To J. F. W. Herschel   11 November [1859]

Down Bromley Kent [Ilkley]

Nov. 11th.

My dear Sir John Herschel

I have taken the liberty of directing Murray to send you a copy of my book on the Origin of species, with the hope that you may still retain some interest on this question.— I know that I ought to apologise for troubling you with the volume & with this note (which requires no acknowledgment) but I cannot resist the temptation of showing in this feeble manner my respect, & the deep obligation, which I owe to your Introduction to Natural Philosophy.1 Scarcely anything in my life made so deep an impression on me: it made me wish to try to add my mite to the accumulated store of natural knowledge

With much respect | I beg leave to remain | Yours sincerely | Charles Darwin

1
Herschel 1831. CD read the work soon after it was published (Correspondence vol. 1, letter to W. D. Fox, [15 February 1831]), and his annotated copy is in the Darwin Library–CUL. CD referred to the great influence this work had had on him in Autobiography, pp. 67–8.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-2517,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-2517