From C. G. Semper1 8 February 1874
Würzburg
d. 8t Febr. 74.
Hochverehrter Herr!
Ihren so freundlichen Brief vom 1t. d. kann ich nicht unbeantwortet lassen, obgleich Sie mir ⟨eig⟩entlich keine Fragen darin stellen.2 Indessen ⟨re⟩icht er mir doch einen Vorwand dazu: das Zitat des Engländers, welches Ihnen so gefallen und dessen Gedanken ich meinerseits immer heilig gehalten habe, ist von Lewes; es steht in seinem Life of Goethe.3 Zu meinem Bedauern muss ich Ihnen bekennen, dass dies Wort hier in Deutschland wenig beachtet wird; die Anerkennung der aufrichtigen Meinung Anderer gehört nicht mehr zu unseren Tugenden.
Für die freundlich zugesagte Uebersendung Ihres Werkes über die Riffe sage ich Ihnen im Voraus meinen herzlichsten Dank.4 In grösster Verehrung | Ihr ergebener | C. Semper.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Coral reefs 2d ed.: The structure and distribution of coral reefs. By Charles Darwin. Revised edition. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1874.
Coral reefs: The structure and distribution of coral reefs. Being the first part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. FitzRoy RN, during the years 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1842.
Lewes, George Henry. 1855. The life and works of Goethe: with sketches of his age and contemporaries, from published and unpublished sources. 2 vols. London: David Nutt.
Semper, Carl. 1863. Reisebericht. Briefliche Mittheilung an A. Kölliker. Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Zoologie 13: 558–69.
Translation
From C. G. Semper1 8 February 1874
Würzburg
8th Feb. 74.
Most honoured Sir!
Your so very kind letter of the first of the month I cannot leave unanswered, even though it does not actually contain any queries on your part.2 Yet it provides me with an excuse to write: the quotation by the Englishman, which you liked so much and whose idea I myself have always kept sacred, is by Lewes; it is from his Life of Goethe.3 To my regret I must confess that his words are not much observed in Germany; to acknowledge the sincere opinion of others has ceased to be one of our virtues.
For promising so kindly to send your work on the reefs I thank you most cordially in advance.4 With the greatest veneration | Your devoted | C. Semper.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Coral reefs 2d ed.: The structure and distribution of coral reefs. By Charles Darwin. Revised edition. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1874.
Coral reefs: The structure and distribution of coral reefs. Being the first part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. FitzRoy RN, during the years 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1842.
Lewes, George Henry. 1855. The life and works of Goethe: with sketches of his age and contemporaries, from published and unpublished sources. 2 vols. London: David Nutt.
Semper, Carl. 1863. Reisebericht. Briefliche Mittheilung an A. Kölliker. Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Zoologie 13: 558–69.
Summary
Comments on G. H. Lewes’s book [The life and works of Goethe (1855)].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9276
- From
- Carl Gottfried Semper
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Würzburg
- Source of text
- DAR 177: 136
- Physical description
- ALS 1p (German) damaged
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9276,” accessed on 24 June 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9276.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22