From R. F. Cooke 16 November 1875
Summary
Electrotypes of woodcuts in Climbing plants [2d ed.]
and Variation [2d ed.] for Appleton.
Asks CD whether he has any corrections for Insectivorous plants before stereotypes are made.
| Author: | Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Nov 1875 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 477 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10260 |
From Albin Gaertner 27 May 1879
Summary
CD’s works have opened a new world for him.
Sends a case of inheritance: a fingernail biting habit has persisted for four generations in a Viennese lawyer’s family.
| Author: | Albin Gaertner |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 May 1879 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12064 |
From John Murray 31 May [1871]
Summary
On photographic illustrations [for Expression].
Estimates 7s 6d price for a cheap edition of Origin [6th].
| Author: | John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 31 May [1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 400 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7784 |
To F. C. Donders 17 June 1872
Summary
Would be impractical to have FCD check references to physiology in proofs [of Expression]. William Bowman has checked chapter on weeping.
Invites FCD to visit Down when he comes to England in July.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Frans Cornelis (Franciscus Cornelius) Donders |
| Date: | 17 June 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 415 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8391 |
From S. J. Housley 20 December 1872
Summary
Describes the pointed right ear of his son.
| Author: | Samuel John Housley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Dec 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 87: 54–5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8689 |
Matches: 2 hits
From C.-F. Reinwald 23 November 1872
Summary
J. J. Moulinié’s translations of Descent and Origin required much reworking, which accounts for delays.
| Author: | Charles-Ferdinand Reinwald |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 Nov 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 98 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8643 |
To Chauncey Wright 13 March 1875
Summary
Discusses function of the eyebrows in protecting the eyes from sweat.
Mentions notices in the Nation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Chauncey Wright |
| Date: | 13 Mar 1875 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9886 |
From J. D. Cooper 13 December 1878
Summary
Sends CD a proof of an illustration reduced on to the block by photography. The method is expensive but scientifically accurate.
| Author: | James Davis Cooper |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Dec 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 202: 20 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11791 |
From C.-F. Reinwald 9 May 1877
Summary
French translation of Insectivorous plants published.
Climbing plants has not sold well.
| Author: | Charles-Ferdinand Reinwald |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 May 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 106 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10955 |
To R. F. Cooke 30 October 1871
Summary
Has completed corrections for Origin [6th ed.], but has received no proofs. Hopes it will be published without delay.
Has been reflecting on Murray’s suggestion to stereotype the Origin. Sees advantage in that it will make him stop additions and changes in style. Inquires whether each separate sheet is stereotyped and can be altered.
Asks whether any copies of C. Wright’s pamphlet have been sold.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray |
| Date: | 30 Oct 1871 |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 42152 ff. 232–3) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8034 |
From J. V. Carus 29 January 1873
Summary
A new [German] edition of Expression is to be done. Has CD anything to add or alter?
JVC cites an article on cessation of breathing during mental concentration that supports Gratiolet as quoted in Expression, p. 179.
| Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 Jan 1873 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 91 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8751 |
To J. V. Carus 1 July [1875]
Summary
Insectivorous plants to be published in two or three days.
Climbing plants and 2d ed. of Variation will be published early in November.
Has no strength for corrections for the new printing of Origin, though many are desired.
Pleased that JVC will translate Insectivorous plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Date: | 1 July [1875] |
| Classmark: | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 145–146) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10038 |
From D. Appleton & Co. 1 February 1874
Summary
Statement of U. S. sales of Origin, Expression, and Descent.
| Author: | D. Appleton & Co |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: A92 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9261 |
From W. H. Patterson 24 April 1876
Summary
Observations on expression and variation in cats.
| Author: | William Hugh Patterson |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 Apr 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 174: 28 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10469 |
To John Murray 23 November 1875
Summary
Asks to be informed whenever more copies of his books are printed, as there may be errors to correct.
Asks how many copies of Origin have been printed "from the first". The number will be "a good puff" when listed in the new edition of Variation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Murray |
| Date: | 23 Nov 1875 |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 42152 ff. 316–17) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10272 |
To B. J. Sulivan 15 January [1867]
Summary
Thanks BJS for W. H. Stirling’s answers [to queries about expression]
and for information on cattle and breeding of dogs.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Bartholomew James Sulivan |
| Date: | 15 Jan [1867] |
| Classmark: | Sulivan family (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5365 |
To Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen 28 January [1873]
Summary
Is pleased that HHHvZ has appended his notes to his translation [of Expression and is obliged for the abstract of these notes [see 8712].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Hermanus Hartogh Heijs van Zouteveen |
| Date: | 28 Jan [1873] |
| Classmark: | John Wilson (dealer) (Catalogue 68, 1990) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11337A |
From M. I. Snow 29 [November 1872 or later]
Summary
Describes her experiences of blushing on her hands.
| Author: | Maria Isabella Snow |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 [Nov 1872 or later] |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 213 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13842 |
From D. Appleton & Co 1 February 1875
Summary
Statement of U. S. sales of Origin, Expression, and Descent.
| Author: | D. Appleton & Co |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Feb 1875 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: A94 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9837 |
| letter | (914) |
| bibliography | (8) |
| people | (5) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (396) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (45) |
| John Murray | (45) |
| Reade, W. W. | (19) |
| Murray, John (b) | (18) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (488) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (27) |
| John Murray | (25) |
| Murray, John (b) | (21) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (18) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (884) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (72) |
| John Murray | (70) |
| Murray, John (b) | (39) |
| Carus, J. V. | (31) |
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 …
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 …
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The …
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 …
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 …
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”, & …
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.…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, seeing the publication of his …
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 …
St George Jackson Mivart
Summary
In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1874, the Catholic zoologist St George Jackson Mivart caused Darwin and his son George serious …
Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex
Summary
The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If …
John Maurice Herbert
Summary
John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. He was affectionately called ‘Cherbury’ by Darwin, a reference to the seventeenth-century philosopher Edward Herbert, Baron Cherbury, who, like John Herbert, hailed from…
Matches: 1 hits
- … John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. He was affectionately …
Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Earthworms and Wedgwood cousins …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression 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 …
Survival of the fittest: the trouble with terminology Part II
Summary
The most forceful and persistent critic of the term ‘natural selection’ was the co-discoverer of the process itself, Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace seized on Herbert Spencer’s term ‘survival of the fittest’, explicitly introduced as an alternative way of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … This term is the plain expression of the facts,—Nat. selection is a metaphorical …
Forms of flowers
Summary
Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species , published in 1877, …
Movement in Plants
Summary
The power of movement in plants, published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work that Darwin wrote. It was the only work in which the assistance of one of his children, Francis Darwin, is mentioned on the title page. The research for this…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The power of movement in plants , published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical …
4.14 'Fun' cartoon, 'That troubles'
Summary
< Back to Introduction Of all the cartoons showing Darwin as an ape, ‘That troubles our monkey again’ by John Gordon Thomson is the only one that hints, albeit playfully, at improper behaviour. Descent of Man had been criticised for its apparent…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Of all the cartoons showing Darwin as an ape, ‘That troubles …
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, 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 …
