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From E. A. Darwin   8 March [1879]1

8 March

Dear Charles

I have read the life & think it will make a very interesting book for all who are interested in Darwinismus that is to say for every body.2 It is very easy german bating3 the great numbers of technical words some not in dictionary Krause for example was bothered by (?Daisy) printed thus & the name he gives might be translated back half a dozen ways.4

As for size it would make about 60 or fewer pages of Bagehots Physics5 which was the only book I could lay my hand but would easily swell out into something bigger

Do you take in Kosmos? The title page rather perplexs me. Kosmos Zeitschrift für einheitliche Weltanschauung auf Grund der Entwicklungslehre.6 This I translate ‘Cosmos a Periodical for the uniformitarian view of the world on the Evolution Theory’

Is this title of Kosmos generally or for this one & if for this one number why a Periodical. At first I thought Zeitschrift meant an occasional paper, but dictionary only gives periodical & dictionaries are apt to be right.

He gives due honor to Frank & George7 I should like to keep it a few days to read your life. When this monument has been erected to Dr. D you should set about erecting your own in the shape of a really handsome Edition of the Origin that a gentleman could read8

EAD

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the reference to Krause 1879a (see n. 2, below).
2
Ernst Krause published ‘Erasmus Darwin, der Großvater und Vorkämpfer Charles Darwin’s: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Descendenz-Theorie’ (Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin’s grandfather and forerunner: a contribution to the history of descent theory; Krause 1879a) in the periodical Kosmos in February 1879.
3
‘Bate’: to omit, leave out of count, except (OED).
4
See Krause 1879a, p. 416; Krause had translated the German common name Maßliebchen as ‘(?daisy)’. The species referred to was Bellis perennis (common or English daisy). Other common names for the flower in German are Gänseblümchen, Margarethenblümchen, Angerblümchen, Monatsröserl, and Tausendschön.
6
CD had a subscription to Kosmos; his copies are in the collection of unbound journals in the Darwin Library–CUL. The full title was Kosmos: Zeitschrift für einheitliche Weltanschauung auf Grund der Entwickelungslehre in Verbindung mit Charles Darwin und Ernst Haeckel (Kosmos: journal for uniform world-view based on the theory of development as proposed by Charles Darwin and Ernst Haeckel).
7
Krause alluded to George Howard Darwin’s research on cousin marriages (Krause 1879a, pp. 419–20). No reference to Francis Darwin has been identified.
8
The last edition of Origin published during CD’s lifetime was the 1876 reprint of Origin 6th ed., and had some corrections and additions to the text (Freeman 1977). This edition was produced in a cheaper form than previous ones, with small type and a relatively small page; a ‘gentleman’s’ edition usually had larger type and page size, with wider margins.

Bibliography

Bagehot, Walter. 1872. Physics and politics: or thoughts on the application of the principles of ‘natural selection’ and ‘inheritance’ to political society. London: Henry S. King. [Facsimile edition, Westmead: Gregg International Publishers, 1971.]

Freeman, Richard Broke. 1977. The works of Charles Darwin: an annotated bibliographical handlist. 2d edition. Folkestone, Kent: William Dawson & Sons. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, Shoe String Press.

Krause, Ernst. 1879a. Erasmus Darwin, der Großvater und Vorkämpfer Charles Darwin’s: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Descendenz-Theorie. Kosmos 4 (1878–9): 397–424.

Origin 6th ed.: The origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 6th edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872.

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.

Summary

Has read Krause’s "Life of Erasmus Darwin" [Kosmos 4 (1879): 397–424]; thinks it very interesting to anyone interested in "Darwinismus" – everybody.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-11918
From
Erasmus Alvey Darwin
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
unstated
Source of text
DAR 92: B2; DAR 105: B105, B110
Physical description
ALS 5pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11918,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11918.xml

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