To J. D. Hooker 26 [December 1859]
Summary
High, detailed praise for introductory essay to Flora Tasmaniae [reprinted as On the flora of Australia (1859)]. CD expects it to convert botanists from doctrine of immutable creation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 26 [Dec 1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 33, 30a |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2606 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … to J. D. Hooker, 11 May [1859] . See letter from J. D. Hooker, [12 December 1859] . …
- … Hooker 1859 . See letters to J. D. Hooker, 7 April [1859] , 2 July [1859] , and 28 [July …
- … queried by CD. See letter to Charles Lyell, 27 [December 1859] , in which CD discussed …
- … with this letter. A. Gray 1858–9 . See letters to Asa Gray , 21 December [1859] and …
- … 1859] . CD had criticised Asa Gray’s view that there had been a post-glacial warm period, as expressed in A. Gray 1858–9 , in letter …
- … 1859 , p. xvi: ‘An isl d so lofty & ancient as Tahiti, whether rising or sinking must have been long peopled. ’ In the opposite margin he wrote: ‘I doubt whole case. ’ The postscript was written on a separate sheet of paper and bound with a different letter …
To J. D. Hooker [23 October 1859]
Summary
Congratulates JDH on finishing his introductory essay [to Flora Tasmaniae].
Lyell’s position on mutability appears more positive in his letters to JDH than in those to CD. Considers JDH a convert.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [23 Oct 1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 24 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2509 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … s letter has not been found; it was probably a reply to CD’s letter of 15 October [1859] . …
- … See the letter from Charles Lyell, 22 October 1859 , and n. 7. CD intended to forward …
- … read the proof-sheets of Hooker 1859 at intervals during the summer. See letter to T. H. …
- … flora of Australia ( Hooker 1859 , pp. c–cvi). See also letter to J. D. Hooker, [27 …
- … 1859] . For CD’s and Huxley’s previous correspondence on classification, see Correspondence vol. 6, letters …
- … letter, but see letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 October [1859] , for two of his suggestions. [ …
To E. B. Tylor 2 October [1871]
Summary
CD advises publishing a short version of Primitive culture [1871] for the general reader.
Would like to see EBT, but his health has been bad and conversation is extremely tiring.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Edward Burnett Tylor |
| Date: | 2 Oct [1871] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 50524: 44–6) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7982 |
To Hugh Falconer 11 November [1859]
Summary
Has told Murray to send Origin to HF. "Lord, how savage you will be, if you read it, and how you will long to crucify me alive."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Hugh Falconer |
| Date: | 11 Nov [1859] |
| Classmark: | Life and Letters 2: 216–17 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2524 |
To S. P. Woodward 6 March [1860]
Summary
Will be glad to have SPW’s criticisms of Origin.
Discusses his use of terms, "typical" and "specialisation".
Emphasises large body of facts explained by his theory of species.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Samuel Pickworth Woodward |
| Date: | 6 Mar [1860] |
| Classmark: | DAR 148: 379 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2724 |
To H. W. Bates 25 November [1862]
Summary
[Apparently in reply to question in missing portion of 3825.] A written agreement is unnecessary, but a letter stating terms would prevent misundertanding. He will attempt to have a review of HWB’s paper published.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 25 Nov [1862] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3827 |
To John Phillips 26 November [1859]
Summary
Though many facts of palaeontology may be against his theory, CD begs JP to consider whether a theory wholly false could explain several classes of facts – which CD enumerates.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Phillips |
| Date: | 26 Nov [1859] |
| Classmark: | Oxford University Museum of Natural History Archive Collections (John Phillips collection)) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2556 |
To John Murray [3 November 1859]
Summary
Infinitely pleased and proud of the appearance of his "child" [Origin, 1st ed.]. Thinks JM has been overgenerous in paying for his corrections. Offers to divide cost and regrets sending such badly composed copy.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Murray |
| Date: | [3 Nov 1859] |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 f.49) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2514 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Dated by the relationship to the letter from John Murray, 2 November 1859 . …
- … See letter from John Murray, 2 November 1859 . This sum had been cited by Murray as the …
- … printer of Origin (see letter from John Murray, 2 November 1859 ). Murray’s accounts do …
- … foreign naturalists (see letter to John Murray, 15 October [1859] ); his presentation list …
From Charles Lyell 21 November 1859
Summary
Questions CD’s view in Origin that domestic dogs are not descended from a single stock. Occasional crossings of domestic stock with wild species could explain cases of reversion towards wild specific forms. CD’s views on hybridity do not then have to be contradicted in constructing an ancestral stock.
| Author: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 21 Nov 1859 |
| Classmark: | The University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections (Lyell collection Coll-203/A3/4: 195–7) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2540A |
To Adam Sedgwick 11 November [1859]
Summary
Has told Murray to send AS a copy of Origin. CD’s conclusion is diametrically opposed to that which AS has often advocated, but he assures AS he does not send his book out of a spirit of bravado.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Adam Sedgwick |
| Date: | 11 Nov [1859] |
| Classmark: | Sotheby’s, New York (dealers) (13 December 2018, lot 235) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2525 |
To Adam Sedgwick 26 November [1859]
Summary
CD expected AS’s "strong disapprobation" of his book [Origin] but is grieved "to have shocked a man whom I sincerely honour". Has worked "like a slave" on the subject for over 20 years and is not conscious that bad motives have influenced the conclusions at which he has arrived. CD does not think the book will be mischievous and "if I be wrong I shall soon be annihilated". CD may have written too confidently from feeling confident that no "false theory would explain so many classes of facts".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Adam Sedgwick |
| Date: | 26 Nov [1859] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Egerton MS 3020: 1–3) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2555 |
To J. D. Hooker 15 October [1859]
Summary
Book finished some two weeks.
Feeling much better at Ilkley.
Lyell thinks favourably of book but "staggered" at lengths to which CD goes.
Which continental botanists should receive presentation copies?
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 15 Oct [1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 23 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2504 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Hooker 1859 . See letter to W. E. Darwin, [14 October …
- … has been found. See letter from Charles Lyell, 3 October 1859 . …
- … CD had asked in the letter to Charles Lyell, 25 September [1859] , for Lyell’s opinion of …
- … 1859 (‘Journal’; Correspondence vol. 7, Appendix II). Only one of Charles Lyell’s letters …
To Charles Lyell 14 January [1860]
Summary
Review of Origin in Gardeners’ Chronicle [31 Dec 1859].
Criticises views of J. G. Jeffreys on non-migration of shells. Cites case of Galapagos shells.
Mentions Edward Forbes’s theory of submerged continental extensions. Cites Hooker’s [introductory] essay [in Flora Tasmaniae (1860)] for evidence against any recent connection between Australia and New Zealand.
Discusses Huxley’s views of hybrid sterility.
Questions whether Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire believed in species change. Mentions views of Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.
The distribution of cave insects.
CD’s study of man.
The problems of locating French and German translators.
Huxley’s criticism of Owen’s views on human classification.
The sale of Origin.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 14 Jan [1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.192) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2650 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Correspondence vol. 7, letter to John Murray, 14 November [1859] . See following letter. …
- … Correspondence vol. 7, letters to Charles Lyell , 28 March [1859] and 30 March [1859] , …
- … Correspondence vol. 7, letter to J. G. Jeffreys, 29 December [1859] ). Jeffreys 1856 . …
- … vol. 6, letter to Charles Lyell, 25 June [1856] ). Hooker 1859 , p. lxxxvii. In his …
From Charles Lyell 22 October 1859
Summary
Wishes CD would enlarge on the doctrines of [Pyotr Simon] Pallas about the various races of dogs having come from several distinct wild species or sub-species.
Suggests organisms have a latent principle of improvement which is brought out by selection or breeding.
| Author: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 Oct 1859 |
| Classmark: | The University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections (Lyell collection Coll-203/A1/242: 15–24) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2508F |
Matches: 5 hits
- … to Lyell’s queries in his letters to Lyell of 25 October [1859] and 31 [October 1859] ( …
- … See Correspondence vol. 7, letter to Charles Lyell, 11 October [1859] and n. 7. Lyell …
- … queries in the letter from Charles Lyell, 4 October 1859 (this volume, Supplement), and …
- … to that letter ( Correspondence vol. 7, letter to Charles Lyell, 11 October [1859] ). …
- … letters are part of CD and Lyell’s discussions on the proof-sheets of Origin. For CD and Lyell’s continuing discussion on the origins of dogs and humans, see Correspondence vol. 7. Lyell refers to Thomas Bell and T. Bell 1837 , pp. 197–8. Lyell refers to Henry Holland and [Holland] 1859, …
To J. D. Hooker 6 May [1859]
Summary
JDH’s comments on style of Origin MS leave CD confused.
CD advises on how to get Acacia to set seed.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 6 May [1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 14 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2458 |
CD memorandum 24 April 1859
Summary
Questions about stripes on mules.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 24 Apr 1859 |
| Classmark: | DAR 206 (Letters) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2454 |
From Alfred Newton 13 March 1874
Summary
Wishes CD could publish Origin with footnotes.
Increases in bird populations: starlings are increasing, but AN cannot give reason; mistletoe-thrush increasing but not ousting song-thrush. Doubts trustworthiness of [George?] Edwards, CD’s authority in Origin on this matter [see Origin, 6th ed., p. 59].
AN opposed to bird protection legislation to prohibit egging. Argues egging does not decrease number of birds.
| Author: | Alfred Newton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Mar 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 172: 50 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9358 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … see Correspondence vol. 7, letter to Charles Lyell, 30 March [1859] , and letter to John …
- … 1859] ). However, he never returned to the longer exposition of his theory that he had worked on from 1856 to 1858, and which contained footnotes (see Natural selection ). CD had mentioned the increase of starlings in Kent in his letter …
From Asa Gray 7 May 1866
Summary
Thinks a new U. S. edition of Origin is needed.
Gives observations on the climbing habits of Bignonia capreolata.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 May 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 150 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5081 |
DCP-LETT-2501F
Summary
Cancelled: Known only from reference in letter to Charles Lyell, 11 October [1859]
| Author: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [4 October 1859] |
| Classmark: | |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2501F |
From W. F. Kirby 8 September [1863]
Summary
Describes some cases of geographical distribution of butterflies. Raises the perplexing question of the distribution of Pyrameis atalanta in Europe and P. calliroe in the Canaries.
| Author: | William Forsell Kirby |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Sept [1863] |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.3 (Letters): 280 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4297 |
Matches: 2 hits
| letter | (807) |
| people | (16) |
| bibliography | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (497) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (51) |
| Gray, Asa | (18) |
| Lyell, Charles | (17) |
| Wallace, A. R. | (7) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (285) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (97) |
| Lyell, Charles | (58) |
| Huxley, T. H. | (26) |
| Murray, John (b) | (25) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (782) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (148) |
| Lyell, Charles | (75) |
| Gray, Asa | (42) |
| Huxley, T. H. | (32) |
| 1839 | (1) |
| 1842 | (1) |
| 1845 | (1) |
| 1846 | (1) |
| 1848 | (1) |
| 1850 | (1) |
| 1852 | (1) |
| 1854 | (1) |
| 1855 | (3) |
| 1856 | (9) |
| 1857 | (11) |
| 1858 | (31) |
| 1859 | (202) |
| 1860 | (149) |
| 1861 | (44) |
| 1862 | (55) |
| 1863 | (61) |
| 1864 | (27) |
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| 1879 | (9) |
| 1880 | (6) |
| 1881 | (7) |
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: 1 hits
- … When I was in spirits I sometimes fancied that my book w d be successful; but I never even …
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: 1 hits
- … The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet …
Rewriting Origin - the later editions
Summary
For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions. Many of his changes were made in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … If I lived 20 more years, & was able to work, how I sh d . have to modify the “Origin”, & …
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: 1 hits
- … Disagreement & Respect | Conduct of Debate | Darwin & Wallace The best-known …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … When I was in spirits I sometimes fancied that my book w d be successful; but I never even …
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 …
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 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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten …
John Lubbock
Summary
John Lubbock was eight years old when the Darwins moved into the neighbouring property of Down House, Down, Kent; the total of one hundred and seventy surviving letters he went on to exchange with Darwin is a large number considering that the two men lived…
Matches: 1 hits
- … John Lubbock was eight years old when the Darwins moved into the neighbouring property of Down …
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 …
Religion
Summary
Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Design | Personal Belief | Beauty | The Church Perhaps the most notorious …
John Murray
Summary
Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was …
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 …
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: 1 hits
- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Slave-making ants For …
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 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 in public and private
Summary
Extracts from Darwin's published works, in particular Descent of man, and selected letters, explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual selection in humans, and both his publicly and privately expressed views on its practical implications…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The following extracts and selected letters explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual …
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: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to …
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 …
