To E. R. Lankester 31 October 1881
My dear Mr. Ray Lankester,
As I understand that you are a candidate for the Chair of Natural History in Edinburgh, I beg permission to state that I have read with care and admiration, all, or very nearly all, your numerous publications.1 In them you show great powers of original research and of generalization.
I have never heard you lecture, but your discussions and descriptions are all so remarkably clear that I can entertain no doubt that you would succeed excellently in making every subject intelligible to students. I therefore most earnestly wish that you may be elected to the Professorship; and in this case I am convinced that you will raise the Chair of Natural History in Edinburgh to great eminence. Permit me to add that I have always found you most willing and obliging in giving me any information which I required.
With my best wishes for your success, | I remain, dear Mr. Lankester, | Yours very faithfully, | CHARLES DARWIN
Down, Beckenham, Kent. | October 31st, 1881.
Footnotes
Summary
Testimonial for ERL, who is a candidate for the Chair of Natural History in Edinburgh.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13446
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Edwin Ray Lankester
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- The Edinburgh chair of natural history, testimonials in favor of E. Ray Lankester, London [1881], p. 18
- Physical description
- Typewritten copy
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13446,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13446.xml