Charles Darwin’s Debt to the Romantics

CONTENTS: Charles Darwin’s Victorian Debt to the Romantics – Organic and One Reality Nature in Humboldt and Darwin – The Forces of Nature in Humboldt and Darwin – Darwin’s Romantic Theory of Nature – Darwin’s Romantic Theory of Mind – Darwin’s Concepts of Morality and Romantic Materialism – Darwin’s Moral and Reflective Nature: Conflicting Values in the Victorian Era – The Transmutation of Darwin’s Romanticism – From Erasmus Darwin’s Broth of Chaos to his Goddess of Nature – The Rime of the Ancient Naturalist.

«The influence of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is famously much-studied; the influences upon Darwin’s theory are less often investigated. Charles Lansley redresses this balance, with regard to Darwin’s debt to the German and English Romantics. This work is by turns delicate and discerning, as appropriate for large-scale and important work of this order.»
(Gary Farnell, Senior Lecturer in English, University of Winchester)



«This fine study offers a compelling picture of Darwin’s changing relationship to Romanticism during his scientific career. Charles Lansley’s meticulous scholarship and wide-ranging engagement with Darwin’s writings ensure that his account is solidly grounded, yet he also tells a persuasive and engaging story that is never obscured by his detailed research.»
(Neil Messer, Professor of Theology, University of Winchester)



«This is a persuasive, meticulously researched, and stimulating book that makes a convincing case for Darwin as a 'Romantic' Victorian. In its discussion of Darwin's debt to the Romantics, it acts as a useful reminder of the somewhat arbitrary nature of Romantic and Victorian periodisation. Likewise, it is essential reading for anyone interested in the productive way in which science and art can work together, a topic as germane today as when Darwin first set out, armed with Humboldt's Personal Narrative, on his voyage on the Beagle.» (Jayne Thomas, British Association for Victorian Studies Newsletter, Autumn 2019)



«Charles Darwin’s Debt to the Romantics is an engaging, thought-provoking, and rich study of an aspect of Darwin’s work that has received comparatively little scholarly attention. As such, it is a welcome contribution to the field.» (Trenton B. Olsen, Review in British Society for Literature and Science, 2021)
«Lansley's book presents a persuasive case for the connections between Darwin and Romanticism from England and Germany. Lansley's research constitutes an impressive study, which is genuinely and rewardingly wide-ranging and interdisciplinary in its approach. Exploring the scientific perspective of Darwin, and also his aesthetic and moral ideas, Lansley's book interrelates organically and perceptively these scientific and literary fields.» (Daniel Vázquez Calvo, The British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS) Review, No. 53, Spring-Autumn 2019)