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Darwin Correspondence Project

From Karl Höchberg1   17 January 1879

Castagnola presso Lugano. (Switzerland.)

d. 17.1.79.

Verehrtester Herr!

Ich bin Ihnen sehr dankbar für Ihren freundlichen Brief und erlaube mir noch, Sie darauf aufmerksam zu machen, dass meine Theorie von der Entstehung der Freude an den Farben in der nächsten Zeit durch die Forschungen eines englischen Gelehrten eine Bestätigung zu finden scheinen.2

Mr. Grant Allen sagt nämlich in der Anzeige seines im Druck befindlichen Werks “The Colour-Sense, its Origin and Development” im Januar-Heft der Zeitschrift “Mind” unter Anderem Folgendes: “Then, after considering the nature of Taste, it points out the reasons for believing that a taste for bright colours exists only amongst fruit-eating or flower-haunting animals, and that they alone show secondary marks of its effects in the sexual selection of brilliant mates.”3 Dies bestätigt das, was ich s. 51 und 58 meiner Brochüre gesagt habe,— In derselben Nr. des “Mind” befindet sich ein Artikel von Mr. Gurney, der mich sehr interessirt hat.4

Wenn ich Ihnen nicht beschwerlich zu fallen fürchtete, würde ich Sie um Ihre Meinung darüber bitten, ob mein Essay interessant genug ist, um auch in Englischer Sprache herausgegeben zu werden? Vielleicht schreibt mir Herr E. Gurney darüber ein Wort.

Ihr aufrichtig Ergebener | K. Höchberg.

Footnotes

For a translation of this letter, see Appendix I.
See letter to Karl Höchberg, 13 January 1879. Höchberg’s colour theory may have been included in the article about music that he sent to CD (Berg 1879).
G. Allen 1879a. The quotation is from Mind 4 (1879): 144.
Edmund Gurney’s article was ‘On discord’ (Mind 4 (1879): 22–35), and was a response to Grant Allen’s Physiological aesthetics (G. Allen 1877).

Bibliography

Allen, Grant. 1877. Physiological aesthetics. London: Henry S. King & Co.

Berg, H. 1879. Die Lust an der Musik: nebst einem Anhang, Die Lust an den Farben, den Formen und der körperlichen Schönheit. Berlin: B. Behr’s Buchhandlung (E. Bock).

Translation

From Karl Höchberg1   17 January 1879

Castagnola near Lugano. (Switzerland.)

17.1.79.

Most esteemed Sir!

I am very grateful for your kind letter and I venture besides to bring to your attention the fact that my theory about the origin of enjoyment of colours will, it appears, be corroborated in the near future by the research of an English scholar.2

For Mr Grant Allen says in the announcement of his work “The Colour-Sense, its Origin and Development”, which is currently being printed, in the January issue of the journal “Mind” among other things the following: “Then, after considering the nature of Taste, it points out the reasons for believing that a taste for bright colours exists only amongst fruit-eating or flower-haunting animals, and that they alone show secondary marks of its effects in the sexual selection of brilliant mates.”3 This confirms what I claimed on p. 51 and 58 of my pamphlet,— In the same number of “Mind” there is an article by Mr Gurney, which I found very interesting.4

If I did not fear to impose on you, I would ask for your opinion whether my essay is of sufficient interest to merit publication in the English language? Perhaps Mr E. Gurney will write to me regarding this.

Yours sincerely devoted | K. Höchberg.

Footnotes

For a transcription of this letter in its original German, see Transcript.
See letter to Karl Höchberg, 13 January 1879. Höchberg’s colour theory may have been included in the article about music that he sent to CD (Berg 1879).
G. Allen 1879a. The quotation is from Mind 4 (1879): 144.
Edmund Gurney’s article was ‘On discord’ (Mind 4 (1879): 22–35), and was a response to Grant Allen’s Physiological aesthetics (G. Allen 1877).

Bibliography

Allen, Grant. 1877. Physiological aesthetics. London: Henry S. King & Co.

Berg, H. 1879. Die Lust an der Musik: nebst einem Anhang, Die Lust an den Farben, den Formen und der körperlichen Schönheit. Berlin: B. Behr’s Buchhandlung (E. Bock).

Summary

Points out comment by Grant Allen supporting his theory of the origin of colour sense. Is English translation of his essay possible?

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-11832
From
Karl Höchberg
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
Castagnola
Source of text
DAR 166: 226
Physical description
ALS 2pp (German)

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11832,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11832.xml

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