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9. Daily Routine
- Johns Hopkins University Press
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[ 47 ] nine v Daily Routine Darwin’s DaiLy routine has been expertly chronicled by Hedley Atkins (1973) and summarized in Louise Wilson and Solene Morris’s text for Down House (2000), from which the following is taken. Darwin would rise fairly early and go for a walk before breakfast. From about 8:00 a.m. he would work in his study for an hour and a half, then he would take a break and listen to Emma reading family letters. He would return to work until mid-day and then take his daily stroll around the Sandwalk, rain or shine. He was usually accompanied by his fox terrier, Polly. (At various times the family dogs were named Bobby, Button, Dicky, Pepper, Polly, Quiz, Tony, and Tyke.) The main meal of the day was lunch, served at about one o’clock. He read the newspaper and then wrote letters or read until 3:00 p.m., when he would rest, often listening to Emma read a novel. At about 4:30 p.m. he resumed work until 5:30, and then rested. A simple supper was served at 7:30, followed by a couple of games of backgammon with Emma or listening to her play the piano or read. Ever the data collector, Charles recorded each game and wrote to his botanist friend Asa Gray that “she poor creature has won only 2,490 games, whilst I have won, hurrah, hurrah, 2,795 games!” Darwin’s children remembered him as very patient and kind [ 48 ] Library in Darwin’s study, directly across from his chair, with a work table in between. Many of the volumes on display belonged to Darwin and are on loan from Cambridge University, where his son Francis bequeathed them. (Author’s photograph, 1974) Round table in Darwin’s study, a revolving drum that facilitates access to various specimens and chemicals on the table like a lazy Susan. (Author’s photograph, 1974) [3.85.63.190] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 02:20 GMT) [ 49 ] The screened area next to the fireplace is the lavatory. This was a convenience necessitated by Darwin’s frequent ill health. The armchair belonged to Darwin’s father. (Author’s photograph, 1974) Dining room at Down House. The dining table is now used to display documents. Over the mantle is a portrait of Darwin by John Collier, painted in 1881. To the right is a portrait of Emma. (Author’s photograph , 1974) [ 50 ] in spite of his constant work and illness. He never scolded the children for interrupting him, even when they barged into his study. He took great personal interest in them and played with them whenever he could. The Darwins’ fourth child, Henrietta Emma (1843–1929), was born on 25 September 1843. She eventually became Mrs. Richard Litchfield, the only Darwin daughter to marry. In Period Piece (1971), granddaughter and artist Gwen Raverat, daughter of Darwin’s second son, George Howard (1845–1912)—a mathematician and Fellow of the Royal Society who was knighted in 1905—described many happy memories of the Darwin household. In 1844, Darwin revised and augmented the brief 1842 sketch of his evolutionary theory, expanding it to 230 pages. He showed this 52,000-word essay to J. D. Hooker, but no one else. Also in 1844, an anonymously published book, entitled Vestiges of the Natural History of the Creation, caused a scandal in respectable society. It was an epic that told the story of Earth and life on it from its beginnings. The author, later revealed Emma playing the piano for Charles in the drawing room of Down House. (Royal College of Surgeons, Down House) [3.85.63.190] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 02:20 GMT) [ 51 ] to be the journalist and publisher Robert Chambers, suggested the perpetual transformation of species in no uncertain terms. The book was immensely popular, exciting those people longing for social reform. Darwin felt it was admirably written but full of geological and zoological errors. However, the uproar it created was undoubtedly one of the reasons why Charles delayed his own publication on evolution for another fifteen years. Darwin anticipated such a reaction to an account of a godless origin for species, and he wanted more time to develop his evidence. Aware of his failing health, he gathered up the enlarged manuscript of 1844 and added an extraordinary letter to Emma, including the specification of £400 to cover the cost of publication in the event of his sudden death. Caricature...