To J. V. Carus   18 August 1870

Down.| Beckenham | Kent. S.E. [Bassett, Southampton]

Aug 18 1870

My dear Sir

I have just sent the MS. of my new book to the printers, & corrected proofs will be ready in about a month’s time.1 I have thought it best to inform you of this, but under present circumstances your publisher will of course have given up all idea of bringing out a German translation.2 Nevertheless I may inform you that the book will consist of two volumes of the size & type of my Origin of Species, each containing a little over 400 pages.3

What a dreadful misfortune for science is the present war! but I cannot express too strongly how I rejoice at the wonderful success of Germany, & I have not hitherto met a single person who has not entirely participated in this feeling.4

My dear Sir | yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

The title of my book is “The Descent of Man & Selection in relation to sex”—

LS(A)

1
CD refers to Descent, which had been sent to the printers, William Clowes & Sons, on 9 August 1870 (see letter from John Murray, 6 August [1870], and letter to Mr Dorrell, 9 August 1870; see also letter to J. J. Moulinié, 18 August 1870).
2
The Franco-Prussian war had begun on 19 July 1870 (Wawro 2003, p. 65). The publishing firm E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagshandlung, headed by Eduard Koch, published the German translation of Descent in 1871 (Carus trans. 1871). See also letter to J. J. Moulinié, 18 August 1870.
4
French troops had crossed the border into Prussia on 31 July 1870. Despite suffering heavy casualties, the Prussian armies outnumbered the French sufficiently to win decisive victories at Wissembourg on 4 August, and at Spicheren and Froeschwiller on 6 August (Wawro 2003). News of the Prussian victory at Mars-la-Tour on 16 August did not reach the British press until 19 August (The Times, 19 August 1870, p. 10).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

4.1 sex”—] before del ‘Ch.’ in CD’s hand

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7305,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7305