The London Review2 | Conducted by Charles Mackay | 11 Southampton Street | Strand W.C. | Sep. 17th 1860.
My dear Dr. Tyndall,
Though I have not seen you—or heard from you, for a long time,3 I have not ceased to take an interest in your career; and have watched your progress upwards with great satisfaction.
Should you ever be in this neighbourhood, I shall be delighted to receive a call. We wish particularly to include a sketch of Professor Faraday, among our ‘Men of Mark’ commenced in last week’s London Review; of which I directed a copy to be sent to you. Is it hopeless to expect to number you among our contributors?4
Ever Yours truly | Chas. Mackay
Professor Tyndall.
RI MS JT/1/TYP/2/782
LT Typescript Only
Charles Mackay: Charles Mackay (1814–89), Scottish author, journalist and editor, best known for his books entitled Songs and Poems (London: Cochrane and McCrone, 1834) and Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841). He began working for the Illustrated London News in 1848 and became its editor in 1852. Mackay had written encouragingly to Tyndall in 1848, after Tyndall thanked him for his writings and told him of his own ambitions (see Tyndall Correspondence, vol. 2, letter 0362). Tyndall admired Mackay’s poetry, which he read frequently. He had met him while teaching at Queenwood, as Mackay had a son there.
The London Review: The London review and weekly journal of politics, literature, art, and society. The journal was published weekly from 7 July 1860 to 27 March 1869. Intended to be non-partisan, it was under the sole direction of Charles Mackay.
for a long time: perhaps not since 3 October 1850, when Tyndall noted visiting him in Camden Town (Journal, RI MS JT/2/13b/513). Mackay had written on 25 June to invite him to visit (see Tyndall Correspondence, vol. 3, letter 409).
Is it hopeless to expect to number you among our contributors?: ‘Men of Mark. —No. 5. Faraday’ was published in October: The London Review, 15 (13 October 1860), pp. 344–5. The style does not appear to be Tyndall’s.
Please cite as “Tyndall1728,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on