To Friedrich Rolle 17 October [1862]
Down. Bromley. Kent.
Oct. 17th
Dear &. Respected Sir
On my return home after a long absence I found the first number of your work; & yesterday I received the second number.—1I suppose I owe this present to your kindness, & I sincerey thank you. I am, I am, I am sory, to say, a very poor german scholar & have as yet only skinned through the first number & turned ower the pages of the second.
I can see that there will be much to interess me in this second number; For I am now writing on “Variation and Domestication”.—2 Will you permit me to say that I regret to see that You do not give many foot-notes with References.
You have conferred much honnour on me, by undertaking the illustration and enlargement of my views.3 You will do excellent service in my opinion by getting the subject more discussed & understood; for thus alone will the truth be discovered. Many who criticise what I have written do not at all understand the subject.—
A new german edition of the “Origin” with a good many additions, translated by the lamented Prof. Bronn just before his death, is either now published or will by published immediately:4 Also a translation of my small work on “Orchids”;5 the last chapter of wich contain some general remarks on species.—
With sincer respect & my best thanks I beg leave to remain | Dear Sir | your obliged servant | Ch. Darwin.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Börsenblatt für den Deutschen Buchhandel: Börsenblatt für den Deutschen Buchhandel und für die mit ihm verwandten Geschäftszweige herausgegeben von den Deputirten des Vereins der Buchhändler zu Leipzig. Leipzig: Vereins der Buchhändler. 1834–80.
Bronn, Heinrich Georg, trans. 1862. Charles Darwin, über die Einrichtungen zur Befruchtung Britischer und ausländischer Orchideen durch Insekten und über die günstigen Erfolge der Wechselbefruchtung. (German translation of Orchids.) Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart.
Bronn, Heinrich Georg, trans. 1863. Über die Entstehung der Arten im Thier- und Pflanzen-Reich durch natrliche Züchtung; oder, Erhaltung der vervollkommneten Rassen im Kampfe um’s Daseyn.. By Charles Darwin. 2d edition. Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
LL: The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter. Edited by Francis Darwin. 3 vols. London: John Murray. 1887–8.
Martin, Gerald P. R. and Uschmann, Georg. 1969. Friedrich Rolle 1827–1887, ein Vorkämpfer neuen biologischen Denkens in Deutschland. Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth.
ML: More letters of Charles Darwin: a record of his work in a series of hitherto unpublished letters. Edited by Francis Darwin and Albert Charles Seward. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1903.
Orchids: On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1862.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Rolle, Friedrich. 1863. Chs. Darwin’s Lehre von der Entstehung der Arten im Pflanzen- und Thierreich in ihrer Anwendung auf die Schöpfungsgeschichte. Frankfurt: J. C. Hermann.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Rolle has done great service by publishing his book [Ch. Darwin’s Lehre von der Entstehung der Arten (1863)].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3770
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Friedrich Rolle
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Frankfurt (SNG-Archiv: Malakol.: Nachlass Rolle)
- Physical description
- C 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3770,” accessed on 21 November 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3770.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 10