Ɛpsilon

To Carl du Prel   19 May 1874

Down. | Beckenham Kent.

May 19. 1874.

My dear Sir

I thank you for your extremely kind & courteous letter. & for the present of your work, It is quite a new light to me. & a very interesting fact, that anyone should endeavour to extend a law analogous to that of the struggle for existence to the inorganic world—1

As soon as I have finished a book in hand2 I shall read your essay with much curiosity—

With the most sincere thanks for the honour you have done me. | I remain. | Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Charles Darwin.

Copy

1
The letter from du Prel has not been found. Du Prel’s book Der kampf ums dasein am himmel: die Darwinsche formel nachgewiesen in der mechanik der sternenwelt (The struggle for existence in the sky: the Darwinian formula established in the mechanics of the world of stars; du Prel 1874), applied the principles of biological Darwinian evolution to astronomy. CD’s copy is in the Darwin Library–Down.
2
Insectivorous plants.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9462,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9462