From George Sparkes 14 February 1872
Summary
Describes some crosses he has carried out with Primula;
mentions the infertility of cherimoyer [Annona cherimola] in England.
Author: | George Sparkes |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 14 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 223 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8213 |
From A. G. Nathorst [after August 1872]
Summary
Discusses the research for his paper on Arctic plant beds in the freshwater aquifers of Scania (Nathorst 1872).
Author: | Alfred Gabriel Nathorst |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [after Aug 1872] |
Classmark: | CUL, DAR Pamphlet Collection G779 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8213F |
From Anton Dohrn 15 February 1872
Summary
AD is sorry CD thinks publication of Descent a mistake. The excitement shows it was necessary for someone to speak plainly.
His great difficulties (Italian indolence, dishonesty, hatred) in establishing zoological station. Can at last start construction.
Author: | Felix Anton (Anton) Dohrn |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 15 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | DAR 162: 208 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8214 |
From W. W. Reade 16 February 1872
Summary
Defends Descent against CD’s self-disparagement. The parts on the moral sense seem to him the finest in the book.
Author: | William Winwood Reade |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 16 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | DAR 176: 53 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8215 |
To W. E. Darwin [1 March 1872]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Date: | [1 Mar 1872] |
Classmark: | DAR 162: 103 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8216 |
From D. Appleton & Co. 17 February 1872
Summary
Accepts CD’s proposal for new revised edition of Origin; will pay $50 [dollars or pounds!?] for casts of the plates and pay CD on sales.
Appleton edition of CD’s Journal of researches [1871] still selling well.
Also wants plates sent with CD’s new work on Expression. CD should arrange this with Murray’s.
Author: | D. Appleton & Co |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 17 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | DAR 159: 88 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8217 |
From W. W. Reade 18 February 1872
Summary
Compares Origin to Newton’s Principia and Adam Smith’s Wealth of nations.
His view of CD’s response to Mivart.
On mammae;
gradualism of evolution;
suicide among savages.
Author: | William Winwood Reade |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 18 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | DAR 88: 74–5 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8218 |
From W. H. Flower 18 February 1872
Summary
Thanks for new [6th] edition of Origin, which he read with great interest. Would welcome an edition with references to works cited.
Author: | William Henry Flower |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 18 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | DAR 164: 140 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8219 |
From W. E. Darwin [3 March 1872]
Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [3 Mar 1872] |
Classmark: | DAR 162: 104 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8220 |
From W. W. Reade 20 February 1872
Author: | William Winwood Reade |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 20 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | DAR 176: 54 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8221 |
From D. Appleton & Co. 23 February 1872
Summary
Enclosed account has had charged against it difference in costs between type composition in the U. S. and securing stereotype plates from Murray. CD should insist on securing plates from the London publisher of all future books, otherwise Appleton unable to pay 10% of gross price.
Author: | D. Appleton & Co |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 23 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | DAR 159: 89 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8222 |
To G. C. Wallich 24 February [1872]
Summary
Asks for the negative and permission to publish photo of smiling girl. [Expression, p. 202, plate III, fig. 2.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | George Charles Wallich |
Date: | 24 Feb [1872] |
Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection); DAR 53.1: C50 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8223 |
To Amy Ruck 24 February [1872]
Summary
Wants AR to make any observations she can on the occurrence of little ledges on the side of steep, turf-covered slopes. Feels they may result from the washing down of worm-castings.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Amy Richenda (Amy) Ruck; Amy Richenda (Amy) Darwin |
Date: | 24 Feb [1872] |
Classmark: | DAR 185: 47 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8224 |
From Charles Nordhoff 27 February 1872
Summary
Reports the case of a cockerel raised in isolation from other cocks which repeatedly attempted, but failed, to crow properly.
Also discusses behaviour in horses; one male will "look after" 20–25 females.
Author: | Charles Nordhoff |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 27 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | DAR 172: 72 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8225 |
To Anatole Roujou? 28 February [1872]
Summary
Has read correspondent’s work. Glad he is not shocked at belief that man is descendant of lower form. An unusual attitude for a Frenchman.
Fears they differ greatly on origins of moral sense.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Anatole Roujou |
Date: | 28 Feb [1872] |
Classmark: | The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8226 |
To A. W. Bennett 29 February [1872]
Summary
Asks AWB for a reference to a paper;
thanks him for his generous review of the last edition [6th] of the Origin.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Alfred William Bennett |
Date: | 29 Feb [1872] |
Classmark: | Kōbunzo (dealers) (no date) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8227 |
From Charles Lyell 29 February 1872
Summary
Has been looking for something about crop rotation in Origin and Variation.
Author: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 29 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | The University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections (Lyell collection Coll-203/B9) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8227F |
To August Weismann 29 February 1872
Summary
Glad AW’s eyesight is better.
Has received AW’s essay [Einfluss der Isolierung (1872)].
Glad he is turning attention to sexual selection. Hardly any naturalists agree with CD on subject.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Leopold Friedrich August (August) Weismann |
Date: | 29 Feb 1872 |
Classmark: | DAR 148: 342 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8228 |
From T. C. Eyton 29 February [1872]
Summary
Disagrees with the "Darwinian theory"; does not see evidence enough to support it. Will send CD any notes he makes for or against.
Author: | Thomas Campbell Eyton |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 29 Feb [1872] |
Classmark: | DAR 163: 43 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8229 |
To John Murray [9 March 1872 or later]
Summary
CD is vexed to hear that some of his friends and some booksellers complain of the type of the new [6th] edition of Origin. CD, whose eyesight is not good, had no trouble reading proofs.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Murray |
Date: | [9 Mar 1872 or later] |
Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 42152 ff. 274–5) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8230 |
letter | (627) |
Darwin, C. R. | (273) |
Cooke, R. F. | (21) |
John Murray | (21) |
Hooker, J. D. | (19) |
Reade, W. W. | (15) |
Darwin, C. R. | (338) |
Hooker, J. D. | (19) |
Cooke, R. F. | (16) |
John Murray | (16) |
Unidentified | (16) |
Darwin, C. R. | (611) |
Hooker, J. D. | (38) |
Cooke, R. F. | (37) |
John Murray | (37) |
Galton, Francis | (23) |
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: 29 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can …
- … as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 27 July [1872] ). By the end of the year Darwin …
- … s. 6 d. ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 February 1872 ). Always closely involved in …
- … translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September 1872 ). He recapped the history of the French …
- … of the year ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 23 November 1872 ). To persuade his US publisher, …
- … Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). A worsening breach The …
- … beautiful’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 3 March 1872 ). I consider that you have …
- … Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). Piqued, Mivart flung back by return of post …
- … errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January 1872 ). Darwin likened the affair to the …
- … towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872] ). Despite Darwin’s request that he …
- … world’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 10 January 1872 ). Darwin, determined to have the last …
- … acknowledge it ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). 'I hate controversy,’ Darwin …
- … I do it badly’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 3 August [1872] ). Darwin's theories under …
- … the world moves!’ ( letter from Mary Treat, 13 December 1872 ). 'Here is a bee' …
- … it at least in part ( letter to August Weismann, 5 April 1872 ). ‘I wanted some encouragement’, he …
- … to believe it’ ( letter to Herman Müller, [before 5 May 1872] ). Müller had sent him a …
- … of natural and sexual selection to bees (H. Müller 1872), and with his reply Darwin enclosed an …
- … standing’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, [before 5 May 1872] ). Finishing Expression …
- … doing nothing’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was far from idle during their …
- … to be more erect’ ( letter to Briton Riviere, 19 May [1872] ). Riviere had been suggested to …
- … clever book’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 21 November 1872 ) and invited Butler to dinner the …
- … from Samuel Butler to Francis Darwin, [before 30 May 1872] , and letter from Samuel Butler, 30 …
- … feels no doubts’ ( letter to F. C. Donders, 17 June 1872 ). Right up to the beginning of June, …
- … Buckley Litchfield ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 13 May 1872 ). Delivery to the press brought only …
- … myself’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 25 July 1872 ). A battle for the independence of …
- … partisan reply ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 May 1872 ). On 13 June, a messenger arrived in …
- … to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, 20 June 1872 ). Darwin was quietly using his …
- … an old honest Tory’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 July [1872] ). Darwin and Wallace: …
- … Wallace’s defence ( letter to Nature , 3 August [1872] ). Although the two men were …
Diagrams and drawings in letters
Summary
Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…
New features for Charles Darwin's 208th birthday
Summary
The website has been updated with an interactive timeline (try it!) and enhanced secondary school resources for ages 11-14. What's more, the full texts of the letters for 1872 are now online for the first time, and a selection of Darwin's…
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…
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…
Matches: 7 hits
- … Letter 8321 - Darwin to Litchfield, H. E., [13 May 1872] Darwin consults his …
- … Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, reports …
- … Letter 8427 - Darwin to Litchfield H. E., [25 July 1872] Darwin thanks Henrietta for …
- … 8168 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] Amy Ruck reports the results …
- … 8193 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H., [1 February 1872] Amy Ruck sends a second …
- … Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin asks his …
- … Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, reports …
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: 9 hits
- … Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [13 December 1872] Mary Treat details her …
- … Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to Darwin, [17 December 1872] Dora Roberts reports an …
- … 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] Darwin asks his niece, Lucy, …
- … 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] Amy Ruck reports the results …
- … Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin asks his …
- … Letter 8169 - Wedgwood, L. to Darwin, [20 January, 1872] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, gives the …
- … 8427 - Darwin to Litc hfield, H. E., [25 July 1872] Darwin thanks Henrietta for …
- … 8153 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [9 January 1872] Darwin thanks his son William …
- … Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [13 December 1872] Mary Treat details her …
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: 1 hits
- … Lydia Becker, 2 August 1863 ; to Mary Treat, 5 January 1872 ). Click on the play …
Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Survival of the fittest: the trouble with terminology Part II
Summary
The most forceful and persistent critic of the term ‘natural selection’ was the co-discoverer of the process itself, Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace seized on Herbert Spencer’s term ‘survival of the fittest’, explicitly introduced as an alternative way of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the fittest’ as ‘survival of the better’ (see Spencer 1872, and the letter to Herbert Spencer, 10 …
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…
Darwin as mentor
Summary
Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…
Have you read the one about....
Summary
... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …
4.13 'Fun' cartoon by Griset, 'Emotional'
Summary
< Back to Introduction Ernest Griset’s drawing titled ‘Emotional!’ was published in Fun magazine on 23 November 1872, and is another skit referring to Darwin’s recently published Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. A hippopotamus had been…
Thomas Rivers
Summary
Rivers and Darwin exchanged around 30 letters, most in 1863 when Darwin was hard at work on the manuscript of Variation of plants and animals under domestication, the lengthy and detailed sequel to Origin of species. Rivers, an experienced plant breeder…
Matches: 1 hits
- … for the prosperity I have long enjoyed” ( 29 March 1872 ). …
4.5 William Beard, comic painting
Summary
< Back to Introduction In June 1872, Darwin’s friend Asa Gray, the Harvard Professor of Botany, sent him a print or photograph of a comic painting by the American artist William Holbrook Beard. Titled The Youthful Darwin Expounding His Theories, it…
Matches: 3 hits
Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…
Climbing Plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A monograph by which to work After the publication of On the Origin of Species, Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, The Descent of Man, and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals in…
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: 3 hits
3.16 Oscar Rejlander, photos
Summary
< Back to Introduction Darwin’s plans for the illustration of his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) led him to the Swedish-born painter and photographer, Oscar Gustaf Rejlander. Rejlander gave Darwin the notes that he had…
Matches: 4 hits
- … book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) led him to the Swedish-born …
- … him in May, August and October 1871, and in March and August 1872, but some of these payments, and …
- … April 1871, and reproduced in the London Journal in June 1872. Darwin also sent it to various …
- … one of Huxley, in The London Journal , 55:1426 (8 June 1872), p. 357, illustrating an article …
4.20 Frederick Waddy, caricature
Summary
< Back to Introduction A series of portrait caricatures drawn by Frederick Waddy appeared in the journal Once a Week through 1872. It clearly emulated the more famous series in Vanity Fair, and indeed, Waddy’s drawing of Darwin has the same title or…