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To J. V. Carus   17 July 1879

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)

July 17th 1879

My dear Sir

I had intended writing to you soon to tell you what I was about. Dr. E. Krause published in Kosmos an article on my grandfather which seemed to me good, so I asked his permission to bring out a Translation in English.1 I then determined to add about 100 pages, as a Supplementary notice, on the life & character of my grandfather. Dr. Krause then asked my consent to translate my notice & bring it out in German together with his article enlarged as a separate little book. Of course I could not hesitate to give my consent.2

I have never even dreamed of publishing my own auto-biography. Together with my son Francis, I am preparing a rather large volume on the general movements of Plants, & I think that we have made out a good many new points & views.3 I fear that our views will meet a good deal of opposition in Germany; but we have been working very hard for some years at the subject. I do not suppose that the M.S will be sent to the Printers for 4 or 5 months, but I am having very many simple wood-blocks cut.4

I shall be much pleased if you think the book worth translating & proof-sheets shall be sent you, whenever they are ready.5

I most sincerely rejoice at the fairly good account of your health. I am myself rather worn out, & on Augt 1st. we all go to the Lakes for a month’s rest & change.6

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

1
CD had asked to have a translation of Krause 1879a made in his letter to Ernst Krause, 9 March 1879.
2
On CD’s plan to add an introduction to Krause’s essay, see the letter to Ernst Krause, 19 March 1879. Krause first mentioned the possibility of a German edition of Erasmus Darwin in his letter of 24 March 1879. For the German edition, Krause reinstated parts of his text not included in the English edition as well as adding over one hundred pages of notes (see Krause 1880, pp. 75–124, 180–286).
3
CD did not publish an autobiography in his lifetime but he wrote about his life for his family and an edited version of this was posthumously published by Francis Darwin in LL 1: 26–107. CD began research for Movement in plants in the summer of 1877. Francis Darwin assisted him both at Down and working in the summers of 1878 and 1879 at the Botanical Institute, Würzburg, in the laboratory of Julius Sachs.
4
CD and Francis disagreed with Sachs on many points about the nature of plant movement, notably regarding the location of root sensitivity (see, for example, letter to Francis Darwin, 28 June [1879]). Movement in plants contained 196 woodcuts.
5
Movement in plants was published on 6 November 1880 (Freeman 1977); the German translation by Carus appeared in April 1881 (Carus trans. 1881; letter to Eduard Koch, 30 April 1881, Calendar no. 13141).
6
No recent letter from Carus has been found. Carus frequently suffered from bronchial problems, particularly during the winter (see, for example, Correspondence vol. 25, letter from J. V. Carus, 20 January 1877 and n. 11).

Bibliography

Carus, Julius Victor, trans. 1881. Das Bewegungsvermögen der Pflanzen. By Charles Darwin. (German translation of Movement in plants. Vol. 13 of Charles Darwin’s gesammelte Werke.) Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagshandlung (E. Koch).

Erasmus Darwin. By Ernst Krause. Translated from the German by W. S. Dallas, with a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1879.

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.

Krause, Ernst. 1880. Erasmus Darwin und seine Stellung in der Geschichte der Descendenz-Theorie von Ernst Krause. Mit seinem Lebens- und Charakterbilde von Charles Darwin. Leipzig: Ernst Günther.

LL: The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter. Edited by Francis Darwin. 3 vols. London: John Murray. 1887–8.

Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.

Summary

Gives an account of his publication plans for his and Ernst Krause’s Erasmus Darwin.

CD has never even dreamed of publishing his own autobiography.

Is now working, with Francis, on plant movements.

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12163,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12163.xml

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