WCP5327

Letter (WCP5327.5871)

[[1]]

King's Head Hotel

Sandown

I[sle]. of Wight.1 —

July 21.

Mr dear Hooker

I received only yesterday the proof sheets,2 which I now return. I think your Introduction cannot be improved.

I am disgusted with my bad writing. I could not improve it, without rewriting all. which would not be fair or worth while, as I have begun on better abstract for Linn[ean]. Soc[iety]. My excuse is that it never was intended for publication. — I have made only a few correction in style; but I cannot make it decent, but I hope moderately intelligible. I suppose some one will correct the revise. — (Shall I.?)3

Could I have clean proof to send [2] to Wallace?

I have not yet fully considered your remarks on big genera, (but your general concurrence is of highest possible interest to me);4 nor shall I be able till I reread my M. S; but you may rely on it, that you never make a remark to me, which is lost from inattention. — I am particularly glad you do not object to my stating your objections (in a modified form) for they always struck me as very important & having much inherent value, whether or no they were fatal to my notions.

[3] I will consider & reconsider all your remarks.

If you would at some future time purge some Floras of stragglers, I would have the var[ietie]s. tabulated. I remember wishing this much, but thought it was too much to ask, & I had some other motive, but cannot now exactly remember what.

One sh[oul]d. never forget that many of the most flourishing orders will surely in time arrive at their maximum & begin to decrease, & then if my views are right, they will begin to vary less, for the manufactory for new species in this order is beginning to languish. But I will say no more at present.

[4] I have ordered Bentham,5 for as Babington6 says it will be very curious to see a flora written by a man who knows nothing of British plants!!!

I am very glad at what you say about my abstract, but you may reply on it, that I will condense to utmost. I w[oul]d. aid in money if too long. —

In how many ways you have aided me!

Yours affect[ionatel]y | C. Darwin [signature]

1
The King’s Head Hotel was located in Sandown, a seaside resort town on the on the Isle of Wight. The Darwin family went to the Isle of Wight from 16 July to 13 August 1858, staying in both Sandown and Shanklin (Burkhardt, F., et al. (Eds). 1992. The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Appendix II].)
2
Proof sheets for: Darwin, C. & Wallace, A. 1858. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural means of Selection. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London (Zoology), 3(9): 45-62. The introduction of this publication was a letter from Hooker and Charles Lyell to the Linnean Society communicating ARW's essay and Darwin's essay and letter enclosure. See Burkhardt, F., et al. (Eds). 1992. The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [pp. 122-124].
3
on Darwin’s corrections can be found in: Burkhardt, F., et al. (Eds). 1992. The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Appendix II].
4
Darwin here is responding to remarks in Hooker’s letter of 13-15 July 1858 (Burkhardt, F., et al. (Eds). 1992. The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [pp. 139-140]).
5
Bentham, G. 1858. Handbook of the British Flora. London, UK: Lovell Reeve. According to the Darwin Correspondence Project, Darwin ʺwas anxious to tabulate the work for his study of varieties in large and small generaʺ (Burkhardt, F., et al. (Eds). 1992. The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [p. 131]).
6
Babington, Charles Cardale (1808-1895). British botanist, entomologist and archaeologist.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP5327.5871)]

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Revision history

Transcribed by Darwin Correspondence Project [2015-04-29] Transcription checked by Barton, Michael [2019-12-20]

Please cite as “WCP5327,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP5327