To Henrietta Emma Darwin   [8 February 1870]1

My dear H.

Please read the Ch. first right through without a pencil in your hand, that you may judge of general scheme; as, also, I particularly wish to know whether parts are extra tedious; but remember that M.S is always much more tedious than print.— The object of Ch. is simply comparison of mind in men & animals: in the next chapt. I discuss progress of morals &c.— Some sentences are at back of Page marked thus @.—2

I do not send foot-notes, as I have no copy & they are almost wholly mere authorities.— After reading once right through, the more time you can give up for deep criticism or corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be.— Please make any long corrections on separate slips of paper, leaving narrow blank edge, & pin them to margin of each sheet, so that I can turn each back, & read whilst still attached to its proper page.— This will save me a world of troubles  Heaven only knows what you will think of the whole, for I cannot conjecture.— You are a very good girl indeed to undertake the job.—

Your affect Father | C. Darwin

(I suspect that here & there style will want a good deal of improvement, though I hope greater part fair.—)

(I fear parts are too like a Sermon: who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?)

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and a letter from Emma Darwin to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] (DAR 219.9: 72), in which Emma says she is enclosing a letter from CD.
2
Henrietta had been reading parts of the manuscript of Descent at least since she left England in January 1870 (letter from Emma Darwin to H. E. Darwin, [18 January 1870] (DAR 219.9: 69)). With this letter CD had presumably sent the second chapter on the comparison of the mental powers of humans and animals (Descent 1: 70–106). Henrietta was on holiday in France and Italy (see letter to W. D. Fox, 18 February [1870] and n. 10). She had also read the proof-sheets of Variation (see Correspondence vol. 15, letter to H. E. Darwin, 26 July [1867]).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 , also,] interl
1.5 marked thus] interl
2.1 foot-notes] ‘foot-’ interl
2.4 separate] interl
2.4 them] interl after illeg
2.5 each] after del ‘them’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7124,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7124