Darwin and Women: A Selection of Letters

by Charles Darwin, Samantha Evans (Editor)

Overview

Darwin and Women focusses on Darwin's correspondence with women and on the lives of the women he knew and wrote to. It includes a large number of hitherto unpublished letters between members of Darwin's family and their friends that throw light on the lives of the women of his circle and their relationships, social and professional, with Darwin. The letters included are by turns entertaining, intriguing, and challenging, and are organised into thematic chapters, including botany and zoology as well as marriage and servants, that set them in an accessible narrative context. Darwin's famous remarks on women's intelligence in Descent of Man provide a recurring motif, and are discussed in the foreword by Gillian Beer, and in the introduction. The immediacy and variety of these texts make this an entertaining read which will suggest avenues for further research to students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108138321
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/05/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Samantha Evans is an associate editor of the Darwin Correspondence Project.

Date of Birth:

February 12, 1809

Date of Death:

April 19, 1882

Place of Birth:

Shrewsbury, England

Place of Death:

London, England

Education:

B.A. in Theology, Christ¿s College, Cambridge University, 1831

Table of Contents

1. Friends; 2. Marriage; 3. Children Charissa Varma; 4. Scientific wives and allies; 5. Observing plants; 6. Companion animals; 7. Insects and angels; 8. Observing humans; 9. Editors; 10. Writers and critics; 11. Religion Paul White; 12. Travellers; 13. Servants and governesses; 14. Ascent of woman.

Editorial Reviews

'This magpie-eyed selection illuminates [Darwin's] relationships with the women in his family and social circle, as well as those who were engaged in similar scientific studies.' Helen Brown, Sunday Telegraph

'Darwin and Women contains a wealth of fascinating stories about the lives of nineteenth century women and the slow growth in professionalisation of their work. … The book is as entertaining as it is enlightening, and allows us to hear many of the voices of women that would otherwise be lost to history.' Ann Kennedy Smith, Dublin Review of Books

From the Publisher