in natural history at …
- … we adjourned as a small tribute of respect’ (letter from John Lubbock to Francis Darwin, 20 April …
- … pigeon breeder: ‘Skins are on their road to me sent by Mr. Murray from Persia, & I hope to get …
- … ). Darwin’s former mentor at University of Cambridge, John Stevens Henslow, was not a …
- … Origin, a number of Darwin’s friends, Huxley, John Lubbock, and Charles Lyell, each addressed the …
- … man’s private property’ ( letter to George Warington, 11 October [1867] ). Respecting the …
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: 19 hits
- … he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This …
- … has infinitely exceeded my wildest hopes.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). …
- … to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
- … 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 …
- … his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
- … selection. Darwin’s shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell …
- … Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
- … the accuracy of Darwin’s words has been questioned by John L. Brooks and by H. Lewis McKinney, both …
- … ideas (see letters to J. D. Hooker, 2 March [1859] , 11 March [1859] , and 7 April [1859] ) …
- … Lyell, 28 March [1859] ). Lyell suggested the firm of John Murray, publishers of the second edition …
- … of Lyell’s works, and well-known for its scientific list. Murray agreed to publish Darwin’s book …
- … , for his opinion. Elwin’s long and considered reply to Murray is published in this volume. Despite …
- … to the original plan of his book (see letter from Elwin to Murray, 3 May 1859 , and letter to …
- … In particular, he was anxious about the prospects of Murray recovering his expenses and even offered …
- … (letters to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] , and to John Murray, 10 September [1859] ), but …
- … 24 November 1859 ). Equally painful was the news that John Frederick William Herschel, whom he so …
- … comments in notices of and letters about his book. He told Murray, ‘I fear all Reviews of my present …
- … would change their minds without good cause.’ ( letter to John Murray, 2 December [1859] ). …
St George Jackson Mivart
Summary
In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…
Matches: 11 hits
- … July 1874, Mivart published an anonymous review of works by John Lubbock and Edward Burnett Tylor in …
- … also wondering whether he should break off relations with John Murray, his own publisher and also …
- … it for publication in the next issue of the Quarterly ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 29 July 1874 …
- … paper, which Darwin pointed out was not the kind of thing Murray would be likely to wish to …
- … them explicitly, he might be thought to endorse them ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 5 August 1874 ). …
- … of encouraging licentiousness. A postscript to Darwin’s letter, which may belong to another letter, …
- … on board Darwin’s comments and sent a fair copy of his letter with his letter of 6 [August] 1874 …
- … dangerous and pernicious. Darwin thanked Murray for sending him the issue of the …
- … having been used in a Pickwickian sense’ ( letter to John Murray, 18 October 1874 ). In other …
- … probably refers to Darwin’s letter to Mivart of 11 January 1872 ( Correspondence vol. 20), in …
- … the president, George Allman: he had already spoken to John Tyndall ( letter from John Tyndall, 28 …
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: 21 hits
- … of scientific admirers at Down, among them Robert Caspary, John Traherne Moggridge, and Ernst …
- … to Darwin’s annoyance, however, publication was delayed by Murray, who judged that it would sell …
- … Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But …
- … 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] ). …
- … regime led to Darwin’s being teased by his neighbour, John Lubbock, about the prospect of riding to …
- … work doing me any harm—any how I can’t 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 …
- … of “Domestic Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
- … On 21 February Darwin received notification from John Murray that stocks of the third edition of …
- … 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 …
- … George Henslow, the son of his Cambridge mentor, John Stevens Henslow, stayed for two days in April …
- … In June, Darwin was visited by the orchid specialist John Traherne Moggridge, whose work on the self …
- … Haeckel. The German zoologist had written to Darwin on 11 January 1866 , ‘Every time I succeed in …
- … (Correspondence vol. 9, letter from Asa Gray, 11 October 1861 ). Darwin wished to establish …
- … diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, [7 May – 11 June 1866] ). On examining more specimens later …
- … out, ‘business would be totally paralysed’. Similarly, John Murray gave as a reason for his decision …
- … ‘gaieties travelling & War Bulletins’ ( letter from John Murray, 18 July 1866 ). I …
- … for the criminal prosecution of the colonial governor Edward John Eyre. In his efforts to suppress …
- … ‘I am glad to hear from Spencer’, Huxley wrote on 11 November , ‘that you are on the right (that …
Origin
Summary
Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to establish priority for the species theory he had spent over twenty years researching. Darwin never intended to write Origin, and had resisted suggestions in 1856…
Matches: 19 hits
- … While still on the Isle of Wight, Darwin also heard from John Stevens Henslow, his old mentor and …
- … make a large-sized pamphlet. ’ On the 4 October, in a letter to T. C. Eyton explaining his change …
- … buoyed up in January 1859, when he received a (now lost) letter from Wallace, expressing …
- … In late March, Lyell had a word with his own publisher, John Murray, who had already published …
- … light of this, Darwin asked Lyell whether he should ‘tell Murray that my Book is not more un …
- … ’ Even before seeing Darwin’s manuscript, Murray objected to the terms ‘abstract’ and ‘ …
- … ’, he told Lyell. On 31 March 1859, Darwin wrote to Murray describing his work on the origin of …
- … length, and the terms he expected; he also acknowledged that Murray wished to see the manuscript …
- … I publish for Sir Charles Lyell ’. Darwin was uneasy. Murray, he thought, should see the manuscript …
- … origin of all animate forms.’ Moreover, Darwin warned Murray, ‘ it would be a stigma on my work …
- … Reading Darwin’s first three chapters was sufficient for Murray to confirm his offer on 10 April …
- … old draft ‘ the loss would have killed me! ’ Although Murray was committed to publishing Origin, …
- … his friend George Frederick Pollock. The former, in a long letter to Murray, believed that Darwin …
- … the latter not only recommended publication but advised Murray to increase the print run from 500 to …
- … are very heavy,—as heavy as possible ’, he told Murray on 14 June. He tried to make the text ‘clear …
- … is in the main safe ’. Darwin reassured Lyell on 11 October that he was aware that his …
- … As the trade publication day of 22 November approached, Murray sent Darwin a bound ‘specimen copy’ …
- … & proud at the appearance of my child ’, and agreed to Murray’s proposed price. According to …
- … I will attend to. ’ Darwin was confounded to hear from Murray on 24 November that the ‘whole …
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: 29 hits
- … Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864 : ‘the venerable beard gives …
- … of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] , Darwin …
- … 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 …
- … continue his observations indoors ( Correspondence vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] …
- … 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 …
- … long series of changes . . .’ When he told Asa Gray in a letter of 29 October [1864] that he was …
- … 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] ). …
- … of a paper by another of his orchid correspondents, John Traherne Moggridge, who in June sent him …
- … of insect pollinators in 1864 and following years. John Scott again Much of Darwin’s …
- … plight of another of Darwin’s fellow orchid-experimenters, John Scott. Their correspondence had been …
- … five years. Scott felt that his superiors, James McNab and John Hutton Balfour, no longer treated …
- … two years, with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] …
- … indomitable perseverance, and his knowledge’ ( letter to John Scott, 10 June 1864 ). Hooker met …
- … support ‘on the grounds of science’ ( letter to John Scott, 9 April 1864 ), but Scott declined …
- … two letters to the Athenæum ( Correspondence vol. 11). Darwin’s anxiety about the matter was …
- … 1864 ). A notably rambling and long letter arrived from John Beck, a Shrewsbury schoolfellow of …
- … by a merciful deity for the use of humankind ( letter from John Beck, 6 October 1864 ). …
- … his brother Erasmus told him of a subscription fund for John William Colenso, bishop of Natal, South …
- … that a Neanderthal race once extended across Europe. John Lubbock mentioned his forthcoming volume …
- … and the question of human origins ( Correspondence vol. 11). Wallace, however, traced a possible …
- … of the Royal Society, Edward Sabine, to the geologist John Phillips revealed Sabine’s fears that in …
- … ever so little degree the Council’s award’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 21 December [1864] ). In …
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: 9 hits
- … 17 March [1867] ). He noted another factor in a letter to Gray, remarking, ‘I am going on with my …
- … I finish with this & get it published’ ( To Asa Gray, 11 March [1873] ). In April 1873, …
- … plagued by foreign Translators, Reviewers, &c.’ ( To John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). In reply to …
- … [1873] ). In September, Darwin wrote a long letter to Nature commenting on a seemingly …
- … not expect that more than 6 or 700 would sell.’ ( To John Murray, 15 November 1876 ). In fact, …
- … A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this letter has been found, but Darwin had long …
- … ( From R. F. Cooke, 16 March 1877 ). In November 1877, Murray suggested stereotyping the book, but …
- … repaged & the index a little altered’ ( To R. F. Cooke, 11 December [1877] ). These changes …
- … W. Rimpau, 10 December 1877 ). By the end of February 1878, Murray was ready to print the second …
Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life
Summary
1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…
Matches: 27 hits
- … ‘my wife … poor creature, has won only 2490 games’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876 ). …
- … to think of the future’, Darwin confessed to William on 11 September just hours after Amy’s …
- … quantity of work’ left in him for ‘new matter’ (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). The …
- … to a reprint of the second edition of Climbing plants ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 23 February …
- … & I for blundering’, he cheerfully observed to Carus. ( Letter to J. V. Carus, 24 April 1876. …
- … provided evidence for the ‘advantages of crossing’ (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). Revising …
- … year to write about his life ( Correspondence vol. 23, letter from Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg, 20 …
- … nowadays is evolution and it is the correct one’ ( letter from Nemo, [1876?] ). …
- … him ‘basely’ and who had succeeded in giving him pain ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 17 June 1876 ). …
- … disgrace’ of blackballing so distinguished a zoologist ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 29 January 1876 ) …
- … must have been cast by the ‘poorest curs in London’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [4 February …
- … had been founded in March 1876 by the London physiologist John Scott Burdon Sanderson to discuss how …
- … her questions were ‘too silly to deserve an answer’ ( letter from S. B. Herrick, 12 February 1876 …
- … on Dionaea ‘to test the insect eating theory’ ( letter from Peter Henderson, 15 November 1876 …
- … sending Darwin small amendments to his results ( letter from Moritz Schiff, 8 May 1876 ). …
- … to get positive results in this year’s experiments’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [ c . 19 March …
- … in the Encyclopaedia Britannica the previous year ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [after 4 September …
- … and to promote work he admired. He was so interested in a letter from Fritz Müller in Brazil …
- … with the ants that inhabited the trunk that he sent the letter to Nature for publication. ‘It …
- … communicated this information in an article in Nature ( letter from Johann von Fischer, [before …
- … naturalist Thomas Edward ( letter from F. M. Balfour, 11 December 1876 ; letter to Samuel Smiles …
- … Darwin rejoiced to hear that the Cambridge astronomer John Couch Adams not only approved of George’s …
- … who died at the age of 10 in 1851, but William, who was 11 years old at the time of her death, would …
- … you are one of the best of all’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 11 September [1876] ). …
- … do I cannot conceive’, Darwin wrote anxiously to Hooker on 11 September. By the time Darwin …
- … at the pre-publication sale dinner held by his publisher, John Murray ( letter to John Murray, 15 …
- … ). In England, the clergyman botanist George Henslow, son of John Stevens Henslow, Darwin’s …
