To James Orton 24 February [1870]1
Down. | Beckenham. | Kent. S.E.
Feb. 24th
My dear Sir
I received the day before yesterday your “Andes & the Amazon”, & most sincerely thank you for your present.— I feel deeply sensible of the honour which you have conferred on me by your kindly expressed Dedication, & for the frequent notices in your text of my Journal.2 You will make this old book of mine quite well known in your great country.
Your work is most elegantly illustrated & got up: I have as yet had time to read only as far as page 105, but I like extremely all that I have read, & I look forward with much pleasure to each evening for continuing it
Your account of Quito is quite new to me & your descriptions bring the scenes before my eyes with much power.3 It has caused me much regret that I failed to procure information about the Horse’s tooth: I wrote a second time & called on Prof. Huxley.4 Each time I am sure he intended to compare the tooth & give his judgment; but in fact he undertakes much more than mortal man can do, & is half-worked to death.— I hope & fully expect that your book will be in every way highly successful.
With cordial thanks, believe me | Dear Sir | Yours truly obliged | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Journal of researches: Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain FitzRoy, RN, from 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839.
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.
Orton, James. 1870. The Andes and the Amazon; or, across the continent of South America. New York: Harper.
Summary
Thanks JO for his The Andes and the Amazon.
Is sorry he has failed to get any information on the horse’s tooth.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7116
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- James Orton
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- University of Oklahoma Libraries History of Science Collections
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7116,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7116.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18