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735 Darwin (Charles)

Two Autograph Letters Signed,—C. Darwin and Ch Darwin respectively.

4pp. 8vo each. Down, Kent. The letter to G. Cupples; with addressed envelope. With engraved portrait of Darwin, on India paper Together, 3 pieces.

Intimate Personal Letters of Great Interest, comprising:

[To Richard Owen [March 1843 - 15 May 1846]]

(1) Wednesday [about May 15, 1846], to a friend addressed as My dear Owen, reading in part,—Can you spare a Sunday to rest & air yourself in th country? If so would Mrs. Owen & yourself give us the great pleasure of coming here next Saturday, & I hope bring with you your little Boy, whom our nurses could dress. . . . I have asked Falconer & a few others to come by the same Train.— With kind remembrances to Mrs. Owen. ...

(2) June 7 [1873], to G. Cupples, reading in part,— indeed I ought to have thanked you before for a former good letter, & report of Victor Cam's lecture, (which I was glad to see. ... I am writing away from home, having gone away for rest, of which I am much in need. ... I have not seen Emerson, but from all tht I have heard he must be a charming man. I doubt, however, whether we should have enough in common to interest each other; & indeed I have hardly thought to talk to anyone with my spirit. [Etc.] Laid in, is a newspaper clipping concerning Darwin, entitled,—First Things.

736 Darwin (Charles)

A collection of 3 Autograph Letters Signed, C. E. Darwin.

8vo, 3 1/4 pp. 2PP. 1 1/2 pp. respectively; [Also] Two Letters Signed, 8vo, 3 1/2PP., 2 1/4pp. respectively; bust portrait of Darwin laid in. Together, 6 pieces.

Fine Series. Comprises:—Down Farnborough Kent. May 25th, /47. To Rev. J. Allen, regretting his inability to undertake a proposal for extra work due to his ill health; (2) Written in the form of an Index for his works; (3) Down, Beckenham, November 7th, 1872. To an unnamed person. Acknowledging a gift of a book of Memoirs and apologizing for not being a more proficient German scholar.

The letters signed comprise:—(1) Down Bromely Kent, November 7, 1868. To an unnamed person, stating that he has not received the piebald potato, and that the eyes of white regent and negro potatoes had been transposed, and grew excellently; (2) Down, Bromley Kent, January 24, 1869. To an unnamed person, thanking him for the piebald potato.

737 Darwin (Charles)

A collection of 3 Autograph Letters Signed, C. Darwin, and Chas Darwin. 8vo, 8pp. collectively; [Also] Engraved bust portrait and full-length portrait of Darwin seated. Together, 5 pieces.

Fine Collection. Comprises: Down Bromely Kent, February 15, [1860?] To an unnamed person, requesting some books, also mentions some ear trumpets to be sent to an old servant of his in N. S. Wales; (2) The Lodge, [Malvern] May 7th. To [John Gould], requesting some specimens of South American Birds for the great Berlin Anatomist, J. Muller, who was anxious to dissect the larynx & its muscles; (3) Good Friday, To Mr. Gould, offering a gift before their trip to Australia, as a remembrance of their friend Darwin (i.e. the writer himself). With a ten-line postscript unsigned.

738 Darwin (Charles)

Two Autograph Letters Signed,—Charles Darwin and C. Darwin respectively.

4pp. 12mo each. Together, 2 pieces.

Interesting Correspondence on Nature Subjects. (1) 2. Hesketh Crescent, Torquay, July 18 [1861], to [E. W. H. Holdsworth] in reply to request for information about corals, reading in part,—I am sorry to say that I am quite unable to answer any of your questions. It is now nearly 30 years since I began examining living corals, but other pursuits interfered & I have utterly forgotten wht little I knew. I remember attending a little to the effects of tranquil & disturbed water on their growth. . . .

[To Albany Hancock [31 March or 7 April 1850]]

(2) Down, Farnborough, Kent, Sunday [1850?]. Technical letter regarding specimens, to an unnamed person, commencing,—I send one line to beg you to keep my M. S. as long as ever you like. . . .

Darwin (Charles—English Naturalist)

Two Autograph Letters Signed,— C. Darwin, 2pp. 12mo each. Down, Brom, Kent [England]. Together, 2 pieces.

[To J. S. Henslow 29 January [1860]]

Alluding to the Success of The Origin of Species, he writes, Jan. 29, 1860, to his former teacher, John Stevens Henslow (who, twenty-nine years prior to date of letter, recommended young Darwin, then aged 22, as naturalist to the scientific expedition of the Beagle to South America),—My Book has been far more successful as yet, than I dreamed of. —The two last chapters are in my opinion the strongest. . . . Yours affect & gratefully. . . .

The other letter, June 1 [1840] is in reference to some observations regarding lice on human beings in North America and Europe.

739 Darwin (Charles)

Two Autograph Letters Signed,—Ch. Darwin and C. Darwin respectively.

8vo. Down, Beckenham, Kent, the first mentioned with addressed envelope. Together, 2 pieces.

Two Extremely Interesting Letters; Seeking Information and Specimens for Use in Connection with Darwin's Observations on Nature, which in this instance happen to be birds and plants; and comprising: (1) May 20, 1869, to J. Jenner Weir, London, 3pp., stating,—I feel that I have a sort of right to bother you for information. Mr. Gould told me that male nightingales immigrate before the females; & that he had ascertained this was the case with the snipe and he believed it was general with migrating birds. Do you know anything on this head? [Etc.]

[To W. E. Darwin 1 July [1874]]

(2) July 1st, no year, to My dear William, asking—Could you visit Winchester for me pretty soon & take a tin box or cannister & send me some plants with floating leaves (& some submerged leaves) pretty soon.—I want them much. … [This letter appeared at Heritage Auctions in 2017 when it was claimed that it was not recorded by the Correspondence.]

740 Darwin (Charles)

Autograph Letter Signed, Charles Darwin.

2pp. 4to, Down, Bromley, Kent, February 14. To an unnamed person. With a 3-line postscript unsigned. Etched bust portrait of Darwin laid in. Together, 2 pieces.

To H. G. Bronn 14 February [1860]

Exceedingly Fine Letter, with mention of his appreciation for a translation of his work, his lack of alertness in comprehending German and reference to the term Natural Selection. The letter reads in part,—Thank you . . . for your . . . kindness in superintending the Translation. . . . If I am proved quite wrong . . . I comfort myself in thinking my Book may do some good, as Truth can only be known by rising victorious from every attack. . . . I send with this letter some corrections . . . to Mr. Schweitzerbart and a short Historical Preface. . . . I read German very slowly . . . several scientific men have thought the term natural selection good, because it at once corrects variations under domestication & nature. Is there any analogous term used by German Breeders of Animals? Adelung—ennobling—would be perhaps too metaphorical. ... I cannot help doubting, whether Wahl der Lebens-weise expresses my notion . . . of the Lamarckian Doctrine (which I reject). ... I wish I knew what was the authenticity for a Batrachian in the new Hebrides.

741 Darwin (Charles)

Autograph Letter Signed,—C. D. 8pp. 8vo. Down, near Bromley, Kent, Wednesday, no year. To John Stevens Henslow. Neatly hinged together; Admission Card to the Funeral of Mr. Darwin, Westminster Abbey, April 26th, 1882. Black border and wax seal; [And] Words of Anthem composed by J. Frederick Bridge ... for the Funeral of Charles Darwin, Esq. 1p. 12mo; [Also] Original bust photograph. Together, 4 pieces.

[Unrecorded letter to J. S. Henslow, 1843]

Darwin's Letter Is to His Former Teacher, John Stevens Henslow, the botanist who recommended Darwin as naturalist to go on the Beagle to South America on a scientific expedition in 1831.

The contents in general are in reference to the rejection of a certain Charlesworth, probably J. Charlesworth, divine and editor of Charlesworth's Magazine of Natural History. This extremely long letter reads in part,—

I believe the feeling of the Council now is to give Charlesworth a full explanation of the causes of his rejection. ... In the interval before the next meeting many members of council read the controversial pamphlet written by Charlesworth himself, they all were then unanimous against him, although several agree with you in thinking him ... quite in the right. ... His Journal, I have always thought, a most valuable contribution to Nat. Hist …all the leading officers of the Society will, I fear, immediately resign. ... I thought Ch. had treated Owen very unfairly. ...

In the last paragraph Darwin speaks of his country home, his wife and the death of an infant daughter shortly after birth.

[See a later letter: Darwin to J. S. Henslow [22 January 1843], Correspondence vol. 2, where Darwin seems to refer to this letter and the meeting of the Council of the Geological Society of London and the controversy involving Edward Charlesworth. See Darwin to Charles Lyell [5 and 7 October 1842] and the very similar letter to Charles Lyell [November - December 1842]]