Ɛpsilon

From E. B. Tylor   29 January [1875]1

Athenæum Club | Pall Mall

Jany 29

My dear Sir

I did no more than glance at the Q.R. & observe that it was what one may call an “eclectic review”, picking the one point in the reviewer’s favour & leaving the ninety & nine that told against him. It is only lately that I have noticed the part that shows how faithfully Mr Mivart has followed the ancient tactics of his Church against heretics.2

May I take this opportunity of asking you about Brehm’s “Thierleben”. I have suggested that if there is no English translation, perhaps my wife might undertake one. Knowing how occupied you are, I will ask you if you think the scheme desirable, to let me know, otherwise I shall understand that you do not think it worth doing.3

Believe me Dear Sir | Yours very truly | E B Tylor

Charles Darwin Esq

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to E. B. Tylor, [28 January 1875].
2
See letter to E. B. Tylor, [28 January 1875]. In 1874, St George Jackson Mivart had published an anonymous essay review of anthropological works by Tylor and John Lubbock in the Quarterly Review ([Mivart] 1874). Mivart was a Catholic.
3
CD had received an enquiry about translation from the publisher of Alfred Edmund Brehm’s Illustrirtes Thierleben (Illustrated animal life; Brehm et al. 1864–9) in 1867 (Correspondence vol. 15, letter from H. J. Meyer, 30 July 1867). The first English translation of part of Brehm et al. 1864–9 was Cassell’s book of birds (Thomas Rymer Jones trans. [1869–73]. Tylor’s wife was Anna Rebecca Tylor. No reply to this letter has been found.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9833,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9833