To P. L. Sclater 29 December [1870]
Down. | Beckenham. | Kent. S.E.
Dec. 29th
My dear Mr Sclater
I am infinitely obliged for all your corrections, but it is a horrid shame to spoil even an hour of your holidays, for holidays must, I am sure, be rare with you.—1
I had some misgivings about the Moschidæ.—2
It is rather a bad job about the woodcut. It wd. drive Murray mad, if I proposed to delay for a new woodcut, though it is very kind in you to propose to help me in this manner.—
I will append, beneath the cut, as follows, in parenthesis
(I find that this drawing represents the head of a female, but it serves to show on a reduced scale the characters, of the male.)3
If I do not hear from you, I will assume that this parenthesis is correct & will insert it— I was at the time rather surprised that the tusks were not larger, but supposed the drawing was of rather young male. One & or sheets will I believe complete your labours.—
Yours most heartily obliged | Ch. Darwin
I will send next sheets, when received, to Hanover Sqe, marked “to be forwarded”.—4
What a rich & capital volume the last in your Proceedings—5
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
CD is obliged for PLS’s correction [of Descent proofs]. Will add a caption to the woodcut [of the wart-hog] since it is too late to make a new one.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7403
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Philip Lutley Sclater
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Zoological Society of London (GB 0814 BADD (Darwin))
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7403,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7403.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18