To John Tyndall   12 August [1874]1

Bassett | Southampton

Aug 12 | (9o A.M.)

My dear Tyndall

The sheets have just arrived & I return them by the first post, which leaves this place in 12 an hour.2 I have read over the whole about my work, & have been most deeply gratified by what you say. As far as a rather hasty reading suffices, I have not one word of criticism to make. It all seems to me excellent, & as clear as light. I shall be most anxious to read the first & last part, as I can clearly see that the whole will interest me in the highest degree.

It is a grand subject—

In great haste | Yours very cordially | Ch. Darwin

The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from John Tyndall, 5 August 1874.
Tyndall had asked CD to read the proof-sheets of his presidential address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science; in it, Tyndall discussed CD’s theory of natural selection (see letter from John Tyndall, 5 August 1874, and Tyndall 1874, pp. lxxxiii–lxxxvii).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Bassett | Southampton] above del ‘Down, | Beckenham, Kent.’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9599,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9599