Darwin, Erasmus

(1731-1802)

   One of the leading intellectuals of eighteenth century England, Erasmus Darwin was a man with a remarkable array of interests and pursuits. The grandfather of Charles Darwin was a respected physician, a well known poet, philosopher, botanist, and naturalist. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge (1750-54), and at Edinburgh, where he studied medicine and established a successful practice in Litchfield, Staffordshire. Later he moved to Derby, where, in 1784, he founded the Philosophical Society and opened a dispensary at Lichfield. He advanced his own concepts of evolution, which were similar to those of J.B. Lamarck. Throughout, Darwin seems to have struggled between his profession and his poetic aspirations, at one time determining to give up poetry. His major publications: A Plan for the Conduct of Female Education in Boarding Schools, 1797. Zoonomia, or, The Laws of Organic Life, 1798. Phytologia, or the Philosophy of Agriculture and Gardening, 1800. Some of his poems: "Kew," "Nightmare," "Remembrance," "The Action of Invisible Ink," "The Botanic Garden," "The Economy of Vegetation," "The Golden Age," "The Temple of Nature; or, The Origin of Society."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The New Oxford Book of Romantic Period Verse. Jerome J. McGann. Oxford University Press, 1993. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.