RECORD: Darwin, C. R. 1876. [Recollection. "Yes, I am Darwin"]. In Durdík, Josef. [Visit to Darwin] Návštĕva u Darwina. Osvěta, Prague: Václav Vlček, vol. 6:10, (October), pp. 717-27.

REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Christine Chua and edited by John van Wyhe. 7.2020. RN1

NOTE: See record in the Freeman Bibliographical Database, enter its Identifier here.

Introduction by Christine Chua and John van Wyhe:

Josef Durdík (1837-1902) was a Czech philosopher and Darwinian. He made Darwin's acquaintance in August 1875. Emma Darwin recorded 'Prof Durdek' in her diary on 27 August 1875. Durdík spread Darwin's teachings in the Czech Republic and published several works on Darwin. (See: Julie Tomsová, Reception of Darwinism in Bohemia between 1859 and 1918, 2009.) Durdík's visit to Down House, Návštĕva u Darwina, was published in October 1876. In it is a spoken sentence is attributed to Darwin. A paragraph is transcribed below. In February 2009, Durdík's recollection of his visit to Down House was published in Dějiny a současnost (History and present), a monthly magazine founded in 1959. See: http://dejinyasoucasnost.cz/archiv/2009/2/vy-jste-darwin-yes-i-am-darwin/


[page] 721

Mé rozhlédání netrvalo ani tolik minut, kolikž jsem jich teď potřeboval ku popisu: tu vstoupil do dveří muž, jehož jsem hned poznal. Pokročil jsem jemu vstříc a bez dalších poklon oslovil jej:

Vy jste Darwin! "Yes, I am Darwin," odvětil mi.

A ve mně se ozvalo: Toť tedy muž, jenž vyvolen z tolika povolaných vyslovil, co jim v duši tralo. Ano jest on jedním ze šťastých lidí, kteři stojíce na bedrách předchůdců a vrstevníků svých mohli dokonati veliké dílo. Jeho jmeno je povestno, náleží k výkřikům dne, stalo se heslem stran a straniček, a jakž při každé nové Pravda bývá, též předmětem nedorozumění a neurčitých představ o ztroskotaní mravniho radu. Ba i látku humoristickým spisům podává a stává se často nevinnou přičinou spatných vtipu.

English translation:

It didn't take me as many minutes to look around as I needed to describe it now: a man I knew at once entered the door. I advanced to meet him, and without further compliments addressed him:

You are Darwin! "Yes, I am Darwin," he replied. 

And it was in me, saying, this is the man who, when chosen out of so many, spake, saying, What troubled them in their souls. Yes, he is one of the fortunate people who, standing on the shoulders of their predecessors and peers, could have accomplished a great work. 

His name is famous, it belongs to the cries of the day, it has become the motto of parties and parties, and as is the case with every new truth, it is also the subject of misunderstandings and vague ideas about the failure of moral counsel. He even gives the material to humorous writings and often becomes an innocent cause of bad jokes.

 


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Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

File last updated 28 November, 2022