Ɛpsilon

To Joseph Augustin Hubert de Bosquet   17 December [1852]

D⁠⟨⁠own Fa⁠⟩⁠rnborough Kent

Dec. 17th.

Sir

I received two or three weeks ago from my friend Prof. Forbes, a letter addressed by you to him, regarding my works on the Cirripedia, together with a request that I would answer you. I should have done this immediately, but I have had great difficulty in procuring copies: I have at last succeeded, & it gives me very great pleasure to be able to send you as a present my monograph on the fosssil Lepadidæ of England & the first volume of my work on recent Cirripedia. Next year I will send when published the second volume.1

I have directed M. Ba⁠⟨⁠illière⁠⟩⁠ to forward the two volumes to you, but ⁠⟨⁠I supp⁠⟩⁠ose it will be some little time before you receive them. The volume on Fossil Lepadidæ of England includes all the species which I could anywhere procure; Prof. Steenstrup’s specimens from Scania &c were of great interest. Though I took much pains with this volume: I am not satisfied with it. The volume on the recent species, is, I hope better. If you read English, I would venture to call your attention to the fact on the sexual relations in Ibla & Scalpellum.—

It has given me much pleasure to send my volumes to you & I hope they will reach you safely.

I beg to remain, with much respect | Sir | Your faithful servant | Charles Darwin

Your friend Sir C. Lyell returned a few days ago to England.2

Postmark: Bromley DE—18 1852

1
CD recorded that he sent Living Cirripedia (1851) and Fossil Cirripedia (1851) to Bosquet (MS attached to CD’s copy of Living Cirripedia (1854) in the Cambridge University Library). Of later volumes, only Living Cirripedia (1854) was sent. Bosquet, of Maestricht, studied the bivalves, brachiopods, and crustaceans of the Cretaceous and Tertiary strata of Holland and Belgium (see Bosquet 1854). In Bosquet 1857, ‘Notice sur quelques Cirripèdes’, there are numerous references to CD’s cirripede works.
2
Charles Lyell had been lecturing at the Lowell Institute in Boston (K. M. Lyell ed. 1881, 2: 176).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.9 of England] interl
1.12 the recent] ‘the’ interl
1.13 better] after del ‘much’
2.1 to you] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1493,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1493