To Ernst Haeckel 16 September 1876
Summary
Discusses death of his daughter-in-law
and possible visit by EH.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Ernst Philipp August (Ernst) Haeckel |
| Date: | 16 Sept 1876 |
| Classmark: | Ernst-Haeckel-Haus (Bestand A-Abt. 1:1-52/ 40 [9893]) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10601 |
From W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 6 June 1876
Summary
References to figures of Coryanthes.
| Author: | William Turner Thiselton-Dyer |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 June 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 97 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10534 |
To Francis Darwin 27 [September 1876]
Summary
Sends last chapter of Orchids [1877] for revision.
Has some articles that might interest FD.
Has invited Ferdinand Cohn and his wife to Down but hopes they will not come.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | 27 [Sept 1876] |
| Classmark: | DAR 211: 13 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10621 |
To Asa Gray 27 November 1876
Summary
Thanks for a correction. Hopes AG now has all the sheets of Cross and self-fertilisation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 27 Nov 1876 |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (114) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10688 |
To Asa Gray 4 [November 1876]
Summary
Sends some sheets [of Cross and self-fertilisation].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 4 [Nov 1876] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (130c) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10662 |
To S. B. Herrick 6 March 1876
Summary
CD came to believe Drosera drew its nourishment from insects because it grows where no other plants survive. Doubts glands are modified stomata.
Suggests works by Grönland and Trécul.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Sophie McIlvaine Bledsoe (Sophie) (Bledsoe) Herrick |
| Date: | 6 Mar 1876 |
| Classmark: | University of Virginia Library, Special Collections (3314 1: 61 MSS 3361-a) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10415 |
To Asa Gray 28 October 1876
Summary
Is sending sheets of Cross and self-fertilisation. He will be curious to see what AG thinks of it, as AG speaks the truth whether or not he approves. Is sick of trying to correct his "horrid bad style".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 28 Oct 1876 |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (113) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10656 |
To James Torbitt 14 April 1876
Summary
Gives advice on breeding of blight-resistant potatoes.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | James Torbitt |
| Date: | 14 Apr 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 148: 93; Belfast News-Letter, 22 April 1876, p. 2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10451 |
To Fritz Müller [9 February 1876]
Summary
Has sent FM’s letter on to Nature ["Brazil kitchen middens, habits of ants, etc.", Nature 13 (1876): 304–5].
Would be grateful for Ceropegia seeds.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Date: | [9 Feb 1876] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 38) (EH 88205868) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10384 |
From J. V. Carus 20 November 1876
Summary
Thanks CD for [2d English edition of] Volcanic islands and South America [1876].
Is at work on Cross and self-fertilisation. Asks about some doubtful points.
| Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Nov 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 105 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10681 |
From George Bentham 13 December 1876
Summary
Believes Aegiphila to be exclusively American.
Contrasts fertilisation of Australian Acacia with Brazilian Mimosa.
| Author: | George Bentham |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Dec 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 167 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10718 |
From Naphtali Lewy [26 March – 24 April 1876]
Summary
NL has written an essay Toldot adam (Lewy 1874, privately printed in book form as Lewy [1875]) to convince his people of the truth of CD’s theory.
| Author: | Naphtali Lewy (Halevi) |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [26 Mar – 24 Apr 1876] |
| Classmark: | DAR 201: 20 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10430 |
From Asa Gray 12 November 1876
Summary
Thanks for sheets of new book. Intends to talk about it at a scientific social club meeting.
Is amused to read CD’s criticisms of his own style, as in the U. S. it is spoken of as being as faultless as his temper. Corrects a reference.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Nov 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 191 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10668 |
To Lawson Tait 5 May 1876
Summary
CD sends the gist of an extremely negative report from the [Royal Society’s] physiological referee on the value of RLT’s modifications of Brücke’s process for isolating pepsin [see 10470].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Lawson (Lawson) Tait |
| Date: | 5 May 1876 |
| Classmark: | Shrewsbury School, Taylor Library |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10497 |
From Gaston de Saporta 2 September 1876
Summary
Claims to have proved the great antiquity of several plant races. But this does not contradict the tendency to vary. Insists that heredity can make permanent varieties of sufficient duration to occur as fossils.
| Author: | Louis Charles Joseph Gaston (Gaston) de Saporta, comte de Saporta |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 Sept 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 33 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10587 |
To Asa Gray 28 January 1876
Summary
Thanks for reviews of Insectivorous plants and of Climbing plants in Nation and American Journal Science [see 10329].
AG’s essay on seed dispersal ["Burs in the borage family", Am. Nat. 10 (1876): 1–4].
Preparing book on advantages of crossing [Cross and self-fertilisation].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 28 Jan 1876 |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (111) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10370 |
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 |
To William Robinson 10 January [1876?]
Summary
Accepts WR’s offer of copies of the Garden for the next half-year.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Robinson |
| Date: | 10 Jan [1876?] |
| Classmark: | John Wilson (dealer) (5 May 2008) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10350 |
From G. H. Darwin 25 April 1876
Summary
Is elated by his work on the alteration in the earth’s axis and the displacement of the poles. [See 10689.]
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 25 Apr 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 51 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10472 |
From John Tyndall 2 February 1876
Summary
Tells CD of his engagement to Louisa, eldest daughter of Lord Claud Hamilton.
His investigations [into spontaneous generation] continue. He will deal with Bastian’s work [The modes of origin of lowest organisms (1871)].
The medical journals see that the end of the nonsense they have so long countenanced is nigh.
| Author: | John Tyndall |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 Feb 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: C20–1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10377 |
| letter | (37) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (17) |
| Bentham, George | (2) |
| Darwin, G. H. | (2) |
| Haeckel, Ernst | (2) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (19) |
| Gray, Asa | (4) |
| Bentham, George | (2) |
| Tait, Lawson | (2) |
| Bradshaw, Henry | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (36) |
| Gray, Asa | (5) |
| Bentham, George | (4) |
| Haeckel, Ernst | (3) |
| Wallace, A. R. | (3) |
Lost in translation: From Auguste Forel, 12 November 1874
Summary
You receive a gift from your scientific hero Charles Darwin. It is a book that contains sections on your favourite topic—ants. If only you had paid attention when your mother tried to teach you English you might be able to read it. But you didn’t, and you…
Matches: 1 hits
- … You receive a gift from your scientific hero Charles Darwin. It is a book that contains sections …
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, 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…
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- … There are summaries of all Darwin's letters from the year 1879 on this website. The full texts of …
Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants
Summary
Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Towards the end of 1862, Darwin resolved to build a small hothouse at Down House, for …
1.2 George Richmond, marriage portrait
Summary
< Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more may once have existed. In a letter of 1873 an old Shrewsbury friend, Arthur Mostyn Owen, offered to send Darwin a watercolour sketch of him, painted many years…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more …
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's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
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- … Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of …
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: 1 hits
- … In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began …
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…
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- … Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants …
German and Dutch photograph albums
Summary
Darwin Day 2018: To celebrate Darwin's 209th birthday, we present two lavishly produced albums of portrait photographs which Darwin received from continental admirers 141 years ago. These unusual gifts from Germany and the Netherlands are made…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1877, Charles Darwin was sent some unusual birthday presents: two lavishly …
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 1 hits
- … I am merely slaving over the sickening work of preparing new Editions …
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, 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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of …
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…
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- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
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 …
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 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 …
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,…
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- … Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have …
Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles
Summary
Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…
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- … Species theory In November 1845, Charles Darwin wrote to his friend and confidant Joseph …
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…
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- … When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations …
