To Andrew Murray 2 November [1864]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Nov 2d
My dear Mr. Murray
I sincerely wish you success in your great undertaking—2 There can be no doubt about the value, interest & difficulty of a general work on Geograp. Distribution. I have long wished to see the distribution of plants & animals well compared. You will have much useful matter in Aph. Decandolle’s work;3 but, as it seems to me, the great difficulty will be in connecting by some natural bond a multitude of dry facts.
I really have no suggestions to make; I could not give any, even if I knew the plan of your work.4 Nor have I very recently attended to the subject.5 All that I can do is to wish you success & to congratulate you that you have now time for Science.6
You enquire about my health, I am still very weak after my long illness & suppose I shall ever remain so, but I am fortunate enough to be able to occupy myself for about a couple of hours daily with natural History.
Pray believe me | Yours sincerely | Charles Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Candolle, Alphonse de. 1855. Géographie botanique raisonnée ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle. 2 vols. Paris: Victor Mason. Geneva: J. Kessmann.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Marginalia: Charles Darwin’s marginalia. Edited by Mario A. Di Gregorio with the assistance of Nicholas W. Gill. Vol. 1. New York and London: Garland Publishing. 1990.
Murray, Andrew. 1866. The geographical distribution of mammals. London: Day and Son.
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.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Wishes AM success in undertaking his work on geographical distribution [The geographical distribution of mammals (1866)]. CD has no suggestions to make as he has not recently attended to the subject.
He is still weak after his long illness and supposes he will ever remain so.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4649
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Andrew Dickson (Andrew) Murray
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- R. D. Pyrah (private collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4649,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4649.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 12