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 22 includes letters from 1874, the year in which Darwin completed his research on insectivorous plants and published second editions of Descent of Man and Coral Reefs. The year also saw an acrimonious dispute between Darwin and St George Jackson Mivart as a result of an anonymous review the latter had written in which he criticised Darwin's son George.

'Particularly interesting are the early parts of a major row between Darwin and his supporters and the Catholic biologist St George Jackson Mivart. … There is some interesting material here for those interested in the sociology of science. … As always the scholarship is impeccable – difficult handwriting is deciphered, and notes are there to explain arcane points of detail. … there is material here that will forever reward and excite scholars trying to make sense of one of the greatest figures of Western culture. We all owe a huge debt to the late Frederick Buckhardt who had vision and the energy to get this wonderful undertaking off the ground and moving forward to… the point we have reached today.'

Michael Ruse Source: The Quarterly Review of Biology

'… maintains the very high standards of scholarship that we have become accustomed to in the series.'

Peter J. Bowler Source: The British Journal for the History of Science