The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online

RECORD: Darwin, C. R. 1959. [Letter to Charles Renard 28 May 1870]. In I. D. Strashun, Charles Darwin and the Moscow Society of Naturalist. Moskovskoe obshchestvo liu bitelei prirody 64, 4: 53-60.

NOTE: The letter was reproduced and its context discussed in Stecher, Robert M. and Klavins, Janis V. 1965. Charles Darwin and the Moscow Society of Naturalists. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 20: 157-61. See Correspondence vol. 18 where this letter and the diploma are published with important editorial notes.

Carl Ivanovich (Charles) Renard (1809-1886) was a Russian physician and secretary of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow, 1840-1872. With thanks to Igor Fadeev of the State Darwin Museum of Moscow for supplying a copy of this publication and other assistance and to Chritsine Chua.

[page 59]

[transcription of letter facsimile:]

Down

Beckenham

Kent

May 28 70

Sir,

I beg leave to thank you for your very courteous letter of May 20th in which you announced to me that the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow has conferred on me the distinguished honour of electing me an Honorary Member. This morning I received your Diploma

I hope that you will express on my part to the Society how deeply I feel gratified by this honour. In accordance with your suggestion I have directed my publisher to forward to your Society the last edition of my Origin of Species and my Journal of researches during the Voyage of the Beagle.

With my Sincere thanks

I have the honour to remain,

Sir,

Your most obedient Servant

Charles Darwin

[English translation of original caption: "Fig. 4. Letter of Ch. Darwin from Down with gratitude for being elected honorary member of the Moscow Society of Naturalists (the original is kept in the Society's archive." This archive is now in the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University.]

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