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Darwin Correspondence Project

To W. S. Dallas   8 November [1867]1

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

Nov. 8th

My dear Sir

On reflection I fear you will find it endless labour to give all author’s names in notes.2 So use your own discretion; anyhow most ought to be introduced. You might omit the word “note” in the index,3 as the searcher has only one page to search; & even a word omitted in index is a gain.— When I had strength & made my own index, I used to give every author’s name, but added only 2 or 3 words on the subject on which he treated or species or genus treated of by him; but then I never had such an index to make as this ought to be.4 But as I said before kindly use your discretion & make a good Index.—

Yours very sincerely | C. Darwin

Footnotes

The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from W. S. Dallas, 4 November 1867.
CD’s earlier letter commenting on the index to Variation, which Dallas was preparing, has not been found, but see the letter from W. S. Dallas, 4 November 1867).
Subjects in footnotes and main text are indexed without differentiation in Variation.
A series of brief descriptive entries appears after each personal name in the index of Variation; sometimes names mentioned in the text are not included in the index.

Bibliography

Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.

Summary

Suggestions on listing authors in the index [for Variation].

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-5671
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
William Sweetland Dallas
Sent from
Down
Source of text
American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.)
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5671,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5671.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15

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