To Julius Dub   20 March 1869

Dear Sir,

I shd be pleased at the appearance of your work, as I naturally wish my views to be widely understood; but I am doubtful whether the publisher of the German editions might not feel injured, if you give many passages, literally from the Origin.1 You must judge on this head for yourself, for I cannot authorise the appearance of any work, which could interfere with the right of the existing Translation.2 For myself, I believe of that more the subject of my work is discussed, the more the original is likely to sell. Dr. Rolle has published a popular exposition of my views, & I have not heard that the German publisher complained.3 I presume that you do not wish that your book shd appear under my authorisation, as I could not give this without receiving the distinct permission of the German publisher.— A new English Edition of the Origin is now passing through to press, & in a month or so all the sheets will be printed off. The Edt contains some important additions in relation to the views of Nageli, Mr Wagner— the glacial period &c.4 I shd strongly advise you [2 words illeg] given the time to read it carefully & if you agree to do so, I would gladly send you clean sheets before the work is published. The smaller corrections are numerous, partly in consequence of the evidence being stronger or weaker on [each] point & more especially as I have become convinced, that slight individual differences are cases of more importance than I firstly supposed & that single variations have largely led to [every] result.—

If on reflection you are convinced that you can [conveniently] publish your new work without injury to the G. [Translation], I shall be pleased, & in this case be so kind as to inform me & I will send you the sheets of the new Edition.

Believe me | Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | C. Darwin

Dr Julius Dub

March 20/1869/

ADraftS

1
CD refers to Kurze Darstellung der Lehre Darwin’s über die Entstehung der Arten der Organismen: mit erläuternden Bemerkungen (Brief description of Darwin’s theory on the origin of species, with explanatory remarks; Dub 1870), and to Origin.
2
CD refers to Bronn and Carus trans. 1867.
3
CD refers to Friedrich Rolle and to Rolle 1863, which he had received in parts in 1862 (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter to Friedrich Rolle, 17 October [1862]). CD’s German publisher was E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
4
Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli and Moritz Wagner had written on different aspects of CD’s theory in Nägeli 1865 and Wagner 1868a and 1868b. CD responded to these works in Origin 5th ed., pp. 120, 151–7. He also added material based on James Croll’s theory of alternate ice ages (ibid., pp. 451–61).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 be] after del ‘naturally’
1.3 literally … Origin.] interl
1.3 You must] after del ‘in literal translation.’
1.5 believe] above del ‘I am’
1.6 of] before del ‘opinion’
1.6 sell.] above del ‘be sold’
1.7 popular] after del ‘series of’
1.8 your] after del ‘the’
1.9 give] after del ‘properly’
1.9 receiving the distinct] interl above del ‘the’
1.10 A new] after del ‘I am [now]’
1.10 English] interl
1.10 is] after del ‘in English’
1.11 The Edt] after del ‘& a’
1.12 additions] below del ‘corr’
1.13 given] above del ‘[give]’
1.14 if … do so,] interl after del illeg
1.14 gladly] interl
1.16 point] interl
1.17 become] above del ‘been’
1.17 slight … & that 1.18] interl
1.18 have largely] after del illeg
1.18 largely] interl
2.1 you] transposed from before ‘on reflection’
2.2 I … this case] interl
2.3 will] above del ‘shall be happy to’
3.1 Believe … Sir] below del illeg

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6673,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6673