From A. R. Wallace 9 July 1881
Summary
Enthusiasm for Henry George’s Progress and poverty. Considers it to rank with Adam Smith’s work. His own work on the land question [Land nationalisation (1882)].
| Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 July 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: B154–5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13238 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Charles and Wallace, Alfred Russel. 1858. On the tendency of species to form varieties; …
- … Lyell … and J. D. Hooker. [Read 1 July 1858. ] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean …
- … by natural selection ( C. Darwin and Wallace 1858 ). Social statics ( Spencer 1851 ) was …
- … CD cited Malthus in C. Darwin and Wallace 1858, pp. 47, 48, and in Origin , pp. 5, 63. See …
To J. B. Innes 15 September 1881
Summary
CD interested in JBI’s observations of behaviour of bees. Finds his criticism about hexagonal cells made by queen wasps a good one. Cannot remember how he got out of the difficulty.
His book on worms to be published soon.
E. A. Darwin has died after short illness.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Brodie Innes |
| Date: | 15 Sept 1881 |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13339 |
From J. D. Hooker 4 August 1881
Summary
Outlines address to York BAAS meeting on history of geographical distribution. Organising theme: advancement in this science based on ideas enunciated by scientific voyagers. Asks CD’s advice.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Aug 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 104: 154–7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13272 |
From W. P. Snow 21 November 1881
Summary
Is planning a revised edition of his Cruise in Tierra del Fuego [1857], and finds his opinions on the natives the reverse of CD’s.
Hopes he may call some time.
| Author: | William Parker Snow |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 21 Nov 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 214 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13495 |
To John Price 27 December 1881
Summary
Congratulates JP on marriage of daughter.
Consoles him on his poor health.
Death of Mrs Smith a severe loss.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Price |
| Date: | 27 Dec 1881 |
| Classmark: | University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library (BANC MSS 74/78 z) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13581 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … index of wills and administrations ) , 1858–1966 (Ancestry.com, accessed 15 October 2020). …
From S. H. Haliburton 8 September [1881]
Summary
Condolences on death of Erasmus.
| Author: | Sarah Harriet Mostyn Owen; Sarah Harriet Williams; Sarah Harriet Haliburton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Sept [1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 87 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13323 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … index of wills and administrations ) , 1858–1995 (Ancestry.com, accessed 6 November …
To J. D. Hooker 21 August 1881
Summary
No one could have thought about evolution and not about representative species; yet no one discussed it fully until Origin, including von Baer.
Did not know of Leopold von Buch’s Description physique des îles Canaries [1836] when Origin was published.
"As far as I know no one ever discussed the meaning of the relation between representative species before I did & as I suppose Wallace did in his paper before the Linn. Soc. [1858]."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 21 Aug 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 95: 528–9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13293 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … before I did & as I suppose Wallace did in his paper before the Linn. Soc. [1858]." …
To G. H. Darwin [28 August 1881]
Summary
Suggests that GHD employ W. M. Hacon as solicitor for selling E. A. Darwin’s house, rather than Mr Salt’s agents; he remembers that firm as full of odious people.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George Howard Darwin |
| Date: | [28 Aug 1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.1: 107 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13300 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … calendar (index of wills and administrations), 1858–1966 (Ancestry.com, accessed 9 October …
To John Price 3 September [1881]
Summary
Thanks for letter about death of Erasmus Darwin.
Cannot answer question about dotterels.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Price |
| Date: | 3 Sept [1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 147: 282 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13315 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … index of wills and administrations ) , 1858–1966 (Ancestry.com, accessed 22 April 2021)). …
To W. W. Baxter 9 February 1881
Summary
Orders vaseline and pomatum – the latter to put on his beard, which in dry weather feels uncomfortably harsh.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Walmisley Baxter |
| Date: | 9 Feb 1881 |
| Classmark: | Bromley Historic Collections, Bromley Central Library (Baxter Collection, 1136/1) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13047 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … jelly for medicinal purposes in 1872. In 1858, he had observed that the black petroleum …
From Anthony Rich 1 March 1881
Summary
AR plans, when he dies, to leave sea-side house at Worthing to Huxley.
| Author: | Anthony Rich |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 146 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13071 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … calendar (index of wills and administrations), 1858–1995 ; Ancestry.com, accessed 31 July …
From J. H. Gilbert 22 February 1881
Summary
The laboratory has scarcely any experimental evidence on acidity of humus soil and earthworm excreta. Refers CD to some sources of information.
| Author: | Joseph Henry Gilbert |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 Feb 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 43 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13063 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … in Agricultural Chemistry) were published between 1858 and 1864; from 1864, the title was …
To Nature 7 November [1881]
Summary
Summarises letter of William Nation [13350]. The facts given strongly support the conclusion that there is some close connection between the parasitic habits of birds that lay their eggs in others’ nests and the fact of their laying eggs at "considerable intervals of time".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Nature |
| Date: | 7 Nov [1881] |
| Classmark: | Nature, 17 November 1881, p. 51 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13471 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: Cambridge …
To J. D. Hooker 6 August 1881
Summary
Responds to JDH’s outline history of plant geography.
Considers Humboldt the "greatest scientific traveller who ever lived".
Discusses the origin and rapid radiation of angiosperms in Cretaceous period.
Comments on importance of work of Alphonse de Candolle, Saporta, Axel Blytt.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 6 Aug 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 95: 518–23 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13277 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: Cambridge …
| letter | (14) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (8) |
| Gilbert, J. H. | (1) |
| Haliburton, S. H. | (1) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
| Mostyn Owen, S. H. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (6) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
| Price, John | (2) |
| Baxter, W. W. | (1) |
| Darwin, G. H. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (14) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (3) |
| Price, John | (2) |
| Baxter, W. W. | (1) |
| Darwin, G. H. | (1) |
Abstract of Darwin’s theory
Summary
There are two extant versions of the abstract of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. One was sent to Asa Gray on 5 September 1857, enclosed with a letter of the same date (see Correspondence vol. 6, letter to Asa Gray, 5 September [1857] and enclosure).…
Matches: 11 hits
- … sent to Charles Lyell and Joseph Dalton Hooker in June 1858 as part of Darwin’s contribution to the …
- … manuscript and the printed text of Darwin and Wallace 1858 have been noted. For CD’s work on the …
- … dated Down, September 5th, 1857.” (Darwin and Wallace 1858, p. 50). The text comprises the second …
- … printed version reads: ‘astounded’ (Darwin and Wallace 1858, p. 50). 3 The printed version …
- … carpets, of another for cloth, &c.’ (Darwin and Wallace 1858, p. 51). 10 The printed …
- … external appearances, but who could’ (Darwin and Wallace 1858, p. 51). 11 The manuscript …
- … should go on selecting for one object’ (Darwin and Wallace 1858, p. 51). 13 The printed …
- … few years, or at most a few centuries’ (Darwin and Wallace 1858, p. 51). 17 At this point in …
- … not hold the progeny of one pair’ (Darwin and Wallace 1858, p. 51). 18 The printed version …
- … printed version reads: ‘far more’ (Darwin and Wallace 1858, p. 52). 21 The printed version …
- … by struggling with other organisms’ (Darwin and Wallace 1858, p. 52). 22 The printed version …
The writing of "Origin"
Summary
From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…
Matches: 19 hits
- … Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ) The year 1858 opened with Darwin hard at work …
- … on hybridism, on 29 December 1857, Darwin began in January 1858 to prepare the next chapter, ‘Mental …
- … facts on record.—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). In addition to behaviour such as …
- … occurred in nature (see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and Natural selection , p. 161). …
- … you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have been forced to …
- … much of his research completed, Darwin began in mid-June 1858 to write up the results of his study …
- … of my Chapters.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). As was his custom, Darwin did …
- … endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the accuracy of Darwin’s …
- … Darwin received Wallace’s letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same day that another letter …
- … 2). The correspondence between mid-May and mid-June 1858 provides some circumstantial …
- … of anxiety. He says in a letter to Syms Covington, 18 May [1858] , that he expects the …
- … full well you will be dreadfully severe.—’ On 18 [May 1858] , he again tells Hooker: ‘There is …
- … the Darwin–Wallace papers at the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858. It also includes an unpublished …
- … days immediately following his letter to Lyell. On 18 June 1858, his eldest daughter, Henrietta Emma …
- … did not attend the meeting of the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858. After the theory of natural …
- … a ‘small volume’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] ). Begun while he was in Sandown on …
- … detailed sections for his ‘big book’. In September 1858 he finished his manuscript discussion of …
- … experiments on bees’ cells continued through the autumn of 1858, even though he had completed a …
- … of publishing (see ‘Journal’; Appendix II). Twice in 1858 and three times in 1859 he had gone to …
The evolution of honeycomb
Summary
Honeycombs are natural engineering marvels, using the least possible amount of wax to provide the greatest amount of storage space, with the greatest possible structural stability. Darwin recognised that explaining the evolution of the honey-bee’s comb…
Matches: 14 hits
- … of reaching.’ (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 10 February 1858 .) By now not only …
- … together. (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 13 February 1858 .) In April 1858, Darwin went to …
- … discussion in a memorandum to W. H. Miller, [15 April 1858] , summarising his position as follows …
- … by other cells (letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 17 April 1858 ). Waterhouse also told Darwin …
- … piece of honeycomb (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, [21 April 1858] ); however, it had been mislaid. …
- … beginnings of the comb (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 9 May [1858] ). He suspected that the first …
- … manner of building’ (letter to W. E. Darwin, [26 May 1858] .) To Tegetmeier, he explained in more …
- … cylindrical cells (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 5 June [1858] ). Tegetmeier suggested putting a …
- … and buying a swarm (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 8 [June 1858] ). (Articial wax is probably …
- … result is shown in the photograph below. In August 1858, Waterhouse’s remarks at the 5 April …
- … At a meeting of the Entomological Society on 7 July 1858 ( Proceedings of the Entomological Society …
- … latest controversies in his letter to Darwin of 2 August 1858 . The notion that the theory of …
- … with the least possible expenditure of wax, but in September 1858 Tegetmeier was able to give Darwin …
- … of cells. (Letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 8 September [1858] .) In Origin , in November …
Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin
Summary
The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…
Matches: 25 hits
- … The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From …
- … of organic change at the Linnean Society of London in July 1858 and prompted the composition and …
- … from these years. The 'big book' The year 1858 opened with Darwin hard at …
- … on hybridism, on 29 December 1857, Darwin began in January 1858 to prepare the next chapter, ‘Mental …
- … facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). In addition to behaviour such as …
- … occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and Natural selection , p. 161). …
- … you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have been forced to …
- … best.—’ Other topics discussed in the letters of 1858 also relate to questions that Darwin …
- … much of his research completed, Darwin began in mid-June 1858 to write up the results of his study …
- … of my Chapters.’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). As was his custom, Darwin did …
- … endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the accuracy of Darwin’s …
- … Darwin received Wallace’s letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same day that another letter …
- … 2). The correspondence between mid-May and mid-June 1858 provides some circumstantial …
- … of anxiety. He says in a letter to Syms Covington, 18 May [1858], that he expects the publication of …
- … full well you will be dreadfully severe.—’ On 18 [May 1858], he again tells Hooker: ‘There is not …
- … the Darwin–Wallace papers at the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858, including a letter from Wallace to …
- … days immediately following his letter to Lyell. On 18 June 1858, his eldest daughter, Henrietta Emma …
- … did not attend the meeting of the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858. The writing of Origin …
- … a ‘small volume’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] ). Begun while he was in Sandown on …
- … detailed sections for his ‘big book’. In September 1858 he finished his manuscript discussion of …
- … experiments on bees’ cells continued through the autumn of 1858, even though he had completed a …
- … the most difficult challenge to his views. In November 1858, he communicated a long summary of his …
- … letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [before 13 November 1858] ), in which he presented the evidence for …
- … of publishing (see ‘Journal’; Appendix II). Twice in 1858 and three times in 1859 he had gone to …
- … we run two horses’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 6 October [1858] ). Visitors to Down and trips to …
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,…
Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species
Summary
Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…
Matches: 6 hits
- … manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by June 1858. At that point Darwin was …
- … theory of transmutation ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). Darwin recorded in his …
- … 10 9 March 1858 Mental powers and the instincts of …
- … [4] 12 June 1858 [3] [Discussion on large genera and …
- … [6] 12 June 1858 [Correcting chapter 6] (DAR 10.2: 26a- …
- … intended to be added to chapter 4 was completed on 14 April 1858. Stauffer considers the alterations …
Instinct and the Evolution of Mind
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Slave-making ants For Darwin, slave-making ants were a powerful example of the force of instinct. He used the case of the ant Formica sanguinea in the On the Origin of Species to show how instinct operates—how…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Letter 2226 —Frederick Smith to Darwin, 26 Feb 1858 In this letter, Smith, a prominent …
- … Letter 2235 —Darwin to Frederick Smith, [before 9 Mar 1858] This letter contains a list of …
- … Letter 2413 —Charles Darwin to Emma Darwin, [25 Apr 1858] Written from Moor Park, a …
- … 2265 —Charles Darwin to William Erasmus Darwin, [26 Apr 1858] Writing to his eldest son, …
- … Letter 2306 —Charles Darwin to Joseph Hooker, 13 [July 1858] In this famous letter to …
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: 4 hits
- … and gratefully Charles Darwin. CREED AND FEVER: 1858 In which Gray expresses his …
- … Origin of Species…’ FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH: 1857-1858 In which Gray and Hooker begin …
- … 1856 24 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, 13 JULY 1858 25 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, …
- … OF COMMON PRAYER 47 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 4 JULY 1858 48 C DARWIN TO LYELL …
Alfred Russel Wallace’s essay on varieties
Summary
The original manuscript about varieties that Wallace composed on the island of Gilolo and sent to Darwin from the neighbouring island of Ternate (Brooks 1984) has not been found. It was sent to Darwin as an enclosure in a letter (itself missing), and was…
Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions
Summary
Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …
Darwin and Fatherhood
Summary
Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…
Darwin's health
Summary
On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…
Controversy
Summary
The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…
Matches: 6 hits
- … Letter 2285 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 18 [June 1858] Darwin writes to Lyell and …
- … Letter 2294 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [25 June 1858] Darwin writes to Lyell saying …
- … Letter 2295 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 26 [June 1858] Darwin writes to Lyell and …
- … Hooker, J. D. & Lyell, Charles to Linnean Society, 30 June 1858 Hooker and Lyell write …
- … Letter 2306 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 13 [July 1858] Darwin writes to Hooker, saying …
- … Letter 2337 — Wallace, A. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct 1858 Darwin thanks Hooker and Lyell for …
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 …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. …
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…
Origin
Summary
Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to establish priority for the species theory he had spent over twenty years researching. Darwin never intended to write Origin, and had resisted suggestions in 1856…
Matches: 5 hits
- … a similar theory by Alfred Russel Wallace in June 1858. In the aftermath of the first public …
- … a longer abstract of his species theory . On 5 July 1858, Darwin stated his intention to start work …
- … was writing his essay on the flora of Australia in December 1858, he asked to borrow Darwin’s ‘ …
- … convert. ’ Making the book By mid-October 1858, Darwin had expected that his abstract …
- … was having, and the fulfilment of his stated aim in July 1858 when he began to write his abstract: ‘ …
On the Origin of Species
Summary
From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…
Orchids
Summary
Why Orchids? Darwin wrote in his Autobiography, ‘During the summer of 1839, and, I believe, during the previous summer, I was led to attend to the cross-fertilisation of flowers by the aid of insects, from having come to the conclusion in my…
2.26 Linnean Society medal
Summary
< Back to Introduction In 1908 the Linnean Society celebrated the jubilee of ‘the greatest event’ in its whole history, which had occurred on 1 July 1858: the presentation by Charles Lyell and Joseph Hooker of papers by Darwin and Alfred Russel…
Matches: 3 hits
- … event’ in its whole history, which had occurred on 1 July 1858: the presentation by Charles Lyell …
- … of thanks recalled the momentous reading of the papers in 1858, and the stunned or bemused reactions …
- … is inscribed round the rim on both sides ‘LINN.SOC.LOND: 1858–1908’. The ‘Objects exhibited in the …
