Ɛpsilon

From Frederic William Farrar   1 February [1866]1

Harrow. N.W.

Feb. 1.

Dear Sir,

I am about to make a request, which I must preface by asking you to pardon it, if it should seem presumptious.

I have been told by a gentleman of influence & position in the Royal Society—that my two works on Language, together with my contributions to Ethnology, constitute a sufficient justification to my offering myself as a candidate for admission into the Royal Society.2 The first book—The Origin of Language—was the earliest work devoted to that subject since the beginning of this century, & every succeeding writer has noticed it with approval—including both Prof Pott of Berlin, & Mons. Ernest Renan.3 The latter book you have done me the honour to read & approve.4

It is indeed very late to offer myself as the election takes place early in March, but if I am not taking too great a liberty in asking if you would be one of those who would, from general knowledge, sign my certificate, I cannot help thinking that your name alone would go far to secure my election.5

Once more offering my apologies if, in writing thus, I trespass too far on your indulgence, I remain, dear Sir, | Very faithfully your’s, | Frederic W Farrar.

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to F. W. Farrar, 3 February [1866].
2
The two works on language were An essay on the origin of language (Farrar 1860) and Chapters on language (Farrar 1865). For Farrar’s contributions to ethnology, see, for example, Farrar 1857, 1864a, 1864b, 1864c, and 1864d. Farrar also wrote anonymously for the Anthropological Review; see Correspondence vol. 13, letter from F. W. Farrar, 6 November 1865 and n. 8.
3
Farrar refers to Farrar 1860, August Friedrich Pott, and Joseph-Ernest Renan. Farrar 1860 referred repeatedly to Renan’s work; Pott was also cited.
4
CD praised Farrar 1865 in his letter to Farrar of 2 November [1865] (Correspondence vol. 13). CD’s lightly annotated presentation copy of Farrar 1865 is in the Darwin Library–Down (see Marginalia 1: 226). CD later cited Farrar 1865 in Descent 1: 56 n.
5
For information on certificates and other details of election to fellowship of the Royal Society of London, see M. B. Hall 1984, especially p. 142. See also Lyons 1944, pp. 152–3, 272–8. Farrar was elected to fellowship of the Royal Society on 7 June 1866; CD, who was one of twenty signatories to Farrar’s certificate, specified that his support was based upon a general, rather than a personal, knowledge of Farrar’s work (Royal Society of London, certificates of election and candidature).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4993,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4993