To Ernst Krause   21 April 1880

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

April 21st 1880

My dear Sir

I have been very glad to receive the German Translation. It is excellently got up & looks a good deal better than the English edition.1 I rejoice that all your labour is now over, & I wish most sincerely for your sake & for that of the Publisher that the sale may be fairly good; but from the poor sale of the English Edit. I am fearful.2 From what I can see by turning over the pages I do not doubt that you have added much to the value of the little book by your Addenda.—3

That is a very curious passage about Hippocrates.4 A very favourable review has just appeared in the U. States in the Nation, one of the best of the Literary Journals; but I have heard nothing about the sale there.5 In conclusion allow me to thank you cordially for your uniform & most kind consideration for every one of my wishes, & in a still higher degree for having placed my grandfather’s merits on a sure & lasting foundation.

Believe me my dear Sir, yours ever | Very sincerely | Charles Darwin

1
Krause had sent CD the German edition of Erasmus Darwin (Krause 1880; see letter from Ernst Krause, 19 April 1880 and n. 2).
2
On sales of Erasmus Darwin, see the letter to Ernst Krause, 9 February 1880 and n. 7.
3
For the German edition, Krause reinstated parts of his text not included in the English edition as well as adding over one hundred pages of notes (see Krause 1880, pp. 75–124, 180–286).
4
Krause pointed out similarities to CD’s theory in the work of the Greek physician Hippocrates (Krause 1880, p. 231; see letter from Ernst Krause, 19 April 1880 and n. 3).
5
The review appeared in the Nation, 1 April 1880, pp. 253–4.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.3 & for] ‘for’ interl
2.3 but … there.] added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12586,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12586