skip to content

Darwin Correspondence Project

To Anton Stecker   13 March 1878

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

March 13. 1878

Dear Sir,

I have much pleasure in authorizing your publication of a Bohemian edition of my ‘Origin of Species’.1 The Russian translation was published by Kowalewsky of St Petersburg. I believe he has resided in Germany for many years & I have no idea where he is at present.2

I hope you received the former letter written by my son in reply to your question as to the most recent edit of the Origin?3

dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Charles Darwin

P.S. | In case the former letter miscarried I may mention that the 6th is the last edit of the Origin; the 2nd is the last of the Descent of Man

To Dr A. Stecker | Jungbunzlau

Footnotes

The Russian translation of Origin was in fact made by Sergei Alexandrovich Rachinskiĭ (Rachinskii trans. 1864; see letter from Anton Stecker, 9 March 1878 and n. 2). Vladimir Onofrievich Kovalevsky translated Variation, Descent, and Expression (Kovalevsky trans. 1868–9, [Kovalevsky] trans. 1871–2, and [Kovalevsky] trans. 1872).
The letter from Francis Darwin to Anton Stecker has not been found; nor has the letter in which Stecker asked about the most recent edition of Origin.

Bibliography

Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.

Expression: The expression of the emotions in man and animals. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872.

[Kovalevsky, Vladimir Onufrievich], trans. 1871–2. Proiskhozhdenie cheloveka i podbor’ po otnosheniyu k polu. By Charles Darwin. Translated from English under the editorial direction of I. M. Sechenov. (Russian translation of Descent.) 2 vols. Saint Petersburg: Izdanie Knizhnago Magazina Cherkesova.

[Kovalevsky, Vladimir Onufrievich], trans. 1872. O vyrazhenii oshchushchenii u cheloveka i zhivotnykh. By Charles Darwin. Translated from the author’s proofs under the editorial direction of Prof. A. Kovalevsky. (Russian translation of Expression.) St Petersburg: Tipografia F. S. Sushchinskogo.

Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.

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

Summary

Authorises publication of a Bohemian edition of Origin.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-11419
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Anton Stecker
Sent from
Down
Source of text
Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection)
Physical description
LS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11419,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11419.xml

letter