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Life and Letters of Charles Darwin Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the Life and Letters of Charles Darwin novel. A total of 123 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin.Volume I.by Charles Darwin.PREFACE In choosing le
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin.Volume I.by Charles Darwin.PREFACE In choosing letters for publication I have been largely guided by the wish to ill.u.s.trate my father's personal character. But his life was so essentially one of work, that a hist
- 1 The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin.Volume I.by Charles Darwin.PREFACE In choosing letters for publication I have been largely guided by the wish to ill.u.s.trate my father's personal character. But his life was so essentially one of work, that a hist
- 2 My mother died in July 1817, when I was a little over eight years old, and it is odd that I can remember hardly anything about her except her death-bed, her black velvet gown, and her curiously constructed work-table. In the spring of this same year I was
- 3 I have not as yet mentioned a circ.u.mstance which influenced my whole career more than any other. This was my friends.h.i.+p with Professor Henslow. Before coming up to Cambridge, I had heard of him from my brother as a man who knew every branch of scien
- 4 On my return from the voyage of the "Beagle", I explained to him my views on coral-reefs, which differed from his, and I was greatly surprised and encouraged by the vivid interest which he showed. His delight in science was ardent, and he felt the keene
- 5 On January 1st, 1860, I began arranging my notes for my work on the 'Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication;' but it was not published until the beginning of 1868; the delay having been caused partly by frequent illnesses, one of which last
- 6 In spite of his strength and activity, I think he must always have had a clumsiness of movement. He was naturally awkward with his hands, and was unable to draw at all well. (The figure representing the aggregated cell-contents in 'Insectivorous Plants'
- 7 The regular readings, which I have mentioned, continued for so many years, enabled him to get through a great deal of lighter kinds of literature. He was extremely fond of novels, and I remember well the way in which he would antic.i.p.ate the pleasure of
- 8 "I was more or less ill during the five years between my thirteenth and eighteenth years, and for a long time (years it seems to me) he used to play a couple of games of backgammon with me every afternoon. He played them with the greatest spirit, and I r
- 9 Besides these portfolios, of which there are some dozens full of notes, there are large bundles of MS. marked "used" and put away. He felt the value of his notes, and had a horror of their destruction by fire. I remember, when some alarm of fire had hap
- 10 Archdeacon Watkins, another old college friend of my father's, remembers him unearthing beetles in the willows between Cambridge and Grantchester, and speaks of a certain beetle the remembrance of whose name is "Crux major." (Panagaeus crux-major.) How
- 11 I started from this place about a fortnight ago to take an entomological trip with Mr. Hope through all North Wales; and Barmouth was our first destination. The two first days I went on pretty well, taking several good insects; but for the rest of that we
- 12 When principle came into play, no power on earth could have turned him one hair's-breadth..."Reflecting over his character with grat.i.tude and reverence, his moral attributes rise, as they should do in the highest character, in pre-eminence over his in
- 13 Mr. Peac.o.c.k's letter arrived on Sat.u.r.day, and I received it late yesterday evening. As far as my own mind is concerned, I should, I think CERTAINLY, most gladly have accepted the opportunity which you so kindly have offered me. But my father, altho
- 14 Peac.o.c.k has sole appointment of Naturalist. The first person offered was Leonard Jenyns, who was so near accepting it that he packed up his clothes. But having [a] living, he did not think it right to leave it--to the great regret of all his family. He
- 15 I am now going to Captain Fitz-Roy, and will keep [this] letter open till evening for anything that may occur. I will give you one proof of Fitz-Roy being a good officer--all the officers are the same as before; two-thirds of his crew and [the] eight mari
- 16 Admiral Mellersh, Mr. Hammond, and Mr. Philip King, of the Legislative Council of Sydney, and Mr. Usborne, are among the number. Admiral Johnson died almost at the same time as my father.He retained to the last a most pleasant recollection of the voyage o
- 17 My dear Fox, I have delayed writing to you and all my other friends till I arrived here and had some little spare time. My mind has been, since leaving England, in a perfect HURRICANE of delight and astonishment, and to this hour scarcely a minute has pa.
- 18 CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS C. DARWIN. Maldonado, Rio Plata, May 22, 1833....The following business piece is to my father. Having a servant of my own would be a really great addition to my comfort. For these two reasons: as at present the Captain has appointed
- 19 My dear Catherine, Yours affectionately, CHAS. DARWIN.My best love to my father, and all of you. Love to Nancy.CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS S. DARWIN. Valparaiso, April 23, 1835.My dear Susan, I received, a few days since, your letter of November; the three let
- 20 I do indeed hope all your vexations and trouble with respect to our voyage, which we now know HAS an end, have come to a close. If you do not receive much satisfaction for all the mental and bodily energy you have expended in His Majesty's service, you w
- 21 I am working at my Journal; it gets on slowly, though I am not idle. I thought Cambridge a bad place from good dinners and other temptations, but I find London no better, and I fear it may grow worse. I have a capital friend in Lyell, and see a great deal
- 22 I am writing you a most unmerciful letter, but I shall get Owen to take it to Newcastle. If you have a mind to be a very generous man you will write to me from Kinnordy (The house of Lyell's father.), and tell me some Newcastle news, as well as about the
- 23 he goes on to say: "With respect to my former notes to you, I quite forget their contents. I have to write many letters, and can reflect but little on what I write; but I fully believe and hope that I have never written a word, which at the time I did no
- 24 Visits to London of this kind were kept up for some years at the cost of much exertion on his part. I have often heard him speak of the wearisome drives of ten miles to or from Croydon or Sydenham--the nearest stations--with an old gardener acting as coac
- 25 In a letter to Lyell (1853) my father wrote, "I went up for a paper by the Arctic Dr. Sutherland, on ice action, read only in abstract, but I should think with much good matter. It was very pleasant to hear that it was written owing to the Admiralty
- 26 Believe me, my dear old friend, ever yours, C. DARWIN.CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Monday [February 10th, 1845].My dear Hooker, I am much obliged for your very agreeable letter; it was very good-natured, in the midst of your scientific and theatri
- 27 October 1846 to October 1854.[Writing to Sir J.D. Hooker in 1845, my father says: "I hope this next summer to finish my South American Geology, then to get out a little Zoology, and hurrah for my species work..." This pa.s.sage serves to show th
- 28 But, first, let me say that I never write to you except for my own good pleasure; now I fear that you answer me when busy and without inclination (and I am sure I should have none if I was as busy as you).Pray do not do so, and if I thought my writing ent
- 29 I have thus candidly stated my views (I hope intelligibly) of what seems best to be done in the present transitional and dangerous state of systematic zoology. Innumerable labourers, many of them crotchety and half-educated, are rus.h.i.+ng into the field
- 30 My dear Fox, I do not suppose you will have heard of our bitter and cruel loss. Poor dear little Annie, when going on very well at Malvern, was taken with a vomiting attack, which was at first thought of the smallest importance; but it rapidly a.s.sumed t
- 31 There have been great fears that his heart is affected; but, I hope to G.o.d, without foundation. Hooker's book (Sir J. Hooker's 'Himalayan Journal.') is out, and MOST BEAUTIFULLY got up. He has honoured me beyond measure by dedicating
- 32 At another place, speaking of intermediate forms he says:-- "Cuvier objects to propagation of species by saying, why have not some intermediate forms been discovered between Palaeotherium, Megalonyx, Mastodon, and the species now living? Now accordin
- 33 Professor Newton, who was so kind as to look through the 1844 Sketch, tells me that my father's remarks on the migration of birds, incidentally given in more than one pa.s.sage, show that he had antic.i.p.ated the views of some later writers.With reg
- 34 I will trouble you with only one other question. In discussion with Mr.Gould, I found that in most of the genera of birds which range over the whole or greater part of the world, the individual species have wider ranges, thus the Owl is mundane, and many
- 35 ...At last I am going to press with a small poor first-fruit of my confounded Cirripedia, viz. the fossil pedunculate cirripedia. You ask what effect studying species has had on my variation theories; I do not think much--I have felt some difficulties mor
- 36 I forget whether I ever told you what the object of my present work is,--it is to view all facts that I can master (eheu, eheu, how ignorant I find I am) in Natural History (as on geographical distribution, palaeontology, cla.s.sification, hybridism, dome
- 37 ...Miss Thorley (A lady who was for many years a governess in the family.) and I are doing A LITTLE BOTANICAL WORK! for our amus.e.m.e.nt, and it does amuse me very much, viz., making a collection of all the plants, which grow in a field, which has been a
- 38 CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. May 11th [1856]....Now for a MORE IMPORTANT! subject, viz., my own self: I am extremely glad you think well of a separate "Preliminary Essay" (i.e., if anything whatever is published; for Lyell seemed rather to dou
- 39 CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, July 20th [1856]....It is not a little egotistical, but I should like to tell you (and I do not THINK I have) how I view my work. Nineteen years (!) ago it occurred to me that whilst otherwise employed on Natural History,
- 40 CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. December 24th [1856]....How I do wish I lived near you to discuss matters with. I have just been comparing definitions of species, and stating briefly how systematic naturalists work out their subjects. Aquilegia in the Flor
- 41 P.S.--I do not know how far you will care to hear, but I find Moquin-Tandon treats in his 'Teratologie' on villosity of plants, and seems to attribute more to dryness than alt.i.tude; but seems to think that it must be admitted that mountain pla
- 42 CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, August [1857].My dear Hooker, It is a horrid bore you cannot come soon, and I reproach myself that I did not write sooner. How busy you must be! with such a heap of botanists at Kew. Only think, I have just had a lette
- 43 I find horses of various colours often have a spinal band or stripe of different and darker tint than the rest of the body; rarely transverse bars on the legs, generally on the under-side of the front legs, still more rarely a very faint transverse should
- 44 ...I have received your letters. I cannot think now (So soon after the death, from scarlet fever, of his infant child.) on the subject, but soon will. But I can see that you have acted with more kindness, and so has Lyell, even than I could have expected
- 45 Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN.P.S.--I have had some fun here in watching a slave-making ant; for I could not help rather doubting the wonderful stories, but I have now seen a defeated marauding party, and I have seen a migration from one nest to another
- 46 I cannot give you facts, and I must write dogmatically, though I do not feel so on any point. I may just mention, in order that you may believe that I have SOME foundation for my views, that Hooker has read my MS., and though he at first demurred to my ma
- 47 You will, I think, admit that Australian plants, flouris.h.i.+ng so in India, is no argument that they could hold their own against the ten thousand natural contingencies of other plants, insects, animals, etc., etc. With respect to South West Australia a
- 48 I shall to-morrow finish my last chapter (except a recapitulation) on Affinities, h.o.m.ologies, Embryology, etc., and the facts seem to me to come out VERY strong for mutability of species.I have been much interested in working out the chapter.I shall no
- 49 I know that Lyell has been INFINITELY kind about my affair, but your dashed (i.e., underlined) "INDUCE" gives the idea that Lyell had unfairly urged Murray.CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. April 4th [1859]....You ask to see my sheets as printed off;
- 50 CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, June 21st [1859].I am working very hard, but get on slowly, for I find that my corrections are terrifically heavy, and the work most difficult to me. I have corrected 130 pages, and the volume will be about 500. I have tr
- 51 CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, September 25th [1859].My dear Lyell, I send by this post four corrected sheets. I have altered the sentence about the Eocene fauna being beaten by recent, thanks to your remark.But I imagined that it would have been clear
- 52 ...Our difference on "principle of improvement" and "power of adaptation" is too profound for discussion by letter. If I am wrong, I am quite blind to my error. If I am right, our difference will be got over only by your re-reading car
- 53 "In regard to this last subject [the changes from one set of animal and vegetable species to another]...you remember what Herschel said in his letter to me. If I had stated as plainly as he has done the possibility of the introduction or origination
- 54 The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin.Volume II.by Charles Darwin.CHAPTER 2.I. -- THE PUBLICATION OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.'OCTOBER 3, 1859, TO DECEMBER 31, 1859.1859.[Under the date of October 1st, 1859, in my father's Diary occurs the e
- 55 I sincerely hope that you keep your health; I suppose that you will be thinking of returning (Mr. Wallace was in the Malay Archipelago.) soon with your magnificent collections, and still grander mental materials.You will be puzzled how to publish. The Roy
- 56 CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Ilkley, Yorks.h.i.+re [November 1859].My dear Hooker, I cannot help it, I must thank you for your affectionate and most kind note. My head will be turned. By Jove, I must try and get a bit modest.I was a little chagrined by
- 57 A sentence in another letter to M. de Quatref.a.ges shows how anxious he was to convert one of the greatest of contemporary Zoologists: "How I should like to know whether Milne Edwards had read the copy which I sent him, and whether he thinks I have
- 58 Embryology is my pet bit in my book, and, confound my friends, not one has noticed this to me.CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, December 21st [1859].My dear Gray, I have just received your most kind, long, and valuable letter. I will write again in a few
- 59 [It is impossible to give in a short s.p.a.ce an adequate idea of Mr.Huxley's article in the "Times" of December 26. It is admirably planned, so as to claim for the 'Origin' a respectful hearing, and it abstains from anything like
- 60 I am very much obliged for your letter. It is of great use and interest to me to know what impression my book produces on philosophical and instructed minds. I thank you for the kind things which you say; and you go with me much further than I expected. Y
- 61 The chapter on HYBRIDISM is not a WEAK, but a STRONG chapter. You have done wonders there. But still you have not accounted, as you may be held to account, for divergence up to a certain extent producing increased fertility of the crosses, but carried one
- 62 CHARLES DARWIN TO H.G. BRONN. Down, July 14 [1860].Dear and honoured Sir, On my return home, after an absence of some time, I found the translation of the third part (The German translation was published in three pamphle-like numbers.) of the 'Origin
- 63 From two common superst.i.tions, at least, I shall be free while judging of your books:-- 1. I have long since, from watching the crossing of domesticated animals and plants, learnt to disbelieve the dogma of the permanence of species.2. I have gradually
- 64 [The following letter is of interest in connection with the mention of Mr. Bentham in the last letter:]G. BENTHAM TO FRANCIS DARWIN. 25 Wilton Place, S.W., May 30th, 1882.My dear Sir, In compliance with your note which I received last night, I send herewi
- 65 My dear Hooker, Questions of priority so often lead to odious quarrels, that I should esteem it a great favour if you would read the enclosed. ((My father wrote ("Gardeners' Chronicle", 1860, page 362, April 21st): "I have been much in
- 66 My dear Mr. Wallace, I received this morning your letter from Amboyna, dated February 16th, containing some remarks and your too high approval of my book. Your letter has pleased me very much, and I most completely agree with you on the parts which are st
- 67 CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down [June 14th, 1860].... Lowell's review (J.A. Lowell in the 'Christian Examiner,' May 1860.) is pleasantly written, but it is clear that he is not a naturalist. He quite overlooks the importance of the acc.u.m
- 68 T.H. HUXLEY TO CHARLES DARWIN. August 6th, 1860.My dear Darwin, I have to announce a new and great ally for you...Von Baer writes to me thus:--Et outre cela, je trouve que vous ecrivez encore des redactions. Vous avez ecrit sur l'ouvrage de M. Darwin
- 69 [Dr. Gray wrote three articles in the 'Atlantic Monthly' for July, August, and October, which were reprinted as a pamphlet in 1861, and now form chapter iii. in 'Darwiniana' (1876), with the heading 'Natural Selection not inconsis
- 70 I sincerely hope that you will be able to carry out your intention of writing on the "Birth, Life, and Death of Words." Anyhow, you have a capital t.i.tle, and some think this the most difficult part of a book. I remember years ago at the Cape o
- 71 "I shall be glad to hear when you have decided how many copies you will print off--the more the better for me in all ways, as far as compatible with safety; for I hope never again to make so many corrections, or rather additions, which I have made in
- 72 P.S.--Tell Lady Lyell that I was unable to digest the funereal ceremonies of the ants, notwithstanding that Erasmus has often told me that I should find some day that they have their bishops. After a battle I have always seen the ants carry away the dead
- 73 Kind as you have been in taking this trouble and offering me this specimen, to tell the truth I value your note more than the specimen. I shall keep your note amongst a very few precious letters. Your kindness has quite touched me.Yours affectionately and
- 74 CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, [January?] 14 [1862].My dear Huxley, I am heartily glad of your success in the North (This refers to two of Mr. Huxley's lectures, given before the Philosophical Inst.i.tution of Edinburgh in 1862. The substance o
- 75 Keep your spirits up. A book is no light labour. I have been better lately, and working hard, but my health is very indifferent. How is your health? Believe me, dear Bates, Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN.CHAPTER 2.IV. -- THE SPREAD OF EVOLUTION.'VAR
- 76 to-morrow, I will add my impression of Owen's letter.... The Lyells are coming here on Sunday evening to stay till Wednesday.I dread it, but I must say how much disappointed I am that he has not spoken out on species, still less on man. And the best
- 77 I liked extremely your review of De Candolle. What an awfully severe article that by Falconer on Lyell ("Athenaeum", April 4, 1863, page 459.The writer a.s.serts that justice has not been done either to himself or Mr. Prestwich--that Lyell has n
- 78 The presentation of the Copley Medal is of interest in another way, inasmuch as it led to Sir C. Lyell making, in his after-dinner speech, a "confession of faith as to the 'Origin.'" He wrote to my father ('Life,'vol. ii. pag
- 79 CHARLES DARWIN TO F. MULLER. Down, August 10 [1865].My dear Sir, I have been for a long time so ill that I have only just finished hearing read aloud your work on species. And now you must permit me to thank you cordially for the great interest with which
- 80 I thank you most sincerely for having so carefully considered my MS. It has been a real act of kindness. It would have annoyed me extremely to have re-published Buffon's views, which I did not know of, but I will get the book; and if I have strength
- 81 "You will shriek at me when you hear that I have just subscribed to the Jamaica Committee." (He subscribed 10 pounds.) On this subject I quote from a letter of my brother's:-- "With respect to Governor Eyre's conduct in Jamaica, h
- 82 [The following letter, from Mrs. Boole, is one of those referred to in the last letter to Sir J.D. Hooker:]Dear Sir, Will you excuse my venturing to ask you a question, to which no one's answer but your own would be quite satisfactory?Do you consider
- 83 CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, July 18 [1867].My dear Lyell, Many thanks for your long letter. I am sorry to hear that you are in despair about your book (The 2nd volume of the 10th Edition of the 'Principles.'); I well know that feeling, but
- 84 CHARLES DARWIN TO A. NEWTON. (Prof. of Zoology at Cambridge.) Down, February 9 [1870].Dear Newton, I suppose it would be universally held extremely wrong for a defendant to write to a Judge to express his satisfaction at a judgment in his favour; and yet
- 85 With sincere respect, I remain, dear sir, Yours very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN.[The next letter is of especial interest, as showing how high a value my father placed on the support of the younger German naturalists:]CHARLES DARWIN TO W. PREYER. (Now Prof
- 86 CHARLES DARWIN TO F. MULLER. Down, February 22 [1867].... Many thanks for all the curious facts about the unequal number of the s.e.xes in Crustacea, but the more I investigate this subject the deeper I sink in doubt and difficulty. Thanks also for the co
- 87 He wrote from Caerdeon to Sir J.D. Hooker (June 22nd):-- "We have been here for ten days, how I wish it was possible for you to pay us a visit here; we have a beautiful house with a terraced garden, and a really magnificent view of Cader, right oppos
- 88 [The following letter refers to Mr. Wallace's article in the April number of the 'Quarterly Review' (My father wrote to Mr. Murray: "The article by Wallace is inimitably good, and it is a great triumph that such an article should appea
- 89 CHARLES DARWIN TO A. GUNTHER. May 15 [1870].My dear Dr. Gunther, Sincere thanks. Your answers are wonderfully clear and complete. I have some a.n.a.logous questions on reptiles, etc., which I will send in a few days, and then I think I shall cause no more
- 90 With regard to the subsequent reception of the 'Descent of Man,' my father wrote to Dr. Dohrn, February 3, 1872:-- "I did not know until reading your article (In 'Das Ausland.'), that my 'Descent of Man' had excited so m
- 91 My dear Dr. Ogle, You will think me a horrid bore, but I beg you, IN RELATION TO A NEW POINT FOR OBSERVATION, to imagine as well as you can that you suddenly come across some dreadful object, and act with a sudden little start, a SHUDDER OF HORROR; please
- 92 No fact of your letter has interested me more than that about mimicry.It is a capital fact about the males pursuing the wrong females. You put the difficulty of the first steps in imitation in a most striking and CONVINCING manner. Your idea of s.e.xual s
- 93 CH. DARWIN.P.S.--I hope that this letter will not be quite illegible, but I have no amanuensis at present.CHARLES DARWIN TO K. SEMPER. Down, November 30, 1878.Dear Professor Semper, Since writing I have recalled some of the thoughts and conclusions which
- 94 CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, August 28, 1872.My dear Wallace, I have at last finished the gigantic job of reading Dr. Bastian's book ('The Beginnings of Life.' H.C. Bastian, 1872.) and have been deeply interested by it. You wished
- 95 The work was continued until April 1, 1874, when he was able to return to his much loved Drosera. He wrote to Mr. Murray:-- "I have at last finished, after above three months as hard work as I have ever had in my life, a corrected edition of the
- 96 C.D.-- -- Thinks this applies to me; I do not think so--i.e., as far as eccentricity. I suppose that I have shown originality in science, as I have made discoveries with regard to common objects. R.D.--Original character, had great personal influence and
- 97 It was very good of you to write so long an account. Though the seance did tire you so much it was, I think, really worth the exertion, as the same sort of things are done at all the seances, even at --'s; and now to my mind an enormous weight of evi
- 98 I am grieved to hear of the death of my old and kind friend, though I knew that it could not be long delayed, and that it was a happy thing that his life should not have been prolonged, as I suppose that his mind would inevitably have suffered. I am glad
- 99 "I was very much gratified by the wholly unexpected honour of being elected one of the Honorary Members. This mark of sympathy has pleased me to a very high degree."The following letter appeared in the "Times", April 18th, 1881:]CHARLE
- 100 It may have been the revival of geological speculation, due to the revision of his early books, that led to his recording the observations of which some account is given in the following letter. Part of it has been published in Professor James Geikie'