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Letter 6135

Darwin, C. R. to Bates, H. W.

22 Apr [1868]

    Summary Add

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    Thanks HWB for answering questions.

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    The MS on Lepidoptera is almost finished and he is glad HWB will read it; he is fearful of mistakes, not being familiar with the subject.

Transcription

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

Ap. 22d

My dear Bates.

Hearty thanks.— you are the man to answer a question fully & clearly.— I return the drawing which & to whole case is capital for me.—

I have nearly finished my M.S. on Lepidoptera & will then have it copied by a man who writes an excellent hand.—

Your most kind offer of reading it has made all the difference to me: if I had not known this I shd have been tormented the whole time with doubts. I have tried to be cautious & to avoid blunders, but when one writes on a subject, with which one is not familiar, mistakes almost inevitably occur.—

Yours very sincerely | C. Darwin

Two-thirds of the M.S. relates to facts communicated by you to me, or published by you.—

    Footnotes Add

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    f1 6135.f1
    The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from H. W. Bates, 20 April 1868.
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    f2 6135.f2
    CD refers to a drawing of a conspicuous caterpillar. See letter from H. W. Bates, 20 April 1868 and n. 1.
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    f3 6135.f3
    Bates probably offered to read CD's manuscript on Lepidoptera when they met in London (see letter to H. W. Bates 18 March [1868] and n. 4). No manuscript on Lepidoptera has been found in the Darwin Archive--CUL, but in a letter of 17 January 1870 (Calendar no. 7082), Bates told CD he was returning a corrected manuscript of the entomological section of Descent.
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