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Darwin Correspondence Project
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From R. W. Darwin to Josiah Wedgwood II   1 September 1831

Summary

RWD had made up his mind to give up his objection to the Beagle voyage if JW did not take the same view. If Charles continues to want to go after further inquiry, will give him every assistance.

Author:  Robert Waring Darwin
Addressee:  Josiah Wedgwood, II
Date:  1 Sept 1831
Classmark:  V&A / Wedgwood Collection (MS W/M 96)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-111

To Francis Beaufort   1 September [1831]

Summary

CD accepts going with Capt. FitzRoy. Explains earlier refusal as owing to his father’s disapproval.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Francis Beaufort
Date:  1 Sept [1831]
Classmark:  The National Archives (TNA) (ADM 1/4541 PRO D 262)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-112

From Francis Beaufort to Robert FitzRoy   1 September [1831]

Summary

Believes he has found a "savant" for FitzRoy in CD, whom he describes as grandson of Erasmus Darwin and "full of zeal and enterprize".

Author:  Francis Beaufort
Addressee:  Robert FitzRoy
Date:  1 Sept [1831]
Classmark:  United Kingdom Hydrographic Office Archive (Letter Book no. 3, p. 233)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-113

To J. S. Henslow   [2 September 1831]

Summary

Has just arrived in Cambridge; his father has changed his mind. Asks to see JSH.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Stevens Henslow
Date:  [2 Sept 1831]
Classmark:  Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Henslow letters: 3 DAR/1/1/3)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-114

To Susan Darwin   [4 September 1831]

Summary

Spent preceding day with Henslow; much to be done. A friend, Alexander Charles Wood, has written to Capt. FitzRoy about CD. Peacock offered appointment as Beagle naturalist first to Leonard Jenyns, who almost accepted, as did Henslow himself. CD will talk to Capt. Francis Beaufort [Hydrographer] and FitzRoy. Thanks all his family.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Susan Elizabeth Darwin
Date:  [4 Sept 1831]
Classmark:  DAR 223
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-115

From Adam Sedgwick   4 September 1831

Summary

Reports on his geological work in N. Wales since he and CD parted. Answers CD’s queries.

Author:  Adam Sedgwick
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  4 Sept 1831
Classmark:  DAR 204: 65
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-116

To Susan Darwin   [5 September 1831]

Summary

Wood has heard from FitzRoy, who seemed so much against CD’s going that CD and Henslow gave up. CD is in London; has seen FitzRoy, who is now ready to invite him. CD remains undecided. He likes FitzRoy. Gives details of prospective arrangements. They probably will be gone three years; "round the world" is not certain. Want of room is a serious objection.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Susan Elizabeth Darwin
Date:  [5 Sept 1831]
Classmark:  DAR 223
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-117

To J. S. Henslow   [5 September 1831]

Summary

Has met FitzRoy, who has now offered him the post of naturalist on board the Beagle. Other details about the voyage arrangements – mess, CD’s status, route, books.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Stevens Henslow
Date:  [5 Sept 1831]
Classmark:  Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Henslow letters: 4 DAR/1/1/4)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-118

To Susan Darwin   [6 September 1831]

Summary

Orders clothing, books, and other supplies for the voyage, to be sent to him in London.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Susan Elizabeth Darwin
Date:  [6 Sept 1831]
Classmark:  DAR 223
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-119

To W. D. Fox   6 [September 1831]

Summary

Received offer of post as naturalist in the Beagle in the same mail as WDF’s last letter. Outlines details of prospective voyage. Not certain, but thinks he probably will go.

Expresses pleasure that all is well with their friendship, which he prizes.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Darwin Fox
Date:  6 [Sept 1831]
Classmark:  Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 43)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-120

To Charles Thomas Whitley   [9 September 1831]

Summary

Mentions letters from Peacock and Henslow; tells of offer of a position on surveying voyage, his initial refusal, and eventual acceptance. Describes FitzRoy and course of voyage.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Thomas Whitley
Date:  [9 Sept 1831]
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.3)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-121

To Susan Darwin   [9 September 1831]

Summary

Discusses help he is receiving in his preparations for the voyage from William Yarrell and others. He has ordered a case of pistols, a rifle, and a good telescope with compass. It is settled that he will go.

Describes the coronation of William IV.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Susan Elizabeth Darwin
Date:  [9 Sept 1831]
Classmark:  DAR 223
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-122

To J. S. Henslow   9 [September 1831]

Summary

All is settled – nothing can now alter CD’s determination. Details of plan and arrangements. Beaufort believes CD’s collections should be presented to some public body. CD thinks a large central collection best for natural history. Is busy getting advice and information from Yarrell and Capt. P. P. King for the voyage.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Stevens Henslow
Date:  9 [Sept 1831]
Classmark:  Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Henslow letters: 5 DAR/1/1/5)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-123

From John Coldstream   13 September 1831

Summary

Suggestions and information helpful to CD in preparation for Beagle voyage. David Brewster’s meteorological papers. Suggests an oyster-trawl for collecting marine animals. Recommends CD see R. E. Grant. For meteorological observations suggests F. W. Beechey’s Voyage to the Pacific [1831] and an interview with J. F. Daniell of King’s College.

Author:  John Coldstream
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  13 Sept 1831
Classmark:  DAR 204: 64
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-124

From Charles Whitley   13 September 1831

Summary

Congratulates CD on Beagle appointment as an "opportunity … of studying all the natural sciences at once, after your own taste".

Author:  Charles Thomas Whitley
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  13 Sept 1831
Classmark:  DAR 204: 69
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-125

To Susan Darwin   [14 September 1831]

Summary

Pleasant three-day voyage to Plymouth has increased CD’s admiration for FitzRoy. Describes the Beagle as an excellent vessel, but the want of room is very bad. He likes the officers.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Susan Elizabeth Darwin
Date:  [14 Sept 1831]
Classmark:  DAR 223
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-126

To Susan Darwin   17 [September 1831]

Summary

Plans to come to Shrewsbury.

Is pleased with cabin assignment on Beagle. Beagle will map the east side of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia and set longitude of many places.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Susan Elizabeth Darwin
Date:  17 [Sept 1831]
Classmark:  DAR 223
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-127

To J. S. Henslow   17 [September 1831]

Summary

Plans to come to Cambridge to discuss Beagle voyage. Only difficulty is disposal of his collections. South Sea Islands now more probable.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Stevens Henslow
Date:  17 [Sept 1831]
Classmark:  Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Henslow letters: 6 DAR/1/1/6)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-128

From Adam Sedgwick   18 September 1831

Summary

Is glad of CD’s appointment and hopes it will be a source of happiness and honour.

Answers a query about books.

Suggests CD go to Geological Society, present himself, as AS’s friend, to William Lonsdale and study the Society’s collection.

Tells CD of his work in Wales; includes a diagram and explanations.

Ramsay’s death a grievous loss.

Author:  Adam Sedgwick
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  18 Sept 1831
Classmark:  DAR 204: 66
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-129

From Frederick Watkins   [18 September 1831]

Summary

Rejoices in CD’s appointment and predicts he will rank with Candolle, Henslow, and Linnaeus.

Recounts their past pleasures and gives news of friends, who are scattering fast.

Author:  Frederick Watkins
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [18 Sept 1831]
Classmark:  DAR 204: 67
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-130
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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: 17 hits

  • … handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller, 22 February …
  • … Correspondence about Darwin’s Questionnaire (click on the letter dates to see the individual letters …
  • … Correspondent Letter date Location …
  • … Africa)? ] mentioned in JPM Weale letter, but Bowker's answers not found …
  • … Woolston, Southampton, England letter to W.E. Darwin shrugging …
  • … Square W London, England enclosed in a letter from Henry Maudsley …
  • … South Africa possibly included in letter from Mansel Weale …
  • … Peradeniya, Ceylon enclosed in letter from G.H.K. Thwaites …
  • … Gray, Asa 9 May [1869] [Alexandria, Egypt] …
  • … Gray, Jane 9 May [1869] [Alexandria, Egypt] …
  • … Lake Wellington, Australia letter to F.J.H. von Mueller nodding, …
  • … Abbey Place, London, England letter to Emma Darwin baby expression …
  • … Penmaenmawr, Conway, Wales letter to Emma Darwin infant daughter …
  • … Square W, London, England Enclosed letter from Dr. C. Browne …
  • … W., London, England enclosed in letter from W. W. Reade Hottentots …
  • … England (about Australia) encloses letter from Austrialian friend, letter not …
  • … forwarded by Smyth; Wilson sent letter to Ferdinand von Mueller Victoria Aborigines …

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

  • … Exhibition Centre, Cambridge University Library 09.00-18.30 Monday-Friday 09

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: 26 hits

  • … his publishers, he warned that it was ‘dry as dust’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 9 September 1879 ). …
  • … turned out, alas, very dull & has disappointed me much’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 15 [June …
  • … home again’, he fretted, just days before his departure ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [after 26 …
  • … many blessings, was finding old age ‘a dismal time’ ( letter to Henry Johnson, 24 September 1879 ) …
  • … wrinkles one all over like a baked pear’ ( enclosure in letter from R. W. Dixon, 20 December 1879 …
  • … itself, or gone some other way round?’ At least the last letter of 1879 contained a warmer note and …
  • … office to complete Horace’s marriage settlement ( letter from W. M. Hacon, 31 December 1879 ). …
  • … but they were ‘as nice and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ) …
  • … on your life’s work, which is crowned with glory’ ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 9 February 1879 ). …
  • … to wish Darwin a ‘long and serene evening of life’. This letter crossed with one from Darwin, …
  • … the statement ‘In the beginning was carbon’ ( letter from Hermann Müller, 14 February 1879 ). …
  • … as the ‘organ of “uncultivated materialism”’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 2 June 1879 ]). …
  • … up the glory & would please Francis’, he pointed out ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 13 March [1879 …
  • … wholly & shamefully ignorant of my grandfathers life’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 14 March 1879 …
  • … known philosopher and poet’ ( Correspondence vol. 1, letter from Francis Beaufort to Robert …
  • … these things with the when & the where, & the who—’ ( letter from V. H. Darwin, 28 May …
  • … paternal grandparents thought ‘perfect in every way’ ( letter from E. A. Wheler, 25 March 1879 ). …
  • … heard of him ‘constantly, & always with pride’ ( letter from Reginald Darwin, 29 March 1879 ). …
  • … essay might end up ‘interfering with each other’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 27 March 1879 ). Darwin …
  • … made such an introduction ‘almost indispensable’ ( letter from Ernst Krause, 7 June 1879 ). Darwin …
  • … everything into ridicule. He hates scientific men’ ( letter to Ernst Krause, 14 May 1879 ). …
  • … must be ‘in some degree interesting to the public’ ( letter to Reginald Darwin, 10 April [1879] ). …
  • … ‘very tastefully and well, and with little fatigue’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 , and …
  • … ‘more perplexed than ever about life of D r . D’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 12 July [1879] ). …
  • … telling, and he regretted going beyond his ‘tether’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 5 June 1879 …
  • … (Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, [27 August 1879] (DAR 219.9: 201)). Celebrity and honours …

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: 27 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 during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
  • … 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 …
  • … of an angry pig and her niece’s ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
  • … that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … on her experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9426 - Story …
  • … without the birds attacking the buds and flowers. Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to …
  • … and her father of plants and insects. Men: Letter 2221 - Blyth, E. to Darwin …
  • … specimens and bird observations from Calcutta. Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 …
  • … “enthusiasm and indomitable patience”. Letter 4242 - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin …
  • Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S. E., [9 November 1868] Darwin’s nephew, …
  • … 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9 November 1868] Darwin’s …
  • … she has “dug some more trenches”. Letter 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, …
  • … which are carefully packed in a tin box. Letter 9616  - Marshall, T.  to Darwin, …
  • Letter 7433  - Wedgwood,  F. to Darwin, [9 January 1871] Darwin’s brother-in-law, …
  • … experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9485 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [8 …
  • Letter 8153  - Darwin to  Darwin, W. E., [9 January 1872] Darwin thanks his son …

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: 27 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 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 …
  • … resulted from his ‘ enormous  labour over them’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [October 1862] ; …
  • … Oliver: ‘I can see at least 3 classes of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), …
  • … result once out of four or five sets of experiments’ ( letter to M. T. Masters, 24 July [1862] ). …
  • … one species may be said to be generically distinct’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 14 July [1862] ). The …
  • … and determined to publish on  Linum  ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), …
  • … d . like to make out this wonderfully complex case—’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 29 [July 1862] ). …
  • … The case clearly excited Darwin, who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 9 August [1862] ), ‘I …
  • … that the case warranted a paper for the Linnean Society ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 October [1862] …
  • … that had given him ‘great pleasure to ride’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). But he …
  • … know not  in the least , whether the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] …
  • … govern the structure of almost every  flower’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 8 June [1862] ). …
  • … better fun’ than species ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1862] ), he responded to the …
  • … active young wolves’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 9 October 1862 ). Darwin had managed to …
  • … to read any paper or speak’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 [April 1862] ). A visit in October from …
  • … me go away for an hour after dinner & retire to my room at 9 o clock I do not think it would …
  • … as true as gospel, so it must be true’ ( to J. D. Hooker, 9 May [1862] ). the real …

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: 28 hits

  • … 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] ) …
  • … Darwin asked Murray to intervene, complaining on 9 January , ‘M r . Dallas’ delay … is …
  • … 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 ). …
  • … if I try to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). …
  • … reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from the Isle of Wight on the formation …
  • … 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] …
  • … ‘he is a scamp & I begin to think a veritable ass’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868] …
  • … wrote of the colour of duck claws on 17 April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d  C. …
  • … proved very fruitful. On 1 May , Darwin received a letter from George Cupples, who was encouraged …
  • … with the enthusiastic breeder, who apologised in a letter of 11–13 May 1868 for his ‘voluminuous …
  • … of science On 27 February , Darwin sent a letter of thanks to the naturalist and …
  • … he later added, ‘for it is clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). …
  • … to various classes, a dim ray of light may be gained’ ( letter to H. T. Stainton, 21 February [1868 …
  • … as well as of ‘victorious males getting wives’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 25 February [1868] ). …
  • … of females was remarked upon by other entomologists ( letter from Roland Trimen, 20 February 1868 …
  • … on the auditory organs of Orthoptera and Coleoptera on 9 September . Darwin annotated a letter
  • … for as sure as life he wd find the odour sexual!’ ( letter to A . R. Wallace, 16 September [1868] …
  • … George Robert Crotch, writing to his mother Emma in a letter dated [after 16 October 1868] : ‘I …
  • … from the south of France to Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood on 9 Novembe r, describing sphinx moths that …
  • … direct result of natural selection ( Variation  2: 185–9). Wallace seized upon this point in a …
  • … Katherine ( letter from C. M. Hawkshaw to Emma Darwin, 9 February [1868] ). Darwin’s eldest son, …
  • … from Fritz Müller, 22 April 1868 , 17 June 1868 , 9 September 1868 , and 31 October 1868 …
  • … A different order of pride was expressed on 9 November by Ernst Haeckel on the birth of his son …

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. …
  • … Galton.   In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, evidently in response …
  • … 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
  • … 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 …
  • … reluctantly agreed to delete his own note. In his last letter to Huxley dealing with the affair, he …
  • … 30 However, two weeks later, in his last letter to Hooker on the matter, Lubbock’s tone was …
  • … analysis of the situation was succinct. In his letter to Hooker of [4 June 1865] he warned that …
  • … third edition of Antiquity of man (C. Lyell 1863c; see letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 June 1865 …
  • … written in Swedish, he gave me an abstract for my use, in a letter dated December 1859. He referred …
  • … 1983, Stocking 1987, and Van Riper 1993. 2. Letter from Charles Lyell to John Lubbock, 20 …
  • … about C. Lyell 1863a are discussed in Bynum 1984, pp. 154–9. 7. See Correspondence …
  • … 1973. 8. See Correspondence vol. 11, letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] and …
  • … 11, letter from J. D. Hooker, [24 March 1863] and n. 9. In his published review, Lubbock wrote …
  • … Emma Darwin to Henrietta Emma Darwin, [1 June 1865] (DAR 219.9: 28). 24. See the …
  • … 30. Letter from John Lubbock to T. H. Huxley, 9 June 1865 (Imperial College, Huxley papers 6: 110) …

Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms

Summary

‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … my grandfather’s character is of much value to me’ ( letter to C. H. Tindal, 5 January 1880 ). …
  • … have influenced the whole Kingdom, & even the world’ ( letter from J. L. Chester, 3 March 1880 …
  • … delighted to find an ordinary mortal who could laugh’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin to Charles and …
  • … much powder & shot’ ( Correspondence vol. 27, letter from Ernst Krause, 7 June 1879 , and …
  • … modified; but now I much regret that I did not do so’ ( letter to Samuel Butler, 3 January 1880 ). …
  • … and ‘decided on laying the matter before the public’ ( letter from Samuel Butler, 21 January 1880 …
  • … and uncertain about what to do. He drafted two versions of a letter to the Athen æum , sending …
  • … in which he will have the last word’, she warned ( letter from H. E. Litchfield, [1 February 1880] …
  • … who will fight to the end’, added her husband Richard ( letter from R. B. Litchfield, 1 February …
  • … him & given him Darwinophobia? It is a horrid disease’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 February …
  • … squashing the ‘mosquito inflated to an elephant’ ( letter from Ernst Krause, 9 December 1880 ). …
  • … inches of soil as a protection against enemies.’ ‘Your letter … made me open my eyes’, Gray replied …
  • … his original description. Darwin was puzzled: ‘If my letter opened your eyes, yours has opened mine …
  • … to the same species, should behave so differently.’ ( Letter to Asa Gray, 17 February 1880 .) But …
  • … of the plant in its native habitat. He forwarded a letter from a botanist and schoolteacher in …
  • … ‘Where is the profit for Author or publisher?’ ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). ‘I must …
  • … money by science, I must now lose some for science’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 21 July 1880 ). The …
  • … without any corresponding structural differentiations’ ( letter from F. M. Balfour, [22 November …
  • … In former years I was, also, rarely fit to see anybody’ ( letter to S. H. Haliburton, 13 December …
  • … he pretended, ‘but the subject has amused me’ ( letter to W. C. McIntosh, 18 June 1880 ). Members …
  • … back. Then we saw a steam tram—imagine my excitement’ ( letter from Horace Darwin to Emma Darwin, …
  • … the success of our efforts’ ( letter to A. B. Buckley, 9 November 1880 ). He worked with Huxley on …
  • … about their party quarrels’ ( letter to James Torbitt, 9 May 1880 ). Politicians grew concerned …

Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers

Summary

In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … in Unconscious memory in November 1880 and in an abusive letter about Darwin in the St James’s …
  • … memory in Kosmos and sent Darwin a separate letter for publication in the Journal of Popular …
  • … publishers decided to print ‘500 more, making 2000’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January 1881 ) …
  • … the animal learnt from its own individual experience ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 7 March 1881 ). …
  • … whether observations of their behaviour were trustworthy ( letter to Francis Galton, 8 March [1881] …
  • … learn from experience, Darwin was wary, telling Romanes on 9 March , ‘I intend to have another …
  • … about the sale of books being ‘a game of chance’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 12 April 1881 ). On 18 …
  • … but I cannot endure to do this’, Darwin told Francis on 9 November ,  and writing to Fritz …
  • … for more suggestions of such plants, especially annuals ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 21 March …
  • … supposed he would feel ‘less sulky in a day or two’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 29 July 1881 ). The …
  • … dead a work falls at this late period of the season’ ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 30 July 1881 ). …
  • … conversation with you’, a Swedish teacher told him ( letter from C. E. Södling, 14 October 1881 ), …
  • … add, however little, to the general stock of knowledge’ ( letter to E. W. Bok, 10 May 1881 ). …
  • … regular ‘bread-winners’ ( Correspondence vol. 30, letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). …
  • … any future publication & to acknowledge any criticism’ ( letter to C. G. Semper, 19 July 1881 …
  • … view of the nature & capabilities of the Fuegians’ ( letter to W. P. Snow, 22 November 1881 ). …
  • … the kindly protection of the high priests of science’ ( letter from Francisco de Arruda Furtado, 29 …
  • … Nature , which he thought ‘an excellent Journal’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 4 July [1881] ). In …
  • … minds, without being in the least conscious of it’ ( letter to Alexander Agassiz, 5 May 1881 ). …
  • … this produced about the year 1840(?) on all our minds’ ( letter to John Lubbock, [18 September 1881 …
  • … big one’ and had ‘gone much out’ of his mind ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 20 June [1881] ). Feeling …
  • … than for originality’, and telling Hooker, ‘Your long letter has stirred many pleasant memories of …
  • … poured in so atrocious a manner on all physiologists’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 18 April 1881 ). …
  • … George Jesse and Frances Power Cobbe. Jesse, in a private letter, stated that Darwin must not have …
  • … Royal Commission for the regulation of vivisection, and a letter from Cobbe in The Times made …
  • … Cobbe’s claims. To Darwin’s relief, a second letter from Cobbe, published on 23 April, was answered …
  • … who had received presentation copies. Galton wrote on 9 October , ‘I wish the worms were not such …
  • … of letters about worms’, he told Francis Darwin on 9 November , ‘but amidst much rubbish there …
  • … ( letter to Francis Darwin, 28 [October 1881] ). On 9 November, Darwin told Francis , ‘I have …

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: 24 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] ). …
  • … out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
  • … book he wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
  • … I respect you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • … against stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). …
  • … thinking, while Huxley’s book would scare them off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In …
  • … change of species by descent put him ‘into despair’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). In the …
  • … disaffected towards Lyell and his book. In a February letter to the  Athenæum , a weekly review of …
  • … find great difficulty in answering Owen  unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
  • … of so much of Lyell’s book being written by others’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
  • … is wretched to see men fighting so for a little fame’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). …
  • … overt act, and I shall watch for a fitting opportunity’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] …
  • … God demented Owen, as a punishment for his crimes… ?’ ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 January [1863] …
  • … Darwin’, a transitional form between reptiles and birds ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 January …
  • … a significant gap had been filled in the fossil record ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] January …
  • … my teeth at my own folly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [9 May 1863] ). After his venture into the …
  • … … who dare speak out’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [9 May 1863] ). The others listed were himself, …
  • … to Asa Gray, 20 April [1863] , letter to J. D. Hooker, [9 May 1863] , and memorandum from G. H …

Darwin & coral reefs

Summary

The central idea of Darwin's theory of coral reef formation, as it was later formulated, was that the islands were formed by the upward growth of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. It overturned previous ideas and would in itself…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … he arrived at his coral reef theory. Autobiography , pp. 98-9 No statement of Darwin' …
  • … of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. A letter from Robert Edward Alison, who had …
  • … the channels and lagoons of the islands ( Narrative  2: 38-9), so it may be presumed that he was …
  • … first sighting of a coral island is confirmed by a letter to his sister Caroline, written on 29 …
  • … the time of the visit of the  Beagle  to Tahiti. The letter of 29 April was written shortly after …
  • … he had a sound theory and one that was worth publishing. The letter continues: ‘I hope to be able to …
  • … wants to be sure they will visit the South Sea Islands:  [9 September 1831] . The first …
  • … heart’ to have finished writing his book on coral reefs: letter to Leonard Jenyns [9 May 1842] . …

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: 26 hits

  • … & I am sick of correcting’ ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868 …
  • … Well it is a beginning, & that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). …
  • … made any blunders, as is very likely to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). …
  • … by his perfectibility principle (Nägeli 1865, pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide …
  • … than I now see is possible or probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , …
  • … is strengthened by the facts in distribution’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Darwin …
  • … tropical species using Croll’s theory. In the same letter to Croll, Darwin had expressed …
  • … a very long period  before  the Cambrian formation’ ( letter to James Croll,  31 January [1869] …
  • … data to go by, but don’t think we have got that yet’ ( letter from James Croll, 4 February 1869 ). …
  • … I d  have been less deferential towards [Thomson]’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 19 March [1869] ). …
  • … completed revisions of the ‘everlasting old Origin’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 1 June [1869] ), he was …
  • … him however in his researches I would willingly do so’ ( letter from Robert Elliot to George …
  • … with his noisy courting of the female in the garden ( letter from Frederick Smith, 8 October 1869 …
  • … doubted her ability to recognise the different varieties ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 25 February …
  • … weary of everlasting males & females, cocks & hens.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 November …
  • … hatred—’ ( from Asa Gray and J. L. Gray, 8 and 9 May [1869] ). James Crichton-Browne and …
  • … with much more of the same description’ ( enclosure to letter from Henry Maudsley, 20 May 1869 ). …
  • … in an additional & proximate cause in regard to Man’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 …
  • … orang-utan, and the bird of paradise  (Wallace 1869a; letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 March [1869] ) …
  • … does himself an injustice & never demands justice’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). …
  • … geological structures of the South American cordillera ( letter to Charles Lyell, 20 May 1869 ), …
  • … of the same species that Darwin had investigated in depth ( letter from C. F. Claus, 6 February …
  • … role of earthworms in the formation of the soil ( letter to  Gardeners’ Chronicle , 9 May [1869] …
  • … sundew), a genus that he had studied in the early 1860s ( letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March …
  • … I do not care to follow him’ ( letter from T. H. Farrer, 9 October 1869 ). Farrer ventured to …
  • … on summit of a mountain.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 9 July [1869] ).  Earlier in the year, …

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: 25 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 …
  • … Darwin had allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
  • … edition, published in 1842 ( Correspondence  vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17 …
  • … Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 8 January …
  • … to take so sweetly all the horrid bother of correction’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 21 [March …
  • … sent an apology for misinterpreting Darwin on this point ( letter from J. D. Dana, 21 July 1874 ); …
  • … numbers and sex ratios among the Pitcairn islanders ( letter from William Dealtry, 16 January 1874 …
  • … will say that I have pounded the enemy into a jelly’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 14 April 1874 ). …
  • … by none but anatomists; and never mind where it goes’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 16 April 1874 ). …
  • … the return on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 …
  • … by the conciseness & clearness of your thought’ ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 20 April 1874 ). …
  • … legal action over the ‘scurrilous libel’ on his son ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [27 July 1874] ). …
  • … false, scurrilous accusation of [a] lying scoundrel’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ). …
  • … as father and son agonised over the wording of both the letter to the editor and the letter to …
  • … relationship with Murray on the outcome ( enclosure to letter from G. H. Darwin, 6 [August] 1874 ) …
  • … is refused I’m really no worse off than if I had sent my letter direct to the Editor & it had …
  • … bad & have done pretty well’ ( letter to Horace Darwin, 9 January [1874] ). Horace came …
  • … 6 April 1874 , and letter to Anton Dohrn, 16 April and 9 August 1874 ). Darwin also helped …

Books on the Beagle

Summary

The Beagle was a sort of floating library.  Find out what Darwin and his shipmates read here.

Matches: 29 hits

  • … Captain FitzRoy in the  Narrative  (2: 18). CD, in his letter to Henslow, 9 [September 1831] , …
  • … . . . There will be  plenty  of room for Books.’ (Letter from Robert FitzRoy, 23 September 1831 …
  • … the ‘immense stock’ which CD mentions may be had from a letter FitzRoy wrote to his sister during an …
  • … on board the  Beagle §  —  mentioned in a letter or other source as being on board …
  • … Naturelle  3 (1834): 84–115. (DAR 37.1: 677v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 12 July 1835). * …
  • … d’histoire naturelle . 17 vols. Paris, 1822–31. (Letter from J. S. Henslow, 15–21 January [1833]). …
  • … a report of the proceedings . .  . Cambridge, 1833.  (Letter to Charles Whitley, 23 July 1834). …
  • … of the 2d meeting . . . Oxford, 1832 . London, 1833.  (Letter to J. S. Henslow, March 1834 and …
  • … also Hawkesworth, John). (DAR 32.2: 89v.; Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the South African Christian …
  • … residence in New Zealand in 1827 . . . London, 1832. (Letter to Caroline Darwin, 27 December 1835). …
  • … 33: 254). § Euclid.  Elements of geometry.  (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 30 October 1831). …
  • … The philosophy of zoology . . .  2 vols. Edinburgh, 1822. (Letter from Susan Darwin, 15 October …
  • … Desaulses de.  Voyage autour du monde . . . 1817–20.  9 vols., 4 vols. plates, Paris, 1824–44. …
  • … to the mountain barometer.  2d ed. London, n.d. [1802]. (Letter to Robert FitzRoy, [10 October 1831 …
  • … de l’ordre des polypiers.  Paris, 1821. (DAR 30.1: 13v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 …
  • … Video. Novem r . 1832’; vol. 3 (1833): ‘C. Darwin’; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November …
  • … of England.  Volume one. London, 1830. (Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the  South African Christian …
  • … ‘A few little books written by Miss Martineau’. (Letter from Caroline Darwin, 28 October [1833]). …
  • … and La Plata . . .  2 vols. London, 1826. (DAR 31.2: 319; letter to Robert Fitzroy, 28 August 1834) …
  • … John.  Paradise lost.  ( ’Beagle’ diary , p. 107; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 November 1832). …
  • … account of several late voyages.  2 parts. London, 1694. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 …
  • … introducton to . . . mineralogy . . .  London, 1816. (Letter from J. S. Henslow, 22 July 1834;  …
  • … the Cambridge Philosophical Society  4 (1833): 209–17. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 …
  • … 1803, and 1804 . . .  London, 1805. (Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the  South African Christian …
  • … of the world . . .  Vol. 1. London, 1832. (DAR 30.1: 2v.; letter to J. M. Herbert, 2 June 1833). …
  • … of the voyages . . .  London, 1773. (Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the  South African Christian …
  • … state . . . by a country pastor [R. W.].  London, 1829. (Letter from Caroline Darwin, 28 October …
  • … of the Royal Society of London  123 (1833): 147–236. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, March 1834;  …
  • … James.  Elements of algebra.  8th ed. Cambridge, 1825. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 30 October 1831). …

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: 28 hits

  • … shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding machine’  ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December …
  • … anything which has happened to me for some weeks’  ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ) …
  • … corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be’  ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ) …
  • … who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
  • … abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February …
  • … thro’ apes & savages at the moral sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] …
  • … how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870 …
  • … in thanks for the drawing ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868] …
  • … patients, but it did not confirm Duchenne’s findings ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March …
  • … muscle’, he complained, ‘is the bane of existence!’ ( letter to William Ogle, 9 November 1870 ). …
  • … to their belief that all demons and spirits were white ( letter from W. W. Reade, 9 November 1870 …
  • … . . Could you make it scream without hurting it much?’ ( letter to A. D. Bartlett, 5 January [1870] …
  • … or crying badly; but I fear he will not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] …
  • … Lucy Wedgwood, who sent a sketch of a baby’s brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). …
  • … is the inclination to finish my note on this subject’  ( letter from F. C. Donders, 17 May 1870 ). …
  • … the previous year (see  Correspondence  vol. 17, letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). His …
  • … (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …
  • … towards each other, though in one sense rivals’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870] ). …
  • … version of the theory of descent by natural selection in a letter to Darwin, prompting much anxiety …
  • … But who is to criticise them? No one but yourself’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 20 May 1870 ). …
  • … me to be able to say that I  never  write reviews’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, [22 May 1870] ). …
  • … design. Darwin commented on Mivart’s essay in a letter to William Henry Flower: ‘I am glad …
  • … time wd be wasted if I once began to answer objectors’ ( letter to W. H. Flower, 25 March [1870] ) …
  • … laborious & valuable labours on the Primates’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 23 April [1870] ). …
  • … Ape than such an Ape differs from a lump of granite’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 22 April 1870 …
  • … his “end” whatever may have been his “origin” ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 25 April 1870 ). In …
  • … by you in this manner than praised by many others’  ( letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 28 May [1870 …
  • … us which are stronger than the causes of discord’  ( letter from Armand de Quatrefages, 30 March …

Henrietta Darwin's diary

Summary

Darwin's daughter Henrietta kept a diary for a few momentous weeks in 1871. This was the year in which Descent of Man, the most controversial of her father's books after Origin itself, appeared, a book which she had helped him write. The small…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … F. J. Wedgwood to H. E. and C. R. Darwin, [1867–72],  letter   nos. 7058–62). She had published a …
  • … if I be I— it seems so strange that my life & his 9 are trembling now in the balance & …
  • … I think I am a very happy woman. Sunday July 9 th . 1871 I want to think why I shd …
  • … when I feel my day made bright & happy by one short letter. I want him to take me in his arms …
  • … identified. 8 Thomas Henry Huxley . 9 Richard Buckley Litchfield . …

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: 23 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 …
  • … 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 ). …
  • … 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 …
  • … light on it, which would have pleased me greatly’ ( letter from J. H. Gilbert, 9 January 1882, …
  • … annelid seemed to have rather the best of the fight’ ( letter from G. F. Crawte, 11 March 1882 ). …
  • … by the American educator Emily Talbot (Talbot ed. 1882). His letter to Talbot written the previous …
  • … by the flippant witlings of the newspaper press’ ( letter from A. T. Rice, 4 February 1882 ). Rice …
  • … men, and their role as providers for the family. In his letter, he conceded that there was ‘some …
  • … of our homes, would in this case greatly suffer’ ( letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). …
  • … she be fairly judged, intellectually his inferior, please ( letter from C. A. Kennard, 28 January …
  • … he has allied himself to so dreadful a man, as Huxley’ ( letter to John Collier, 16 February 1882 …
  • … Would my actions be the same without my consciousness?’ ( letter from John Collier, 22 February …
  • … a solid scientific foundation cannot be overestimated’ ( letter to William Jenner, 20 March [1882] …
  • … to delight in his children’s accomplishments. In a letter to Anthony Rich, he shared several of his …
  • … years was the prominent London practitioner Andrew Clark. On 9 March, Darwin wrote in his diary, ‘Dr …

Volume 29 (1881) is published!

Summary

In October 1881, Darwin published his last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. A slim volume on a subject that many people could understand and on which they had their own opinions, it went…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … the enthusiasm with which the book has been received.    Letter t o Francis Darwin, 9 November …
  • … in my life as for its success.                   Letter to A. B. Buckley, 4 January 1881 …
  • … & I have no little jobs which I can do.            Letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 June 1881 …
  • …                                         Letter to W. E. Darwin, 4 August [1881] In …
  • … seemed to me admirable.                        Letter to T. H. Farrer, 28 August 1881 …
  • …                                    Letter t o B. J. Sulivan, 1 December 1881   …

Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep

Summary

In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … Hooker, ‘or as far as I know any scientific man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1878] ). …
  • … Cactus’, he wrote to William Turner Thiselton-Dyer on 9 May. He later noted that in many Cacteae the …
  • … or arched.… Almost all seedlings come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). …
  • … about the radicles’, he wrote to Thiselton-Dyer on 9 May . ‘The apex is sensitive, & instead …
  • … when he finds out that he missed sensitiveness of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] …
  • … Darwin complained. ‘I am ashamed at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). …
  • … accursed German language: Sachs is very kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June …
  • … have nobody to talk to, about my work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] …
  • … but it is horrid not having you to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). …
  • … determine whether they had chlorophyll, Francis reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 …
  • … ‘There is one machine we must have’, Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July …
  • … ‘He seems to me to jump to conclusions rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] …
  • … the pot-plant every day & never the bedded out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July …
  • … ‘I have borrowed Cieselski & read him,’ he reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [22 June 1878 …
  • … books & red-wine which is here the cure for all evils’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [24 and 25 …
  • … is very sweet & pretty,’ he added a week later ( letter to Francis Darwin, 14 July [1878] ). …
  • … in a booboo, whereas I ought to have said a gee-gee’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 17 July [1878] ). …
  • … close down on the object, but he will always do so’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 20 August [1878] ). …
  • … idiot, a deaf-mute, a monkey & a baby in your house!’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 2 September …
  • … that I want to play the part of a thieving wasp’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 21 June 1878 ). …
  • … than zoology, where his work had been more controversial ( letter from J.-B. Dumas and Joseph …
  • … me Dr Darwin, the title seems to me quite ridiculous’ ( letter to John Price, 2 April [1878] ). …
  • … of the “imperfection of the Geological Record”’ ( letter from Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvár, 28 …
  • … science our atlas would not have come together’ ( letter from Arnold Dodel-Port, 18 June 1878 ). …
  • … or religious prejudice. An engineer in Bohemia addressed his letter to ‘the inspired hermit of Down’ …
  • … in Germany, as if they had been school-boys’ ( letter to Karl von Scherzer, 1 April 1878 ). …
  • … a personal god with the ‘eternity of matter’ ( letter from H. N. Ridley, [before 28 November 1878] …
  • … a Naturalist and leaves Moses to take care of himself ’ ( letter from J. B. Innes, 1 December 1878 …
  • … ‘I am what may be called a rich man’, he replied on 9 December, ‘on the other hand I have 5 sons …

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: 4 hits

  • … 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] ). …
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