autograph letter signed dear sir de darwin charles (1 résultats)

No Binding. Etat : Very Good. 1st Edition. 8vo bifolium (202 x 127 mm), pp. [2]; with address printed at head of first page (Bromley crossed through in ink and replaced by hand with Beckenham), comprising 33 lines written in black ink; short closed tear at foot of second leaf (without loss), signed at foot of second page "Ch. Darwin"; some adhesions to corners of final blank page from previous mounting, else in very good condition. Not recorded on the Darwin Correspondence Project. In this unpublished letter to an unidentified naturalist, Darwin responds to a question from his correspondent, expressing his inability to provide assistance, and confessing that he would have no clue where to look in his notes for an answer. The letter probably postdates June 1869, from which time Darwin's postal address had changed to 'Down, Beckenham, Kent' from 'Down, Bromley, Kent'. The letter reads: "It wd give me great pleasure to aid in however slight a degree a naturalist so able & zealous as yourself. But I am quite unable & I do not see how anyone could, so little or nothing being known of the aboriginal form of our larger domestic animals & of course not of their length of life. I do not think that I have kept any notes on the duration of life of our quadrupeds, & it would be a hopeless task to look over my notes, as I have no clue where to look. I do not suppose it will be of any use to you, but I have hand copied a footnote on the approximate duration of life of a few small birds, which after a search I have found appended to one of my M.S. chapters. Pray believe me Dear Sir Yours faithfully Ch. Darwin".