Your TR Source
W. P. Pycraft thanks Theodore Roosevelt for his sharp criticism of Abbott Thayer’s book on animal coloration, calling it a public service. He discusses his own work on birds, Darwinian views, and a past attempt to send Roosevelt a copy. Pycraft expresses a desire to meet again and recalls their prior meeting at the museum.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-13
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Raymond Pearl for sending his scientific paper on protective coloration. Roosevelt praises the study as a valuable example of experimental work, while reflecting on its implications for theories of animal camouflage.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-07
President Roosevelt discusses two articles by German scientists from the Globus, which he is returning to George Cabot Lodge. He misspoke when he referred to the tertiary age before. He is interested in the idea that there may have been some early form of man may have existed in Australia more than four thousand years ago. Roosevelt takes issue with the idea that in the late tertiary period, there was a land bridge between Asia and Australia. He cites what happened with the native fauna of South America when it was connected to North America by a land bridge and notes that if there had been a land bridge between Asia and Australia, the same thing would have happened.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-03-09
J. A. Hartwell recounts to Theodore Roosevelt a letter he received from Matilda Bernard—the widow of scientist and author Henry Meyners Bernard—about a volume her husband wrote and she is in the process of republishing for an American audience, Some Neglected Factors in Evolution. Hartwell intends to pick up a copy of the book, and thinks Roosevelt will likewise find it interesting. Hartwell looks forward to visiting people in San Francisco.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-01
Based on thoughts put forth in his Romanes Lecture at Oxford University last year, Matilda Bernard thinks Theodore Roosevelt will be interested in the work of her late husband, Henry M. Bernard. While a biologist by trade, Bernard’s book Some Neglected Factors in Evolution “throws light on psychological and sociological problems […] to reveal a cosmic evolutionary rhythm which is now carrying man and human societies onward to some higher stage of development.” Her husband’s progressive views were not appreciated in England during his lifetime, so she is publishing his work in the United States where it will be more welcome.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-27
Henry Fairfield Osborn comments on portions of a draft of President Roosevelt’s planned Romanes lecture that he will give when visiting Oxford University after finishing his safari. Osborn corrects some statements that Roosevelt made regarding megafauna and the evolution of animals in North and South America. He also raises some questions about Roosevelt’s statements regarding the development of different races and nationalities.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-15
Theodore Roosevelt provides a brief update on his attitude and appearance while studying in Dresden. He provides illustrations of an incident where the family lost their keys, when he brought a dead bat to the Minkwitz home, and a humorous view of Darwinian theory.
1873-09-21
Corinne Roosevelt was ill but has recovered. Theodore Roosevelt relates a conversation he overheard with a German servant girl regarding keeping the goose for the next day. Roosevelt concludes with humorous illustrations of Darwinian theory.
1873-10-05