From J. M. Herbert 15–17 April 1832
Summary
Writes news of Cambridge friends, professors, music, the Reform Bill, and cholera. Expresses belief that CD will take his place with Cuvier and Humboldt.
| Author: | John Maurice Herbert |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15–17 Apr 1832 |
| Classmark: | DAR 204: 113 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-165 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Writes news of Cambridge friends, professors, music, the Reform Bill, and cholera. …
- … says that writing a short letter to a distant friend is like making an old acquaintance a …
- … believe me, is not without its sting. All friends here desire the kindest remembrance, …
- … thankfully received by, My dearest Darwin, your ever sincere friend | J. M. Herbert. …
- … a Law-Tutor there. I dined with our old friend Henslow yesterday, and met Cap t . Ramsay …
- … patronize to such an extent; and if your old friend Keats was right, you will, as you used …
From T. H. Huxley 11 November 1866
Summary
Thanks for 4th ed. of Origin.
What a basting CD gives "our mutual friend" [Owen].
Glad he argrees with THH on Jamaica affair [Gov. Eyre and the "rebellion"].
| Author: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 11 Nov 1866 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 312 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5275 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … What a basting CD gives "our mutual friend" [Owen]. Glad he argrees with THH on Jamaica …
- … an unmerciful basting you give “Our Mutual friend”— I did not know he had put forward any …
- … and n. 11. Charles Dickens’s Our mutual friend (London: Chapman and Hall) was published …
- … governor of Jamaica, Edward John Eyre , friends of theirs, notably Joseph Dalton Hooker …
From Charles Whitley 5 February 1835
Summary
Replies to CD’s letter [250], giving news of himself and mutual friends.
| Author: | Charles Thomas Whitley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 5 Feb 1835 |
| Classmark: | DAR 204: 132 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-267 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Replies to CD’s letter [ 250 ], giving news of himself and mutual friends. …
- … in the ‘Wellington’. Luckily for your friend Rhys Jones they had previously quarrelled & …
- … post . You think very often & very much, I daresay, of the friends you have left behind, …
- … but if all that your friends say & think of you, collectively, were to be put on the other …
From Caroline Darwin 30 December [1833] – 3 January 1834
Summary
News of family and friends. Hensleigh Wedgwood’s scruples about swearing oaths.
| Author: | Caroline Sarah (Caroline) Darwin; Caroline Sarah (Caroline) Wedgwood |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Dec [1833] & 3 Jan 1834 |
| Classmark: | DAR 204: 79 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-234 |
To F. B. Goodacre 20 August [1878]
Summary
Thanks FBG for his offer [of geese for breeding experiments] but cannot undertake anything. Suggests FBG or any friend cross half-bred birds for a few generations; it would be a valuable contribution to science.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Burges Goodacre |
| Date: | 20 Aug [1878] |
| Classmark: | Dr John Goodacre (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11670 |
From C. M. C. Darwin 3 April 1871
Summary
A friend with similar interests has asked to be introduced to CD, as he has some facts that will amuse him.
| Author: | Charlotte Maria Cooper Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Apr 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 99: 33 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7655 |
From John Murray 22 September [1871]
Summary
The pamphlet [Chauncey Wright’s review of Mivart, see 7940] has been distributed to friends and to the press.
| Author: | John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 Sept [1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 402 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7962 |
From Anne Marsh-Caldwell 27 November [1866]
Summary
Writing for Mr Corbet, she asks what diet has helped in the treatment of CD’s illness.
| Author: | Anne Caldwell; Anne Marsh; Anne Marsh-Caldwell |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 Nov [1866] |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 41 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5286 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Emma Darwin referred to the Caldwells as ‘old friends’ ( letter from Emma Darwin to G. H. …
- … would like so much to hear from his old friend” So far Rosamond—& if you or M rs . Darwin …
- … circle, 1730–1897: four generations of a family and their friends. London: Studio Vista. …
- … you —in which all to your most distant friends so heartily rejoice—he has desired her—“to …
- … ask what was the diet he pursued— he is an old friend of M r . Corbets but they have not …
- … tell him— he has often thought of his old friend & felt for his sufferings— I have told M …
From Catherine Darwin 27–30 January 1834
Summary
News of family and friends: W. D. Fox will marry in the spring; private theatricals at Eaton house-party.
| Author: | Emily Catherine (Catherine) Darwin; Emily Catherine (Catherine) Langton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27–30 Jan 1834 |
| Classmark: | DAR 204: 91 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-236 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … News of family and friends: W. D. Fox will marry in the spring; private theatricals at …
- … old, and foolish by all accounts, so that it is not a match his friends particularly like. …
- … I do not know what his great friend Erasmus thinks of it, as he has not written to us of …
- … as possible to her. — Your other d
〈 ear〉 Friend Sarah Williams, has been leading〈 the〉 …
Wedgwood, Godfrey (1833–1905)
Matches: 1 hit
- … of a family and their friends. London: Studio Vista. 1,6,9,12,19,20,21,23,24,27,29,30 …
Wedgwood, L. C. (1846–1919)
Matches: 1 hit
- … circle, 1730–1897: four generations of a family and their friends. London: Studio Vista. …
From Henry Matthew [March or April 1831]
Summary
In London HM was too harassed by his wife to write; has gone home and is much bothered by his father. Looks for a place as a private tutor. Remains CD’s devoted friend.
| Author: | Henry Matthew |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [Mar or Apr 1831] |
| Classmark: | DAR 204: 39 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-95 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … bothered by his father. Looks for a place as a private tutor. Remains CD’s devoted friend. …
- … after all? God bless you my dear fellow | Ever your most sincere friend | H Matthew …
- … Makepeace Thackeray , who was also a friend of Matthew, visited him in July of 1831 and …
- … May 1849) he refers to Matthew as ‘that friend of my youth whom I used to think 20 years …
From Frederick Watkins [18 September 1831]
Summary
Rejoices in CD’s appointment and predicts he will rank with Candolle, Henslow, and Linnaeus.
Recounts their past pleasures and gives news of friends, who are scattering fast.
| Author: | Frederick Watkins |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [18 Sept 1831] |
| Classmark: | DAR 204: 67 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-130 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Recounts their past pleasures and gives news of friends, who are scattering fast. …
- … remember that you’ve always one sincere friend in | Frederic Watkins Can I do any good for …
- … a road I dont know—to Heaven. One of our friends would say it was “a melancholy fact” that …
- … more sincerely than yourself— Our friends are scattering fast. Whitley prognosticates …
To J. S. Henslow [5 September 1831]
Summary
Has met FitzRoy, who has now offered him the post of naturalist on board the Beagle. Other details about the voyage arrangements – mess, CD’s status, route, books.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | [5 Sept 1831] |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Henslow letters: 4 DAR/1/1/4) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-118 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … bye, my dear Henslow | Yours most sincere friend | Chas Darwin Excuse this letter in such …
- … 1. H. F. Burstyn has suggested that the friend was Harry Chester , novelist and youngest …
- … reads: ‘ Harry Chester | From his valued friend Robert FitzRoy ’. See Appendix IV. William …
- … that M r . Chester, who was going as a friend, cannot go: so that I shall have his place …
From Catherine Darwin 30 October 1835
Summary
Erasmus has received CD’s journal and two boxes; six large boxes are at Plymouth. Had feared them lost in wreck of Challenger.
News of family and friends.
| Author: | Emily Catherine (Catherine) Darwin; Emily Catherine (Catherine) Langton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Oct 1835 |
| Classmark: | DAR 97 (ser. 2): 22–3 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-287 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … are at Plymouth. Had feared them lost in wreck of Challenger . News of family and friends. …
- … in those hot countries. What an invaluable friend M r Corfield has been to you; we are all …
- … than with the naked eye. — We had your Friend Major Bayley to dine here not long ago, and …
- … it, with sovereign contempt. — I saw you
〈 r〉 friend, Sarah Williams not long ago, a〈 nd〉 she …
From Charles Loring Brace 29 April 1867
Summary
Letter of introduction to CD for CLB’s friend Robert S. Rowley.
| Author: | Charles Loring Brace |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 Apr 1867 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 272 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5518 |
From W. K. Parker 17 January 1879
Summary
Sends CD a book on science and scriptures written by a clergyman friend [unidentified].
| Author: | William Kitchen Parker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 Jan 1879 |
| Classmark: | DAR 174: 21 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11831 |
To Hugh Falconer 4 November [1864]
Summary
[Copley] Medal very great honour. Cordial thanks.
Chuckled over [Gaspard-Auguste] Brullé and pupils.
Splendid converts in Rudolf Leuckart and Carl Gegenbaur.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Hugh Falconer |
| Date: | 4 Nov [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 144: 35 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4656 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … 4th, My dear Falconer What a good kind friend you are. I know well that this medal must …
- … the knowledge that you and a few other friends have so much interested themselves on the …
- … for what I believe to be the truth, as a convert. Farewell my good friend with sincere …
- … thanks | Your true friend | Charles Darwin …
From W. D. Fox 22 July [1878]
Summary
Thanks CD for his condolences. Reminisces about their youth.
On the death of his naturalist friend, W. C. Hewitson.
| Author: | William Darwin Fox |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 July [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 164: 203 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11625 |
| letter | (2253) |
| people | (188) |
| bibliography | (23) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (895) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (159) |
| Haeckel, Ernst | (41) |
| Gray, Asa | (29) |
| Huxley, T. H. | (21) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (1287) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (214) |
| Fox, W. D. | (92) |
| Gray, Asa | (44) |
| Lyell, Charles | (33) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2182) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (373) |
| Fox, W. D. | (112) |
| Gray, Asa | (73) |
| Haeckel, Ernst | (57) |
| 1821 | (1) |
| 1822 | (6) |
| 1824 | (1) |
| 1825 | (1) |
| 1826 | (11) |
| 1827 | (1) |
| 1828 | (9) |
| 1829 | (6) |
| 1830 | (5) |
| 1831 | (31) |
| 1832 | (22) |
| 1833 | (19) |
| 1834 | (20) |
| 1835 | (13) |
| 1836 | (18) |
| 1837 | (14) |
| 1838 | (16) |
| 1839 | (17) |
| 1840 | (7) |
| 1841 | (6) |
| 1842 | (10) |
| 1843 | (9) |
| 1844 | (8) |
| 1845 | (20) |
| 1846 | (11) |
| 1847 | (16) |
| 1848 | (22) |
| 1849 | (6) |
| 1850 | (12) |
| 1851 | (9) |
| 1852 | (8) |
| 1853 | (8) |
| 1854 | (15) |
| 1855 | (28) |
| 1856 | (40) |
| 1857 | (24) |
| 1858 | (36) |
| 1859 | (45) |
| 1860 | (77) |
| 1861 | (55) |
| 1862 | (84) |
| 1863 | (106) |
| 1864 | (93) |
| 1865 | (65) |
| 1866 | (70) |
| 1867 | (62) |
| 1868 | (135) |
| 1869 | (53) |
| 1870 | (47) |
| 1871 | (120) |
| 1872 | (83) |
| 1873 | (79) |
| 1874 | (73) |
| 1875 | (78) |
| 1876 | (44) |
| 1877 | (68) |
| 1878 | (62) |
| 1879 | (76) |
| 1880 | (70) |
| 1881 | (78) |
| 1882 | (24) |
Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest
Summary
The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…
William Yarrell
Summary
William Yarrell was a London businessman, a stationer and bookseller, who became an expert on British birds and fish, writing standard reference works on both. He was a member of several science and natural history societies, including the Linnean Society…
Matches: 1 hits
- … hearing of Yarrell's death, lamenting ' our old & excellent friend '. …
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Summary
The 1400 letters exchanged between Darwin and Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) account for around 10% of Darwin’s surviving correspondence and provide a structure within which all the other letters can be explored. They are a connecting thread that spans…
Matches: 5 hits
- … important to Darwin than those exchanged with his closest friend, the botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker. …
- … of his six year-old daughter, Maria, knowing that his friend, who had lost both a ten year-old …
- … appearance: he addressed one letter to his “ Glorified Friend ” after receiving a photograph of …
- … British economic interests and fell out with their mutual friend, the Harvard botanist Asa Gray (see …
- … about the aristocracy, is rude about Darwin’s one-time friend and bitter opponent, the …
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
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…
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: 4 hits
- … Yet on 15 January 1875 , Darwin confessed to his close friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, ‘I am getting …
- … also greatly honoured George. You have indeed been a true friend.’ Hooker was hampered by his …
- … in the form of a poem: From the Insects to their friend, Charles Darwin We are …
- … fellows. But Thiselton-Dyer had apparently jeopardised his friend’s chances by suggesting to the …
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: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction In June 1872, Darwin’s friend Asa Gray, the Harvard Professor …
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: 7 hits
- … [ c . 27 August 1874] ). The death of a Cambridge friend, Albert Way, caused Darwin’s cousin, …
- … sent back his own to the publishers, he applied first to his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, and …
- … this case you would I feel sure, no longer treat me as your friend, and you would free yourself at …
- … through William Walter Roberts, a Catholic priest and friend of Mivart’s, who was attending Huxley’s …
- … third son Francis married Amy Ruck, the sister of a friend of Leonard Darwin’s in the Royal …
- … ; letter from Michael Foster, 17 June [1874] ). Friend and patron Darwin championed …
- … on a more personal level, Darwin took care of his close friend Hooker, who stayed at Down after his …
Living and fossil cirripedia
Summary
Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…
Matches: 4 hits
- … discussions about species in the autumn of 1845, his close friend Joseph Dalton Hooker had been …
- … wrote a rather reflective letter to his former professor and friend, John Stevens Henslow, musing …
- … evidently did not satisfy Darwin, who hired his old school friend John Price to correct the work …
- … finally appear. It was no doubt a great relief to tell his friend Thomas Henry Huxley in early …
Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments
Summary
The year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend and supporter; Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and father of Darwin’s friend…
Matches: 7 hits
- … , to Thomas Henry Huxley for evaluation, and persuaded his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker to comment on …
- … deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend of Darwin’s and prominent …
- … all kinds has perished with him. He was always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( …
- … Society on 2 February, and in April Darwin wrote to his friend Asa Gray, a botanist in the United …
- … July 1865 ). This may have been unwise: Thomas Thomson, a friend of Hooker’s, described by him as a …
- … expect from their private communications; Lubbock, a younger friend, had been encouraged and …
- … Darwin was consulting, or encouraging George to consult, a friend, the civil engineer Edward Cresy, …
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: 9 hits
- … Hooker, Hugh Falconer, Louis Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart Mill, Emma Darwin, …
- … original and dangerous theory of natural selection to his friend, the botanist, Joseph D Hooker …
- … To give one example, the last time I saw my dear old friend Falconer, he attacked me most vigorously …
- … DARWIN: Now when I see such strong feeling in my oldest friend, you need not wonder that I always …
- … myself mistaken and punished; 55 My good dear friend, forgive me. This is a trumpery letter …
- … highest authority on such subjects, and he said lately to a friend, who wrote to me, as follows. …
- … with this population, I see not. 121 Your cordial friend and true Yankee, Asa Gray. …
- … Hooker is pale. HOOKER: 153 Dear dear friend. My darling little second girl …
- … hernia. DARWIN: 154 My dear old friend… HOOKER: 155 I tried …
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: 5 hits
- … added, ‘when I look back, however, especially my beloved friend to the days I have spent in …
- … been worse.’ Recollections of the earlier loss of a close friend were prompted by the publication of …
- … having read a page of it, but relieved that Carlyle’s friend Erasmus Alvey Darwin, Darwin’s brother, …
- … was made public. On 1 September, an old Shrewsbury School friend, Lamplugh Dykes , wrote to …
- … our children’, Darwin told his old Cambridge University friend John Price on 27 December . As …
Descent
Summary
There are more than five hundred letters associated with the research and writing of Darwin’s book, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex (Descent). They trace not only the tortuous route to eventual publication, but the development of Darwin’s…
Darwin’s first love
Summary
Darwin’s long marriage to Emma Wedgwood is well documented, but was there an earlier romance in his life? How was his departure on the Beagle entangled with his first love? The answers are revealed in a series of flirtatious letters that Darwin was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of the attraction of Woodhouse for Darwin, but more as a friend and confidante , the difference …
Insectivorous plants
Summary
Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in the summer of 1860, staying with his wife’s relatives in Hartfield, Sussex, he went for long walks on the heathland and became curious about the large number of insects caught by…
Darwin & coral reefs
Summary
The central idea of Darwin's theory of coral reef formation, as it was later formulated, was that the islands were formed by the upward growth of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. It overturned previous ideas and would in itself…
Scientific Networks
Summary
Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…
Matches: 5 hits
- … two sets of letters. The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. Hooker. The …
- … has sent some of Darwin’s South American plants to his friend Kew botanist J. D. Hooker for …
- … J. D., 19 [Apr 1864] Darwin makes another plea to his friend Kew botanist J. D. Hooker to take …
- … C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 25 Apr [1864] Darwin thinks his friend Kew botanist J. D. Hooker takes …
- … spent preceding day with Henslow; much had to be done. His friend, Alexander Charles Wood, has …
Alexander von Humboldt
Summary
The phases of Charles Darwin’s career have often been defined by the books that he read, from Lyell’s Principles of Geology during the Beagle voyage to Malthus’s Essay on the Principle of Population during his London years. The book that encouraged him to…
Matches: 3 hits
- … and life that he called ‘Physique générale’. He was a friend and collaborator of Goethe and his …
- … Narrative , a gift from Henslow inscribed ‘to his friend C. Darwin on his departure from England. …
- … scientific traveller who ever lived,’ Darwin told his friend Joseph Hooker. ‘You might truly call …
Henrietta Huxley
Summary
A colourful and insightful exchange occurred in 1865 in a light-hearted conversation between Darwin and Henrietta Huxley, the wife of Darwin’s friend and colleague, Thomas Henry Huxley. Like her husband, Henrietta was a close friend and great champion of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin and Henrietta Huxley , the wife of Darwin’s friend and colleague, Thomas Henry Huxley . …
That monstrous stain: To J. M. Herbert, 2 June 1833
Summary
Darwin did not consider himself to be a particularly good writer, but many of his letters contain not just a wealth of information, but also beautifully expressed descriptions and impressions that would be the envy of any essayist or novelist. Such is the…
