L. H. Morgan has plagiarised his and Henry Maine’s works for years.
Encourages George Darwin to continue his work on consanguineous marriages.
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L. H. Morgan has plagiarised his and Henry Maine’s works for years.
Encourages George Darwin to continue his work on consanguineous marriages.
Asks for details on CD’s Descent references to female infanticide.
JFM’s work on the laws of incest finds strong evidence for man’s relation to animals.
Sees abortion as a refinement of infanticide; all such practices originate in female infanticide. Herbert Spencer’s over-speculation.
Thanks for copy of Descent. Dining with Vernon Lushington, who is jubilant over the book.
Unfortunately he has missed an opportunity to review Descent in Nature.
Thanks CD for helping with arrangements for an American edition [of Primitive marriage (1865)].
He is an old friend of CD’s son-in-law, R. B. Litchfield, and of John Lubbock.
Discusses the evolution of marriage systems; considers the scheme of development CD proposes: 1. Polygyny and monogamy; 2. Polyandry; 3. Promiscuity; 4. Polygyny and monogamy in recurrence. Explains what he understands by promiscuity. JFM believes that polygyny, monogamy, and polyandry must have occurred in "every district from the first, and grown up together into systems sanctioned by usage first and then law". Considers polygyny necessarily the privilege of the few and, as a system, believes it had less to do than any other with the history of marriage. He sees polyandry as an advance from promiscuity and the stage at which contractual obligations between men and their wives begin.
Would like to see C. S. Wake’s paper ["Marriage among primitive peoples", Anthropologia 1 (1873–5): 197–207].
Will return L. H. Morgan’s work [? Systems of consanguinity (1871)].
Murray suggests Macmillan’s are more likely to reprint JFMcL’s Primitive marriage.
Thanks for issue of Anthropologia. Would be pleased if CD would write to Murray on his behalf.
Bernard Quaritch interested in reprinting Primitive marriage.