A Guide to the The Paul Victorius Evolution Collection,
A Collection in
Special Collections
The University of Virginia Library
Accession Number 3314
Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
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Preferred Citation
Paul Victorius Evolution Collection, 1771-1921, Accession #3314, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
Acquisition Information
This collection was purchased from Paul Victorius of Charlottesville, Va. by an anonymous donor to the University of Virginia Library.
Scope and Content
The collection consists chiefly of correspondence by or about men who contributed to the development of the theory of evolution. Correspondents include Erasmus Darwin regarding the "Botanic Garden" and treating a patient with foxglove tea; James Hall to Alexander Marcet regarding introductions and recommendations, several societies, political ambitions and family news particularly the illness (delirium) of his son; and Wilhelm von Humboldt on Charles Darwin, Robert Fitzroy and the H.M.S. Beagle.
Also Herbert Spencer on his work and publications including "Principles of psychology," Darwin, Thomas Huxley and a bust of himself; J. F. W. Herschel on meteorology, geology and volcanic action; Charles Darwin on his health, work, father, human expression, the theory of language and Weale and Lyell.
Also Francis Galton on Darwin, differences with William Flower, and anthropomorphic experiments; and Samuel Butler on his theory of unconscious memory.
There are also water-colors of the H.M.S. Beagle by Conrad Martens; engravings of fossils; notes on the effect of alcohol and a prescription by Erasmus Darwin; and a ticket and a program for Charles Darwin's funeral, and a copy of his queries on human expression.
In addition there are pertinent news clippings and cartoons; and portraits of Darwin, his family, Robert Chambers, Hooker, James Hutton, Huxley, Lyell Spencer and John Tyndall.
Additional correspondents and recipients include Archibald Alison, Joseph Edgar Boehm, John Chapman, Emma Wedgwood Darwin, Francis Darwin, Robert Fitzroy, William Henry Flower, James Hall, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Thomas Henry Huxley, Joseph Johnson, Charles Lyell, Richard Owen, Thomas Percival, John Playfair, Anna Sedgwick, Alfred Russel Wallace, James Philip Mansal Weale and William Whewell.
Related Material
In addition to the manuscripts described below, the Paul Victorius Evolution Collection includes 814 printed books and pamphlets, all relating to the discoveries of Charles Darwin and his contemporaries including: Herbert Spencer, Sir Joseph Hooker, Thomas Huxley, Richard Owen, Charles Lyell, and Alfred Wallace.
Among the highlights of the collection are: Lyell's annotated copy of Darwin's Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, Between the Years 1826 and 1836 (1839); the only known copy of Descent of Man inscribed by Darwin (1871); one of two copies of Herbert Spencer's Proper Sphere of Government, (1843) in the United States; a copy of the first edition of On the origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection with manuscript notations (1859); an advance copy of The Power of Movement in Plants (1880) with corrections and annotations in Darwin's hand; a presentation copy of Insectivorous Plants (1875); and, the proof copy of Darwin's A Posthumous Essay on Instinct (1883).
Contents List
Concerning an invitation.
Concerning the possible publication of Darwin's poems as "second part of the botanical garden." Asks that his name be not "affixed to this work on any account," as he thinks it would be injurious to him in his medical practice.
Concerning a paper; treating a patient with foxglove tea; Mr. Abraham Bennett's instrument for "doubling electricity"
Regarding their leaving France; a letter of recommendation.
Re a party. With wax seal.
Re recommendation to Berthollet, Laplace, and Sequin for Marcet.
Impossible to meet Marcet that evening, and asks that mention be made "according to the foreign mode" of his membership in the Royal and Antiquarian Societies of Edinburgh when publishing his paper. With partial wax seal.
Introduction of Hall's brother-in-law, Lord Selkirk. With wax seal.
Re Marcet's friends Mr. Caramer; Mrs. Marcet's approaching confinement.
Regrets he could not dine with the chemical club; mentions his candidacy for representing Kirkendbright Co. at next general election; seeks Mr. Shaw's support in exchange for seat on India Company's board of directors. With wax seal.
Re Mr. Buccholz's experiments; inquires about [Humphrey?] Davy's illness.
Hall cannot visit because of an "invitation to dinner from the Seaker."
Introduces Professor [Sir John] Leslie. Leslie was the inventor of "an apparatus for the production of cold,"with which he was the first to make artificial ice."
Requests help in London for his son William who has suffered an "attack of delirium." With wax seal.
Re his son William's delirium; requests Marcet to find a person to follow him.
Re the illness of Hall's son, William. With wax seal.
Re Hall's son's illness, and his determination not to resign from geological society. With wax seal.
Giving his reasons for resigning from geological society.
Re Hall's son's illness.
Re Hall's paper on the revolutions of the earth; sending two copies to Mr. Pictet in Paris. With wax seal.
Re forwarding a letter through Mr. Pictet to Hall's son in Geneva. With wax seal.
Re his son William's illness, and his son, John, in Geneva.
Re death of Hall's daughter Helen; election of their friend Basil to the Royal Society. With wax seal.
Re Hall's son's illness, and his "plan of the university on the continent."
Re William Hall's illness. With wax seal.
Draft in German, re Travels in Arabia ; mentions Charles Darwin accompanying Fitzroy on the H.M.S. Beagle expedition; with English translation. Item brittle and in disrepair.
Re payment by the treasury.
Discussing Robert Chamber's Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation , and a possible visit.
Re furnishings for James' church; Whewell discusses a new edition of his Indications of the Creator as a response to the publication of Robert Chamber's Explanations: A Sequel to the Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation .
Re the Westminster Review ; articles on communism; Spencer's work on the population question; Martineau; a "second edition of the education pamphlet;" [Horace?] Greeley and the Tribune .
Re death of Darwin's daughter, Anne Elizabeth, and Mrs. Darwin's coming confinement.
Re retaining copyright for "The Philosophy of Style."
Accepting an invitation.
Concerning the study of meteorology, and defending the concept of atmospheric waves.
Concerning geology and volcanic action.
Concerning his health; strain and expense of new publications, and "a year and a half after the publication of the Principles of Psychology [he] was obliged to refrain from writing."
Proposes two articles on the development question, one "destructive and the other constructive." The first "a crushing criticism of arguments of opponents," and the other "the presentation of a coherent shape of the enormous amount of valid evidence" for the theory of development. His letter mentions Thomas Huxley and Charles Darwin, and provides a rough sketch of the contents of the two articles.
A thank you note, mentioning himself and Darwin as opponents. Preservation tape along fold.
Concerning winds and the Gulf of Mexico. Hinged to sheet.
Concerning a proposed "ice treatment" for "acid and morbid secretions" of the stomach.
Darwin's notes on his persistent stomach illness.
Concerning Darwin's stomach illness, including his "three or four fits of flatulence every day," and the effects of ice treatment.
Thanking Chapman for a copy of Cholera and Diarrhea , and mentions preparing for a second edition of the Principles of Psychology .
Concerning an essay on the "Origin and Function of Music."
Concerning distributing Darwin's queries on human expression.
Concerning plants native to the Cape of Good Hope; observations on human expression by a brother of a Kaffir chief. Thanks Weale for information about children pouting and claims that this expression is also found among Indian children. Disagrees with the French who claim there is "a grief muscle," and describes the muscles of the face involved in frowning. He also thanks him for a specimen of locust dung, and mentions experimenting on the dung for seeds.
A series of numbered queries about a variety of facial and bodily expressions, containing entries on astonishment, shame, excitement, sneering, contempt, head nodding, and others. Mentions that observations of "natives" who had had little contact with Europeans would "be most valuable." Darwin also claims that "general remarks on expression are of comparatively little value," and that "memory is so deceptive in subjects like these" that he hopes it may not be trusted to.
Congratulates Weale on his marriage, and claims there is "great charm in a settler's life." Darwin also suggests that were Weale to remain in England, he could assume the botanical chair at Oxford. Mentions information on human expression, and laments the lack of "progress of civilization in South Africa." Mentions a photograph of a Bushwoman from Huxley. Discourages Weale's continued work on glacial activity in the southern hemisphere.
Thanking Farrar for reviewing Galton's book.
Mentions Charles Darwin, and reviews of Galton's book on hereditary genius. Hinged to sheet.
Concerning Chapman's article.
Declining an invitation to attend a committee meeting and "take part in the agitation."
Concerning his Principles of Psychology , and explaining "that the medulla [oblongata] is the seat of emotional feeling considered as a mental state apart from the movements it gives rise to."
Concerning the eating habits of caterpillars and hogs. #3082-a.
Declining to join a club, written on the front of a lithograph of a general reply to such requests.
Concerning his new book, and fossils at Teliscstow.
Concerning the modification of a species; Darwin's new work on insectivorous plants. Partial envelope pasted to letter; letter brittle; missing portion of letter.
Re a friend's address in Naples.
Explaining his reasons for believing Drosera was a carnivorous plant. #3361-a.
Apologizing for the fact that he does not possess another portrait of himself in the Rocky Mountains to give Dr. Hoff.
Thanking Dabney for his letter, and his trouble in sending a hybrid tomato plant.#3082-a.
Regarding Erasmus Darwin's biography and German and French editions.
Regarding a "mis-statement" by Chapman's wife about Spencer.
Regarding omitting "Mr. Sellar's" name from further editions of Wallace's book.
Regarding obtaining a marble copy of Boehm's bust of Spencer and terra cotta reproductions.
Regarding two terra cotta busts of Spencer to be sent to George Holme and E.L. Youmans. Hinged to sheet.
Galton seeks support for his "Anthropometric" apparatus and laboratory.
Desiring a plaster cast of himself for Tyndall; suggests changes in the hair on the bust.
Regarding [James?] Fordyce's Aspects of Religion . Hinged to sheet.
Concerning publishing two articles he has written titled "The Factors of Organic Evolution." One in which he will criticize Charles Darwin's failure to include "the belief that the inheritance of organic modifications produced by use and disuse, has been a cause of evolution," and that this should be seen as a cooperative cause of evolution.
Introduces a "scientific horticulturalist" who will accompany him on mission to eastern Tibet.
Regarding his theory of unconscious memory; his "personal quarrel" with Charles Darwin, and claims that he has "kept well within the facts-which doubtless is the reason why no answer has ever appeared either from Mr. Charles Darwin or any of his sons." Hinged to sheet.
Declining to write obituary for Thomas Henry Huxley; requests permission to reprint Dr. Chapman's article, "The Commerce of Literature."
Regarding scientific differences with William Flower concerning statistical methods.
Requesting any letters or personal reminiscences of her father, Alfred Russel Wallace.
Concerning [Hugh?] Scott's criticism of Darwinism.
Regarding Austin's lectures. Glued to backing.
Regarding a theory of language. Darwin responds to this unidentified author's courteous criticism of natural selection. Darwin concludes his letter, "considering what Geology teaches us, the argument for the supposed immutability of specific Types seems to me much the same as if, in a nation which had no old writings, some wise old savage was to say that his language had never changed; but my metaphor is too long to fill up."
Regarding seeds in locust dung germinating; Weale's paper on Bonatea, and mentions that Lyell was going to cite Weale's findings in a new edition of the Principles.
Regarding purchasing books.
Regarding lodgings.
Regarding grapes, liquor and results of drinking. Darwin also suggests that this "poison...has thus become the curse of the Christian World." Written on the verso of a flyer for "Willmore's Strawberry and Floral Gardens."
Regarding a recommendation by Marcet.
Requesting that Marcet not write to Mr. Pictet about a paper.
Figaro. London:Wednesday, February 18, 1874. "Prof. Darwin. This is the ape of form." Broadside for "Krao. The Missing Link." on [1887 March 23.] Unidentified. [1738]. Two blurbs on "a strange creature taken in Guinea." Unidentified. [1762]. On finding a strange animal like a human. Unidentified. 1872 June 8. "Natural Selection." Illustrated Times . "No. 10. -The Origin of Garotte." Illustrated Times . "No. 9. -Catch himself asleep." The Comic News . 1863 December 5. "Are We Not All Brothers?" The Daily Telegraph . Thursday, February 11, 1909. "Centenary of Charles Darwin. Gospel of Evolution." Pictorial World . 1874 June 6. "Mr. Darwin." Illustrated Times . 1868 April 4. "Monkey Types in Zoological Gardens, Cologne." The Illustrated London News . 1887 December 10. "The Late Mr. Darwin." Illustrated Times . 1863 June 13. "No. 7. -Piggish." Funny Folks . 1875 February 6. "A 'Caudal' Lecture." Fun . 1872 November 16. "That Troubles our Monkey Again." Fun . 1871 July 22. "A Little Lecture by Professor D-N on the Development of the Horse." Moonshine . 1881 October 29. "Days with Celebrities."
The Figaro . London: Wednesday, February 18, 1874. "Man Not Monkey." The Graphic . 1880 September 4. The Times Weekly Edition . 1882 April 23. "Charles Robert Darwin's Obituary." The Times Weekly Edition . 1882 April 28. "The Death of Mr. Darwin." The Times Weekly Edition . 1882 September 29. "Professor Haeckel on Darwin." The Times Weekly Edition . 1882 April 28. "The Funeral of Mr. Darwin." The Leeds Mercury [ ]. 1887 November 27. "Darwin and His Books," and "Carnations in Winter." Pall Mall Budget . 1888 February 9. "The Gospel According to Darwin -II." Pall Mall Budget . 1888 November 1. "Darwin's Schools and Schoolmasters." Daily Mail . London: Wednesday, September 2, 1908. "A Darwin Jubilee." The Daily News . Friday, February 12, 1909. "Two Notable Centenaries." Unidentified. 1909 February 12. "Charles Darwin" by Alfred Russel Wallace. The Daily Chronicle . 1909 June 24, "Darwin's Kentish Home." Unidentified. 1909. "Two Leaders of Men. Centenary Births of Darwin and Lincoln." Unidentified. n.d. "'Mr. Darwin's Descent of Man.'" [Pall Mall] Budget . n.d. "The Gospel According to Darwin.-I." Unidentified. n.d. Photographs of Downe, Beckingham, Kent, and "The Fate of Darwin's Apparatus."
Mounted on acidic card. Verso of card contains notes on Erasmus Darwin along with a facsimile of his signature in 1783.
"Rawlinson pinx. ad viv. R. Courbould del."
"Painted by James Fardon Shrewsbury. Engraved by Thomas Lupton."
Signed by Darwin.
Both signed by C.D., one inscribed "this photograph very much better than any other which has been taken of me."
Glued to backing.
Watercolor reproduced in Moorhead's Darwin and the Beagle (Penguin 1971).
Glued to backing.
Printed for subscribers to Appleton's Scientific Library .
Printed for subscribers to Appleton's Scientific Library .
Printed for subscribers to Appleton's Scientific Library .
Engraving of Robert Chambers, by D.J. Pound, from a photograph by Mayell n.d. Watercolor of Charles Darwin and Thomas Henry Huxley, n.d. Watercolor of Thomas Henry Huxley, n.d.[Herbert Spencer?], n.d. Engraving of Charles Darwin by Rajonag, n.d. Inscribed "with kind regards to Prescott Hewett, Esq. From W.W. O[?]"