To J. J. Moulinié   15 November [1869]1

Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

Nov 15

My dear Sir

I am glad to say that I have heard from M. Reinwald that he will publish, & I have told Mr Murray to send you a copy at once.

If Prof. Vogt will aid you I shd think it wd be a great advantage, & his name is a tower of strength.2

I strongly advise you to procure or borrow the 2nd or 3rd edit of Mlle Royer’s translation, in order that the more important terms such as “concurrence” & “selection” (which she did not use in the 1st edit.) may be the same.3 As your translation will have to compete with Mlle Royer’s, who I am told writes very spirited French, you will I think have to keep this in view in regard to style. I will, in a few days send you a few trifling corrections which do not relate to the early parts, & likewise a prefatory letter.

I sincerely hope that for all our sakes this translation may prove successful & I am much obliged to you for under taking it.

Believe me my dear Sir | yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin

LS

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 13 November 1869.
2
Charles-Ferdinand Reinwald was to ask Carl Vogt for assistance with the French translation of the fifth English edition of Origin (see letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 13 November 1869). CD also refers to John Murray.
3
CD refers to Royer trans. 1862, Royer trans. 1866, and Royer trans. 1870. Clémence Auguste Royer used ‘concurrence vitale’ for ‘struggle for existence’. For Royer’s use of ‘sélection’ in Royer trans. 1866, see Correspondence vol. 13, letter from C. A. Royer, [April–June 1865] and n. 3. See also Harvey 1997, pp. 62–79.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Beckenham] before del ‘Bromley.’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6989,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6989