From C.-F. Reinwald1   21 February 1877

15, Rue des Saints-Pères | Paris

21 février 1877.

To Charles Darwin, Esq. Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Cher Monsieur

Nous avons l’honneur de confirmer notre lettre du 15 de ce mois, depuis laquelle nous avons déjà reçu quelques chapitres de la traduction de votre livre sur la Cross & Self fertilisation par le Prof. Heckel de Grenoble.2

Nous desirons pourtant avec M Heckel connaître votre avis sur l’indication des mesures dans vos tableaux. Vous verrez par les preuves placards que nous vous adressons aujourdhui que ces mensurations ont été indiquées seulement en mesures centésimales usitées en France, et que nous avons laissé de coté les indications en pouces et lignes anglais.

Le traducteur desire vivement connaître votre opinion à cet égard et savoir si vous croyez nécessaire de mettre à coté des mesures centésimales les mensurations en pouces anglais. Il nous a semblé que cela serait inutile, et même gênant dans la lecture et aussi dans la composition typographique du livre, car il foudrait partout élargir les cadres et changer les tableaux. Veuillez pourtant bien croire que nous suivrons entièrement l’avis que vous nous donnerez à cet égard.3

Nous venons encore vous demander, cher Monsieur, si vous n’avez pas à nous fournir quelques observations pour une nouvelle édition de votre livre sur les Emotions, dont la première édition va être bientot épuisée et que nous nous préparons de faire réimprimer dans le même format que la première édition française. Mr. le Dr Pozzi va peut-être vous écrire pour le même sujet, car c’est naturellement lui qui est chargé de la revision de la 2e édition.4

Il parait qu’en Angleterre il n’a pas été faite de nouvelle édition depuis la première.5

Nous vous serions fort obligés si vous vouliez avoir la bonté de nous repondre par quelques mots au sujet de ces questions et nous vous prions | Cher Monsieur, d’agréer l’expression de nos | sentiments les plus distingués | C Reinwald & C

1
For a translation of this letter, see Appendix I.
2
See letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 15 February 1877. The French translation of Cross and self fertilisation was made by Édouard Heckel (Heckel trans. 1877).
3
Cross and self fertilisation contained numerous tables showing the heights of crossed and self-fertilised plants. In the French translation, these were given in metres.
4
Samuel Jean Pozzi had made the French translation of Expression (Pozzi and Benoît trans. 1874); he was assisted by René Benoît. A second edition, revised and corrected, was published in 1877 (Pozzi and Benoît trans. 1877).
5
No new English edition of Expression appeared in CD’s lifetime. The second edition of Expression, edited by Francis Darwin, contained new material collected by CD (see Expression 2d ed., p. iii).

From C.-F. Reinwald1   21 February 1877

15, Rue des Saints-Pères | Paris

21 February 1877.

To Charles Darwin, Esq. Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Dear Sir

We are honoured to confirm our letter of the 15th of this month, since which we have already received a few chapters of the translation of your book on Cross & self fertilisation by Prof. Heckel of Grenoble.2

However, we and Mr Heckel want to know your opinion on the measurements in your tables. You will see by the proof galleys that we are sending you today that these measurements have been given only in centesimals in common use in France, and that we have left the information in English inches and lines a side.

The translator really wants to get to know your view in this regard and to know whether you believe it necessary to put the measurements in English inches next to the centesimal measures. It seems to us that this will be useless, and even annoying for reading and also in the typographic composition of the book, for it would be necessary to expand the frame and change the tables. However, please believe that we will implicitly follow your opinion in this regard.3

We are going to ask again, dear sir, whether you cannot supply us with any observations for a new edition of your book on Emotions, the first edition of which will soon be exhausted, and which we are preparing to reprint in the same format as the first French edition. Dr Pozzi will perhaps write to you on the same topic, for it is naturally he who is responsible for the revision of the 2d edition.4

It seems that there has not been a new edition published in England since the first.5

We will be most obliged if you would kindly send us a few lines on these questions and we ask you | Dear sir, to accept the expression of our | sincere regard | C Reinwald & Co

1
For a transcription of this letter in its original French, see Transcript.
2
See letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 15 February 1877. The French translation of Cross and self fertilisation was made by Édouard Heckel (Heckel trans. 1877).
3
Cross and self fertilisation contained numerous tables showing the heights of crossed and self-fertilised plants. In the French translation, these were given in metres.
4
Samuel Jean Pozzi had made the French translation of Expression (Pozzi and Benoît trans. 1874); he was assisted by René Benoît. A second edition, revised and corrected, was published in 1877 (Pozzi and Benoît trans. 1877).
5
No new English edition of Expression appeared in CD’s lifetime. The second edition of Expression, edited by Francis Darwin, contained new material collected by CD (see Expression 2d ed., p. iii).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10858,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10858