To W. C. Williamson 12 February [1848]
Summary
CD cannot find the lagoon-island mud that WCW asked about, but he sends other geological specimens he hopes will be interesting.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Crawford Williamson |
| Date: | 12 Feb [1848] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1156 |
To Edward Cresy [May 1848]
Summary
May go to Paris next summer about barnacles.
Unable to appreciate second volume of Alexander von Humboldt’s Cosmos [1848].
Recommends review by Sir John Herschel [Edinburgh Rev. 87 (1848): 170–229].
Recommends book by Mary Somerville [Physical geography (1848)].
Mentions article [on species] by M. E. Chevreul [Ann. Sci. Nat. (Bot.) 3d ser. 6 (1846): 142–214].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Edward Cresy, Jr |
| Date: | [May 1848] |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 305 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1171 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … read volume two of Humboldt 1846–8, as mentioned in the letter (see nn. 6 and 10, below). …
- … letter to Edward Cresy, [before May 1848? ] . No such visit was made. CD never left Britain after his return from the Beagle voyage. He eventually read Darluc 1782–6 in January 1851 (DAR 119; Correspondence vol. 4, Appendix IV). Hippolyte Baillière , a bookseller who specialised in French medical and scientific works ( Modern English Biography ). ‘M r . W’ has not been identified. A. von Humboldt 1846– …
To William Alexander Baillie Hamilton 28 March [1848]
Summary
Sir John Herschel has not received the parcel of "Scientific Instructions", which was posted on the 15th. He requests an accurate search at the Admiralty.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Alexander Baillie Hamilton |
| Date: | 28 Mar [1848] |
| Classmark: | The National Archives (TNA) (ADM/5580 009075) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1166A |
To Richard Owen [April? 1848]
Summary
Pleased at RO’s praise of Coral reefs.
Has read with very great interest RO’s "Report on the archetype" [Rep. BAAS 16 (1846): 169–340]. RO should give name to every letter or number in his woodcuts.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Richard Owen |
| Date: | [Apr? 1848] |
| Classmark: | R. S. Owen 1894, 1: 209 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-997 |
To Daniel Sharpe 23 August [1848?]
Summary
Thanks for note.
Glad DS sticks to cleavage and foliation question. Bernhard Studer one of few to take correct view on subject.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Daniel Sharpe |
| Date: | 23 Aug [1848?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 147: 47 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-991 |
To Richard Owen [2 April 1848]
Summary
Apologises for length of notes of advice for microscopic work.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Richard Owen |
| Date: | [2 Apr 1848] |
| Classmark: | Houghton Library, Harvard University (MS Hyde 77: 2. 82. 1) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1167F |
To Gardeners’ Chronicle 13 July [1848]
Summary
Reports on the effect of potato blight in his crop.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Gardeners’ Chronicle |
| Date: | 13 July [1848] |
| Classmark: | Gardeners’ Chronicle, 22 July 1848, p. 491 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1189F |
To J. F. W. Herschel 7 May [1848]
Summary
Sends MS of "Geology" for Manual [Collected papers 1: 227–50]. First parcel lost. Asks JFWH to give advice on an unclear note, translated from Élie de Beaumont, on measuring incline of lava-flows.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Frederick William Herschel, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 7 May [1848] |
| Classmark: | The Royal Society (HS6: 15) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1173 |
To John Innes [1848?]
Summary
Suggests various remedies for toothache.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Brodie Innes |
| Date: | [1848?] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1141 |
To Josiah Wedgwood III [July 1848]
Summary
Writes about Emma’s trust account investments and calls due upon them. Sends his record and asks JW to bring it up to date.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Josiah Wedgwood, III |
| Date: | [July 1848] |
| Classmark: | V&A / Wedgwood Collection (MS W/M 1019) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1142 |
To Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz 22 October 1848
Summary
Thanks LA and sends thanks to A. A. Gould for specimens. Describes principal findings of his research on cirripedes. Is obliged for information Joseph Leidy gave about cirripede eyes. Describes anatomical features and chief aspects of growth. Describes discovery of parasitic males and a species parasitic upon other cirripedes.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Jean Louis Rodolphe (Louis) Agassiz |
| Date: | 22 Oct 1848 |
| Classmark: | Houghton Library, Harvard University (MS Am 1419: 274) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1205 |
To J. D. Hooker 10 May 1848
Summary
Confident of species theory as result of applying it to cirripede sexual systems.
CD’s opinion of E. Blyth. JDH should meet Blyth, inquire about domesticated varieties, study insular flora, solve coal-plant problem.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 10 May 1848 |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 112 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1174 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter to H. T. De la Beche, 19 August [1847], n. 2. Gideon Algernon Mantell , who produced evidence at a meeting of the Royal Society on 23 March 1848 that Richard Owen had misunderstood the structure of belemnites ( Mantell 1848 ). Owen defended his work, for which he had received the Royal Medal in 1846, …
From J. D. Hooker 20 February – 16 [March] 1848
Summary
Though correspondence has never ebbed so low, CD is constantly in his thoughts.
Observations on cheetahs used as domesticated hunting animals.
Finds geographical barriers sometimes separate species, but also finds species that remain separate where there are no barriers to migration.
Colour "individuates" isolated animal species.
Plains and alpine animal distribution show altitude not strictly analogous to latitude.
Impact of timber cutting on climate has led to extinction of crocodiles.
Will discuss coal formation in letter to Edward Forbes.
CD often asked whether isolated mountains in southern latitudes had closely allied representatives of Arctic and north temperate plants; JDH has found a representative barberry.
Making for Darjeeling via Calcutta.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Feb – 16 [Mar] 1848 |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (India letters 1847–51: 52–4 JDH/1/10) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1158 |
From J. D. Hooker 13 October 1848
Summary
Hugh Falconer’s misbehaviour.
Waiting out rains at Brian Hodgson’s.
Will make botanical transverse section of Himalayas from plains to snow.
Arrangements to pass Sikkim Rajah’s territory.
No evidence of glacial or diluvial action in sub-Himalayan mountains. No evidence of detrital coal formation.
Hodgson’s replies to CD on introduced species and hybrids.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Oct 1848 |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (India letters 1847–51: 112–14 JDH/1/10) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1203 |
| letter | (14) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (12) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
| Owen, Richard | (2) |
| Agassiz, Louis | (1) |
| Cresy, Edward, Jr | (1) |
| Gardeners’ Chronicle | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (14) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (3) |
| Owen, Richard | (2) |
| Agassiz, Louis | (1) |
| Cresy, Edward, Jr | (1) |
Darwin and barnacles
Summary
In a letter to Henslow in March 1835 Darwin remarked that he had done ‘very little’ in zoology; the ‘only two novelties’ he added, almost as an afterthought, were a new mollusc and a ‘genus in the family Balanidæ’ – a barnacle – but it was an oddity. Who,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In a letter to Henslow in March 1835 Darwin remarked that he had done ‘very little’ in zoology …
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,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have …
Darwin’s reading notebooks
Summary
In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to …
Barnacles
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Darwin and barnacles Darwin’s interest in Cirripedia, a class of marine arthropods, was first piqued by the discovery of an odd burrowing barnacle, which he later named “Mr. Arthrobalanus," while he was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Darwin and barnacles …
Scientific Practice
Summary
Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Specialism | Experiment | Microscopes | Collecting | Theory Letter writing …
Darwin in letters, 1844–1846: Building a scientific network
Summary
The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but he broadened his continuing investigations into the nature and origin of species. Far from being a recluse, Darwin was at the heart of British scientific society,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but …
Darwin’s study of the Cirripedia
Summary
Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. Coming between his transmutation notebooks and the Origin of species, it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwin’s species work. Yet…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for …
John Lort Stokes
Summary
John Lort Stokes, naval officer, was Charles Darwin’s cabinmate on the Beagle voyage – not always an enviable position. After Darwin’s death, Stokes penned a description of their evenings spent working at the large table at the centre, Stokes at his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … John Lort Stokes, naval officer, was Charles Darwin’s cabinmate on the Beagle voyage – not …
Bibliography of Darwin’s geological publications
Summary
This list includes papers read by Darwin to the Geological Society of London, his books on the geology of the Beagle voyage, and other publications on geological topics. Author-date citations refer to entries in the Darwin Correspondence Project’s…
Matches: 1 hits
- … This list includes papers read by Darwin to the Geological Society of London, his books on the …
Charles Darwin’s letters: a selection 1825-1859
Summary
The letters in this volume span the years from 1825, when Darwin was a student at the University of Edinburgh, to the end of 1859, when the Origin of Species was published. The early letters portray Darwin as a lively sixteen-year-old medical student. Two…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The letters in this volume span the years from 1825, when Darwin was a student at the University …
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: 1 hits
- … Darwin published four volumes on the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia between 1851 and 1854, two on …
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 …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Species theory In November 1845, Charles Darwin wrote to his friend and confidant Joseph …
Darwin in Conversation exhibition
Summary
Meet Charles Darwin as you have never met him before. Come to our exhibition at Cambridge University Library, running from 9 July to 3 December 2022, and discover a fascinating series of interwoven conversations with Darwin's many hundreds of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 9 July – 3 December 2022 Milstein Exhibition Centre, Cambridge University …
New material added to the American edition of Origin
Summary
A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The ‘historical sketch’ printed as a preface to the American edition ( Origin US ed., pp …
Divergence
Summary
In a later account of how he had come to the evolutionary ideas published in Origin, Darwin wrote: 'Of all the minor points, the last which I appreciated was the importance & cause of the principle of Divergence' (to Ernst Haeckel, [after 10]…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In a later account of how he had come to the evolutionary ideas published in Origin , …
Darwin and the Church
Summary
The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It shows another side of the man who is more often remembered for his personal struggles with faith, or for his role in large-scale controversies over the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It …
Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'
Summary
The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of …
Introduction to the Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle
Summary
'a humble toadyish follower…': Not all pictures of Darwin during the Beagle voyage are flattering. Published here for the first time is a complete transcript of a satirical account of the Beagle’s brief visit in 1836 to the Cocos Keeling islands…
Matches: 1 hits
- … I naturally wished to have a savant at my elbow – in the position of a humble toadyish …
Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, by John Clunies Ross. Transcription by Katharine Anderson
Summary
[f.146r Title page] Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle Supplement / to the 2nd 3rd and Appendix Volumes of the First / Edition Written / for and in the name of the Author of those / Volumes By J.C. Ross. / Sometime Master of a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … [ f.146r Title page ] Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle …
