Beschreibung:

Darwin (Charles, naturalist, geologist, and originator of the theory of natural selection, 1809-82) Autograph Letter signed to his cousin Reginald Darwin, 3½pp., 8vo, Down, Beckenham, Kent, 27th March 1879, announcing his intention to have translated and add a preface to Ernst Krause's sketch of Dr Erasmus Darwin's life, correcting errors, and asking whether his cousin has any documents concerning Erasmus Darwin or letters by him, "A German has published a sketch of the life of our grandfather, which my Brother & self intend to have translated & I mean to add a preface about his character etc. etc.; but my chief object is to contradict flatly some calumnies by Miss Seward. Now if you possess any documents about him or letters written by him, & would be so very kind as to send them to me for a time they might prove very useful, though judging from letters in my possession I fear that few would be worth publishing. It is very many years since we met, & I hope that you retain your health & strength. I am growing a very old man, but keep as yet my mental faculties totally clear. PS Did you ever happen to hear whether Dr [Erasmus] D[arwin] reached his son Charles in Edinburgh in time to see him die?", folds, slightly browned. ⁂ Unpublished. Charles Darwin contradicts the calumnies of Anna Seward. See The Darwin Project Number 11957 (text not published). Ernst Krause's Erasmus Darwin, with a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin, was published in London by John Murray in 1879. Darwin is most probably referring to Anna Seward's Memoirs of the Life of Dr. Darwin: Chiefly During his Residence in Lichfield..., London, 1804. Anna Seward [called the Swan of Lichfield] (1742-1809), poet and correspondent.