To François Jules Pictet de la Rive 11 November [1859]
Down Bromley, Kent [Ilkley]
Nov. 11th
Sir
I have taken the liberty to send you, as a mark of my respect, a copy of my work (as yet only an abstract) on the Origin of Species.— As it is evident from your great work on Palæontology1 that you have profoundly reflected on this subject,2 I have thought that you might perhaps like to read my book, which I venture to assure you is the result of long-continued & conscientious labour.— I beg you not to think me so presumptuous as to suppose that my work will alter your general conclusions; but it may possibly lead you to reflect further on the side opposed to your view. If you should be induced to read my volume, I venture to state, that it is so much condensed, that it will not be intelligible, unless it be read straight through.—
With much respect & with apologies for troubling you with this note, which does not require any answer, I have the honour to remain | Sir | Your faithful servant | Charles Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Natural selection: Charles Darwin’s Natural selection: being the second part of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1975.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Summary
Sending copy of Origin; "it may possibly lead you to reflect further on the side opposed to your view".
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-2518
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- François Jules Pictet de la Rive
- Sent from
- Ilkley Down letterhead
- Source of text
- Bibliothèque de Genève (MS. fr. 1651, ff. 4–5)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 2518,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-2518.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 7