This volume is part of the definitive edition of letters written by and to Charles Darwin, the most celebrated naturalist of the nineteenth century. Notes and appendixes put these fascinating and wide-ranging letters in context, making the letters accessible to both scholars and general readers. Darwin depended on correspondence to collect data from all over the world and to discuss his emerging ideas with scientific colleagues, many of whom he never met in person. The letters are published chronologically: volume 20 includes letters from 1872, the year in which The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals was published, making ground-breaking use of photography. Also in this year, the sixth and final edition of On the Origin of Species was published and Darwin resumed his work on carnivorous plants and plant movement, finding unexpected similarities between the plant and animal kingdoms.
• Complete transcriptions of more than 600 letters written and received by Charles Darwin in 1872, providing for the first time primary materials of immense value to researchers across a range of disciplines • Includes clear and concise explanatory notes, making the material accessible to both scholars and general readers • The narrative introduction provides a compact but highly readable account of Darwin's life in 1872, a highly significant year both professionally and in his private life, and a biographical register provides brief notes on people mentioned in the letters
Contents
List of illustrations; List of letters; Introduction; Acknowledgments; List of provenances; Note on editorial policy; Darwin/Wedgwood genealogy; Abbreviations and symbols; The Correspondence; Expression supplement; Appendixes: I. Translations; II. Chronology; III. Diplomas presented to Charles Darwin; IV. Presentation lists for Origin 6th ed.; V. Presentation lists for Expression; Manuscript alterations and comments; Biographical register and index to correspondents; Bibliography; Notes on manuscript sources; Index.