To Asa Gray   14 December [1860]1

Down Bromley Kent

Dec 14th

My dear Gray,

The enclosed note of Huxleys you will see shows that he will be glad of Mr Wrights article, if approved of; but he cannot pay for it.2 I really do not believe that there is any other Review which would accept it, for all have treated of the Origin.—   If Mr Wright cannot better dispose of it; it had better be sent to Messrs Williams & Norgate Henrietta St., Covent Garden; as they publish the Review.—   I feel sure that the Review will have great merit, & so far be worthy of Mr Wright’s article; & it would be a great pity if it were not published, as you say it is so good.— You will see that Huxley asks whether you would ever contribute to his Review; but you must, I fear, be pledged to Silliman’s.3

I shall be anxious to hear your final decision on manner of publishing your Three Articles.4 I still think Nor 2 best, though I believe most would prefer Nor 3.5

I shd. rather like to see sub rosâ Harvey’s letter.—6 I have had much correspondence with him; & he wrote me some very nice letters. I return Ticknor & Fields letter,7 as you might want to refer to it.—

My dear Gray | Yours most truly | C. Darwin

There is a nice, but too flattering article on the Origin by a young man, whom many think most highly of.—8

1
Dated by the reference to the forthcoming publication of Gray 1861 (see n. 4, below).
2
See preceding letter. Gray had asked CD whether he could get an article by his friend Chauncey Wright published in England. See letter to Asa Gray, 11 December [1860].
3
CD refers to the American Journal of Science and Arts, edited by James Dwight Dana and Benjamin Silliman Jr. Gray was one of three contributing editors.
4
At CD’s request, Gray was arranging for copies of his review of Origin ([Gray] 1860b) to be separately printed in America. A number of these were intended for distribution in Britain. The pamphlet was published early in 1861 (Gray 1861). See letter to Asa Gray, 11 December [1860].
5
The review had been published in three parts. For CD’s comments on the second part, see the letter to Asa Gray, 26 September [1860].
6
William Henry Harvey’s letter to Asa Gray, dated 3 November 1860, is in the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University. Harvey commented on Gray’s review of Origin ([Gray] 1860b): ‘Almost thou persuadest me to be a Darwinite—not quite so, but thou persuadest me to be a Grayite.’
7
The Boston publishing firm Ticknor and Fields had agreed to print Gray’s pamphlet, for distribution by Trübner and Company in London (Dupree 1959, p. 299).
8
Probably Fawcett 1860.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3023,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3023