From Henry Holland 6 November [1872]1
72 Brook Street
Nov 6th
My dear Charles,
Having now reached the last Chapter of the volume, for which I am indebted to your kindness, I may fairly speak of the interest with which I have read it throughout.2 It perhaps adds somewhat less than I expected, to the evidence of the derivation of Man; but this you allude to yourself in the last sentence of the volume;3 & I am much disposed to think with you, that the confirmation was hardly needed.
Some detached comments I may make, when I have the pleasure of seeing you.
I have myself had a somewhat busy autumn of travel; going round the North Cape,4 under the light of the midnight sun, & 200 miles beyond, to the borders of Russian Lapland—reaching 71"30 of Latitude. Since that time I have been to Lord Rosse’s great Reflectors in Ireland,5 and still-more lately, have passed three weeks in the delicious Island of Madeira, warming myself there after the Arctic Seas: This is tolerable work for a gentleman in his 85th year.
Let me see you when you come to Town. Ever my dear Charles, your’s | affecly | H Holland
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Expression: The expression of the emotions in man and animals. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872.
Summary
Has finished reading Descent and sends some comments [missing].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8604
- From
- Henry Holland, 1st baronet
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- London, Brook St, 72
- Source of text
- DAR 166: 254
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8604,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8604.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 20