To P. L. Sclater 9 November 1870
Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.
Nov 9. 1870
My dear Mr Sclater
Your offer is most generous & wd. be an immense benefit for my book.1 But you do not know what you are offering; there are about 200 pages, of the size of my origin, on birds. I have corrected half of them in slips, & when in sheets they wd be much better for you to read, though there wd be the great disadvantage that I cd not without strong cause, make great alterations. There wd be hardly any thing new to you in any part, & you cd in most cases be able give much better illustrations than I have been able to do. Therefore considering every thing, unless you renew yr offer, I will assume that you have not time to read through so many pages; but in this case I will most gladly accept yr offer of correcting another list of names.
With very sincere thanks | yours very truly | Ch. Darwin
P.S. I have recd Mr Hudson’s proof sheets but have not yet had time to read them—2
The only possible interest my 4 chapters on Birds cd. have for you is the collection of facts on some trifling points, all relating more or less to sex.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Hudson, William Henry. 1870. On the ornithology of Buenos Ayres. [Letters from W. H. Hudson to the Zoological Society of London read 10 and 24 February, 24 March, 26 May, 23 June, 1 and 15 November, and 6 December 1870] Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1870): 87–9, 112–14, 158–60, 332–4, 545–50, 671–3, 748–50, 798–802.
Summary
Thanks PLS for his generous offer to go over the part on birds [in Descent]. Does not think PLS realises that there are more than 200 pages – most of which will have nothing new for him.
W. H. Hudson’s proofs have arrived ["Letters on the ornithology of Buenos Ayres", Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. (1870): 87–9, 158–60, 332–4, 545–50, 671–3, 748–50, 798–82; (1871): 4–7, 258–62, 326–9].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7362
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Philip Lutley Sclater
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Zoological Society of London (GB 0814 BADD (Darwin))
- Physical description
- LS(A) 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7362,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7362.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18
