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Darwin Correspondence Project

To J. C. Lyell   25 April 1881

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)

April 25th 1881

Private

Dear Sir

I am obliged for the kind gift of your Pigeon book.1 I am so much engaged at present that I cannot find time to read it, & the subject has to a large extent passed out of my mind.2 As no man ought to express an opinion on a book without carefully studying it, I must decline to permit my name to be used in any3

⁠⟨⁠about 12 a page⁠⟩⁠ fair one of ⁠⟨⁠12 line⁠⟩⁠ characters of the breeds; & I have been struck with the fulness & accuracy of the literary record.—4 I hope at some future time to be able to read your book with some care.—

I remain | Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

1
Lyell had sent his manual on the varieties, breeding, and management of fancy pigeons (J. C. Lyell 1881). Lyell’s book is in the Darwin Library–Down.
2
In 1855 and 1856, CD had bred fancy pigeons and attended pigeon fanciers’ clubs (J. A. Secord 1981; Correspondence vols. 5 and 6). He discussed domestic pigeons in the first chapter of Origin, and also used observations on fancy pigeons to illustrate points about natural selection, variation, and embryology. CD included two chapters on the development of fancy pigeons in Variation 1: 131–224.
3
The letter from Lyell asking whether he could use CD’s name has not been found.
4
Lyell devoted a chapter to ‘the literature of fancy pigeons’ (J. C. Lyell 1881, pp. 8–22).

Bibliography

Lyell, James Carmichael. 1881. Fancy pigeons: containing full directions for their breeding and management, with descriptions of every known variety, and all other information of interest or use to pigeon fanciers. London: “The Bazaar” Office.

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.

Secord, James Andrew. 1981. Nature’s fancy: Charles Darwin and the breeding of pigeons. Isis 72: 162–86.

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

Summary

Thanks for gift of JCL’s book on pigeons (J. C. Lyell 1881).

Declines to endorse it, because he lacks the time to read it with sufficient care.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-13138F
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
James Carmichael Lyell
Sent from
Down
Source of text
Private collection
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13138F,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13138F.xml

letter

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