To Camille Dareste 16 February [1863]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Feb 16
Dear & respected Sir.
I thank you sincerely for your letter & your pamphlet.—2 I had heard (I think in one of M. Quatrefage’s books)3 of your work & was most anxious to read it, but did not know where to find it. You could not have made me a more valuable present. I have only just returned home & have not yet read your work when I do if I wish to ask any questions I will venture to trouble you.— Your approbation of my book on Species has gratified me extremely—4 Several naturalists in England, North America & Germany have declared that their opinions on the subject have in some degree been modified, but as far as I know my book has produced no effect whatever in France & this makes me the more gratified by your very kind expression of approbation.5
Pray believe me, Dear Sir. | With much respect. | Yours faithfully & obliged. | Ch Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Conry, Yvette. 1974. L’introduction du Darwinisme en France au XIXe siècle. Paris: J. Vrin.
Dareste, Camille. 1863. Recherches sur les conditions de la vie et de la mort chez les monstres ectroméliens, célosomiens et exencéphaliens, produits artificiellement dans l’espèce de la poule. [Read 23 January 1863.] Mémoires de la Société Impériale des Sciences de l’Agriculture et des Arts de Lille 10: 39–82. [Reprinted in Annales des Sciences Naturelles (Zoologie) 4th ser. 20: 59–99.]
Farley, John. 1974. The initial reactions of French biologists to Darwin’s Origin of Species. Journal of the history of biology 7: 275–300.
Marginalia: Charles Darwin’s marginalia. Edited by Mario A. Di Gregorio with the assistance of Nicholas W. Gill. Vol. 1. New York and London: Garland Publishing. 1990.
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.
Summary
Thanks for letter and pamphlet.
His approbation of Origin is extremely gratifying, especially since Origin produced no effect whatever in France.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3992
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Gabriel-Madeleine-Camille (Camille) Dareste
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 143: 368
- Physical description
- C 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3992,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3992.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 11