Ɛpsilon

From W. E. Gladstone   24 July 1879

Dear Mr Darwin

As my collection of the facts of colour from the Homeric Poems fell within the wide circle of your observation, I am desirous to place in your hands another like collection, made at any rate without prepossession of any kind, on the Homeric epithets of motion—1

The conclusion to which I am led in this case is the precise opposite of the former one— The epithets indicate ideas of motion more precisely and if I may so speak scientifically adjusted than so far as I know they can be shown to be in the works of any other author—2

Pray do not take the trouble to acknowledge this note and believe me | with much respect | Faithfully yours | W E Gladstone

73 Harley St | July 24. 79

1
CD had written to Gladstone after reading Gladstone’s article on colour vocabulary and its usage in Homeric texts, a supplement to Gladstone’s earlier book on the topic (Gladstone 1877 and Gladstone 1858; see Correspondence vol. 25, letter to W. E. Gladstone, 2 October 1877). Gladstone sent a copy of his recent article ‘On epithets of movement in Homer’ (Gladstone 1879); the offprint has not been found in the Darwin Archive–CUL.
2
In Gladstone 1877, Gladstone had concluded that the sense of colour was not very well developed in the ancient world, based on the paucity of colour vocabulary and its imprecise usage in the texts he analysed. He had further argued that many words associated with colour referred, in fact, to lightness or darkness.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12170,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12170