RECORD: Darwin, C. R. [1870-1871]. Draft of Descent, Chap. I, folio 22. Christies-6642. Edited by John van Wyhe (Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed and edited by John van Wyhe, corrections by Christine Chua 11.2022. RN2
NOTE: See record in the Darwin Online manuscript catalogue, enter its Identifier here. Reproduced with permission of William Huxley Darwin.
From the auction description: "Autograph manuscript leaf, numbered '22', from an early draft of The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, … n.d. [1867 - 1869], 20 lines including 10 cancellations and 5 insertions, on blue paper, one page, folio (tear at centre fold from right margin), tipped on to a leaf, with a cut signature [dated February 24th, 1879,]...The Property of the late Lord Wraxall Removed from Tyntesfield, Somerset...Provenance: from the autograph collection of Matilda Blanche Gibbs (d.1887), wife of William Gibbs of Tyntesfield; and by descent." Christie's 2002. Sold for £43,020.
The text of the draft roughly corresponds to Descent 1: 48-9, Chapter II.
[22]
[different sheet:] Feb. 24th 1879
(22
Chapter I
(one line open)
(It has, I think, now been briefly shown that man agrees with the higher animals, especially the Primates, in having some though not few, instincts in common, — in having the same senses senses, intuitions & feelings sensations — similar passions, affections & emotions, even the more complex ones — in feeling wonder & curiosity,— & in possessing the faculties of imitation, attention, memory, imagination & reason. Nevertheless [illeg] many authors have insisted on insist that man is endowed with various mental characteristics, possessed by many which, so they assert form an impassable barrier between him & all the oth the lower animals. I formerly made a collection of above a score of such aphorisms, above a score in number, but they are not worth giving in detail, as these [number] & distinctness & number prove show the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of the attempt. It has been asserted that no animal except man is capable of progressive improvement,— that no other animal makes
Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
File last updated 9 October, 2023