To Asa Gray 25 February [1864]
Summary
Has not worked for six months due to illness.
Has been looking at climbing plants.
Hermann Crüger’s paper shows that CD was right about Catasetum pollination. Crüger’s account of pollination of Coryanthes "beats everything".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 25 Feb [1864] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (80) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4415 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … s recent work see Correspondence vol. 11, letter to Charles Lyell, 17 [February 1863] and …
- … see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix II, and this volume, letter to J. D. Hooker, [20–] …
- … November 1863 ( Correspondence vol. 11). Gray’s letter of 16 February 1864 would not yet …
- … 17 February [1864] and n. 11. The most recent known letter from Asa Gray is that of 23 …
To Ernst Haeckel 20 January [1866]
Summary
Sends copies of photographs of himself. Asks for photographs of German naturalists.
Comments on EH’s account of Protogenes primordialis.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Ernst Philipp August (Ernst) Haeckel |
| Date: | 20 Jan [1866] |
| Classmark: | Ernst-Haeckel-Haus (Bestand A-Abt. 1-52/8) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4980 |
Matches: 9 hits
- … enclosed a photograph taken in October 1865 with his letter of 11 January 1866 . Fritz …
- … See letter from Ernst Haeckel, 11 January 1866 . …
- … See letter from Ernst Haeckel, 11 January 1866 and n. 15. CD refers to Heinrich Georg …
- … Correspondence vol. 9, frontispiece, and letter to Asa Gray, 11 April [1861] and n. 19). …
- … scientists who admired him (see letter from Ernst Haeckel, 11 January 1866 ). Haeckel sent …
- … a photograph of himself in 1865 (see letter to Fritz Müller, 11 January 1866 and n. 5). …
- … reference is to Haeckel 1866 (see letter from Ernst Haeckel, 11 January 1866 and nn. 7– …
- … translated into English. See letter from Ernst Haeckel, 11 January 1866 and nn. 6 and 7. …
- … by Wilhelm Engelmann (see letter from Ernst Haeckel, 11 January 1866 and n. 4). For CD’s …
From Alfred Newton 7 April 1864
Summary
CD need not worry about having discarded the partridge’s foot.
| Author: | Alfred Newton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Apr 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 172: 42 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4456 |
From W. E. Darwin 14 April [1864]
Summary
Observations on [length of style and length of filament and stigmas of] Pulmonaria.
| Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Apr [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 110: A68–74 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4462 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Isle of Wight (see Correspondence vol. 11, letters from W. E. Darwin, 4 May [1863] and …
- … annotations). See also Correspondence vol. 11, letters from W. E. Darwin, 4 May [1863] …
- … 105, 107). CD’s letter of [25 July 1863] ( Correspondence vol. 11) included a request for …
- … in the letter from himself and Emma Darwin , [4 May 1863] ( Correspondence vol. 11). CD …
From J. D. Hooker 19 May 1864
Summary
JDH suggests Scott go to India; he will write letters of introduction.
Conversation with Herbert Spencer.
George Bentham would like to know how CD’s view of hybridism diverges from Charles Naudin’s.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 19 May 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 101: 220–1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4501 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … of both (see Correspondence vol. 11, letters to Charles Lyell , 12–13 March [1863] and …
- … Gardens, Kew (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from J. D. Hooker, [24 March 1863] , …
- … address, see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from George Bentham , [ c. 14 April 1863], …
- … 11), and had largely finished writing the draft of ‘Climbing plants’ on 13 September 1864 after four months’ work (see ‘Journal’ ( Correspondence vol. 12, Appendix II)). See also letter …
To Jeffries Wyman 2 February 1866
Summary
Obliged for JW’s information on variability of size of bees’ cells. Hexagonal cells not always work of several insects. W. H. Miller found great variability in thickness of cell walls.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Jeffries Wyman |
| Date: | 2 Feb 1866 |
| Classmark: | Jeffries Wyman Jr (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4994 |
Matches: 9 hits
- … CUL (DAR 48: B1–78). See letter from Jeffries Wyman, 11 January 1866 and n. 3. In 1860, …
- … obliged to you for your interesting letter of Jan 11 th . I was aware that the cells of …
- … are aggregated to form the comb. In his letter of 11 January 1866 , Wyman had not informed …
- … See letter from Jeffries Wyman, 11 January 1866 . …
- … See letter from Jeffries Wyman, 11 January 1866 and n. 2. In successive editions of …
- … modifications of instinct, see the letter from Jeffries Wyman, 11 January 1866 , n. 6. CD …
- … illustrated by figures 2 and 3 in the letter from Wyman of 11 January 1866 . CD had argued …
- … Pamphlet Collection–CUL. See letter from Jeffries Wyman, 11 January 1866 and n. 7. At …
- … not yet have received (see letter from Jeffries Wyman, 11 January 1866 and nn. 9 and 10, …
To Fritz Müller 22 February [1867]
Summary
Observations on orchid self-sterility.
Wants information on characters that may have originated through sexual selection in lower animals.
Encloses queries on expression.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Date: | 22 Feb [1867] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 13) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5410 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … threads on the pollen masses of Bletia (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from John …
- … in Trinidad (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from H. F. Hance, 10 May 1863 , and …
- … to it in Variation (see letter to William Turner, 11 February [1867] ). Ultimately, he …
- … Correspondence vol. 11, and Correspondence vol. 12, letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May …
- … 1866] ; see also, this volume, letter from B. J. Sulivan, 11 January 1867 and n. 3). …
- … 11] April [1863] ). In Variation 2: 134, CD noted that the discoloration and decay were not caused by parasitic cryptogams, which were observed by Müller only once (see letter …
From C. C. Blake 20 February 1871
Summary
Has just received copy of CD’s work [Descent].
Can corroborate artificial compression of skull practised by Indians.
May have to modify his earlier published opinions on CD’s views.
| Author: | Charles Carter Blake |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Feb 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 199 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7495 |
To William Bowman 10 March [1863]
Summary
Will send portion of copied manuscript [of Variation 2: 8–10] for WB to examine. Asks about inherited abnormalities of the eye.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Bowman, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 10 Mar [1863] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5030 |
From John Scott 8 June 1864
Summary
Discusses cost of trip to India and CD’s offer to advance sum. Thanks Hooker for assistance. Would prize a scientific testimonial from CD.
| Author: | John Scott |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 June 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 108 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4524 |
From W. E. Darwin [30 April 1864]
Summary
[Outline sketches of pollen from long- and short-styled yellow cowslips and from red cowslip, magnified 350x.]
| Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [30 Apr 1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 108: 84 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4478 |
To J. D. Hooker 5 April [1864]
Summary
Sees difficulty of placing Scott at Kew. Suspects Balfour is prejudiced because Scott is a Darwinian.
CD’s former letter on Clematis [4403] blundered; work now being revised.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 5 Apr [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 227a–c |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4450 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … annotated. See also Correspondence vol. 11, letter from Daniel Oliver, 27 November 1863 …
- … see, for example, Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 and 22 May [1863] …
- … Correspondence vol. 11), and in this volume, in Scott’s letters to CD of 7 January [1864] …
- … 1864c ; see letters from John Scott, 12 [February 1864] and nn. 10 and 11, and 19 March …
- … 1863a ); in his letter to CD of [3 June 1863] ( Correspondence vol. 11), Scott mentioned …
From Lawson Tait 12 June [1875]
Summary
Intends sending a paper containing some of his histological work [see "Freezing process for section-cutting; … staining and mounting sections", J. Anat. & Physiol. 9 (1875): 249–58].
| Author: | Robert Lawson (Lawson) Tait |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 June [1875] |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 10 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10016 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … mentioned William Erasmus Darwin in his letter of 11 June [1875] , but only Francis Darwin …
- … hairs in the ears of mice (see letter to Lawson Tait, 11 June [1875] and n. 5). Felidae is …
- … by the relationship between this letter and the letter to Lawson Tait, 11 June [1875] . …
- … See letter to Lawson Tait, 11 June [1875] , and first letter from Lawson Tait, …
- … 12 June [1875] . See letter to Lawson Tait, 11 June [1875] and n. 7. It is …
From John Scott 28 May [1864]
Summary
Discusses the negative testimonial provided him by James McNab.
Sends testimonial from J. H. Balfour.
Would be glad if offered the sort of colonial opportunity Hooker suggests.
| Author: | John Scott |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 May [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 107; Transactions of the Hawick Archæological Society (1908): 68 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4513 |
Matches: 3 hits
- … in May 1863 (see Correspondence vol. 11, letters from John Scott , 22 May 1863 and 26 …
- … when he was a child (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from John Scott, 6 January 1863 , …
- … letter from J. D. Hooker, 6 April 1864 . Scott began a correspondence with CD on his observations and experiments at the end of 1862 (see Correspondence vols. 10 and 11). …
To Charles William Crocker 31 January [1864]
Summary
Reminds CWC that he offered to give information with respect to his observations on hollyhocks. Wishes he could persuade CWC to undertake experiments on the fertility of some crosses between the most distinct varieties.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles William Crocker |
| Date: | 31 Jan [1864] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3425 |
To Daniel Oliver [22 July 1864]
Summary
Will DO observe whether leaf [of Nepenthes] with pitcher ever wound round a stick? CD’s plant is improving.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Daniel Oliver |
| Date: | [22 July 1864] |
| Classmark: | Edward Ford (private collection); in September 2020 owned by ZHANG, Lun Xia (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4566 |
To Lawson Tait 2 March 1876
Summary
Thanks RLT for his letter. CD took much trouble over his two cases [regrowth of amputated supernumerary digits, in Variation] but the evidence was shaky.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Lawson (Lawson) Tait |
| Date: | 2 Mar 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 147: 527 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10414 |
From Robert Monsey Rolfe 4 October 1864
Summary
Sends £10 for Down charities.
| Author: | Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth of Cranworth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 231 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4626 |
To J. D. Hooker 31 May [1866]
Summary
Comments on JDH’s list – very good, but Orchids and Primula paper have too indirect a bearing to be worth mentioning. The Eozoon is a very important fact and to a much lesser degree the Archaeopteryx. Müller’s Für Darwin [1864] perhaps the most important contribution.
CD has forgotten to mention Bates on variation and JDH’s Arctic paper ["Distribution of Arctic plants", Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 23 (1862): 251–348] in new edition of Origin.
Now finds that Owen claims to be originator of natural selection.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 31 May [1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 290 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5106 |
| letter | (2349) |
| people | (38) |
| bibliography | (10) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (1282) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (148) |
| Gray, Asa | (51) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (38) |
| Scott, John | (33) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (1005) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (249) |
| Gray, Asa | (57) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (54) |
| Lyell, Charles | (52) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2286) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (397) |
| Gray, Asa | (108) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (92) |
| Lyell, Charles | (68) |
| 1822 | (1) |
| 1828 | (1) |
| 1831 | (7) |
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| 1882 | (8) |
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: 1 hits
- … In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … In March 1862, Heinrich Georg Bronn wrote to Darwin stating his intention to prepare a second …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
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: 1 hits
- … As the sheer volume of his correspondence indicates, 1862 was a particularly productive year for …
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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
Darwin's 1874 letters go online
Summary
The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1874 through his letters and see a full list of the letters. The 1874 letters…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 …
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: 1 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I …
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: 1 hits
- … When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations …
Race, Civilization, and Progress
Summary
Darwin's first reflections on human progress were prompted by his experiences in the slave-owning colony of Brazil, and by his encounters with the Yahgan peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh conditions, privation, poor climate, bondage and servitude,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letters | Selected Readings Darwin's first reflections on human progress were …
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: 1 hits
- … Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants …
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: 1 hits
- … I cannot bear to think of the future The year 1876 started out sedately enough with …
Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours
Summary
Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … no little discovery of mine ever gave me so much pleasure as the making out the …
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: 1 hits
- … On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July …
Charles Harrison Blackley
Summary
You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 million people in the UK who suffer from hay fever, you are indebted to him. For it was he who identified pollen as the cause of the allergy. Darwin was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 …
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: 1 hits
- … Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 1 hits
- … Re: Design – performance version – 25 March 2007 – 1 Re: Design – Adaptation of the …
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: 1 hits
- … I think we have proved that the sleep of plants is to lessen injury to leaves from radiation …
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: 1 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and …
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
