To E. W. V. Harcourt1 19 August [1856]2
Down Farnborough Kent
Augt 19th
My dear Sir
I think you told me long ago that you had Brehm’s Book on German ornithology.3 If this be so, & you can spare it, will you be so kind as to lend it me for a fortnight.— In this case will you put on enclosed address & send it by Parcels Deliv. Coy.—
If you have it not, or cannot spare it, tear up the address & I shall understand why it does not come.—4
I want to see how far Brehm goes in splitting species.—5
I have been thinking over the many curious facts which you told me,6 & wish more than ever that you would publish a paper on the subject.—7
I took some of the little finches from Madeira to Brit Mus. & found the Goldfinch, Linnet & greenfinch rather smaller than the British specimens; but not the Blackbird,—nor, as you saw the Swift.—
I wish I had taken more for comparison.—
My dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Brehm, Christian Ludwig. 1831. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte aller Vögel Deutschlands. Ilmenau: Bernh. Friedr. Voigt.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Harcourt, Edward Vernon. 1851. A sketch of Madeira; containing information for the traveller or invalid visitor. London: John Murray.
Harcourt, Edward Vernon. 1855. Notes on the ornithology of Madeira. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 2d ser. 15: 430–8.
Summary
Asks to borrow C. L. Brehm’s book [Handbuch der Naturgeschichte aller Vögel Deutschlands (1831)]. Wants to see how far Brehm went in splitting species.
Took finches from Madeira to British Museum.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-1451
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Edward William Vernon Harcourt
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Houghton Library, Harvard University (Autograph File, D)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1451,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1451.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 6