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Darwin Correspondence Project

To K. M. Lyell   20 November 1881

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

Nov. 20— 1881

My dear Mrs Lyell

Your most kind present arrived last night & I am greatly obliged for it.1 But as it never occurred to me that you would give me so large & valuable a work, I have ordered a copy, as I was very anxious to begin reading the memoirs of my old master, to whom I am so deeply indebted under a scientific point of view.2 The ordered copy has not yet arrived, but no doubt soon will, probably tomorrow, & it will be a sin to keep two copies in the house.

You must know many persons to whom you would like to send a copy; & shall I not send you the one ordered, for you to transmit to whom you may think fit? Or if you like to send me a slip of paper to paste in, & give me any address, I will despatch the parcel by rail, as this may save you a little trouble.—

The work appears very handsome, & again thanking you I remain | Dear Mrs. Lyell | Yours sincerely | Charles Darwin

Footnotes

Life, letters and journals of Sir Charles Lyell, Bart. (K. M. Lyell ed. 1881). CD had been consulted about the selection of letters for the volumes; see Correspondence vol. 26, letter from J. D. Hooker, 18 March 1878.
CD often noted the influence of Lyell’s Principles of geology on his early geological work and his species theory, as well as Lyell’s personal support and mentorship (see, for example, ‘Recollections’, pp. 387, 390–1, 399–401, 411–12; see also Sponsel 2018).

Bibliography

Lyell, Katharine Murray, ed. 1881. Life, letters and journals of Sir Charles Lyell, Bart. 2 vols. London: John Murray.

‘Recollections’: Recollections of the development of my mind and character. By Charles Darwin. In Evolutionary writings, edited by James A. Secord. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2008.

Sponsel, Alistair William. 2018. Darwin’s evolving identity: adventure, ambition, and the sin of speculation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Summary

Thanks for Life, letters and journals of Sir Charles Lyell, Bart. (K. M. Lyell ed. 1881), but he has already ordered a copy. Can he send the ordered copy to her to give to another, or can he send it on her behalf?

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13492F,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13492F.xml

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