To H. W. Bates 18 March [1868]1
4 Chester Place | R. Park. N.W
March 18th
My dear Bates
It has occurred to me that you must occasionally come across Missionaries or Dealers who have long lived intimately with Savages;2 in this case, if you can, oblige me by leading conversation to the notion of savages about the beauty of women, & secondly & more especially how far the women have any indirect influence in getting men, whom they prefer or admire, to court them or purchase them from their parents.
You will at once see my object.—3 I have many facts, but am greedy for more.—
I most thoroughily enjoyed my morning’s talk with you.—4
This obviously requires no answer
Most sincerely yours | C. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
ODNB: Oxford dictionary of national biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000. (Revised edition.) Edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. 60 vols. and index. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Summary
Requests information on the standard of beauty of savages and on whether the female has any influence in selecting a male.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6022
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Henry Walter Bates
- Sent from
- London, Chester Place, 4
- Source of text
- Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6022,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6022.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16
