From J. F. Simpson 15 January 1882
59 Norfolk Terrace | Bayswater, London
January 15. 1882
Dear Sir
In venturing to send the enclosed, pray do not return it or reply in any way. On second thoughts, I thought a “rejoinder” was required.1
There is a touching kindness of tone in your letter2 which I shall not impair by troubling you I hope unnecessarily— Believe me, Sir, | yours faithfully, &c | J. F. Simpson
C. Darwin Esq F.R.S.
P.S. I notice in new no. of Mind (p 97–100) some interesting reffs to your hypothesis on Music but have no idea of the original reference itself.3 A few ideas on what constitutes the reality & the charm of music, & how it comes about I put in Essay form recently, & which seems only narrowly to have escaped a chance of appearing in one of the first Quarterlies. I still hope my chance is not lost, as the Editor asked me to write him again. Another high opinion has been gratifying on it (in MS) as a philspl. Enquiry. I am not disposed to seek a second channel for it, so far, or as yet, but if it were likely—such as it is, worth or no worth—to be of service, or if any of your sons were engaged in any such line of study, my humble MS. is at command.4
Mr Cyples’ definitions on music seem to me to be as ample as they are true; indeed his work, generally, gives one very great satisfaction in perusal.5
Footnotes
Bibliography
Cyples, William. 1880. An inquiry into the process of human experience: attempting to set forth its lower laws with some hints as to the higher phenomena of consciousness. London: Strahan and Co.
Descent 2d ed.: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2d edition. London: John Murray. 1874.
Gurney, Edmund 1882b. The psychology of music. Mind 25: 89–100.
Summary
Encloses an extract (from the Bayswater Chronicle [missing]), which is part of an ongoing disagreement in which JFS is involved.
Has read some references to CD’s hypothesis on music and offers a MS by himself which deals with the subject.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13619
- From
- James Frederick Simpson
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Bayswater
- Source of text
- DAR 177: 171
- Physical description
- ALS 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13619,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13619.xml