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To Armand de Quatrefages   21 July [1870]1

Down, Beckenham | Kent

July 21 st

Dear Sir

In my hurry yesterday I quite forgot to thank you for your present of your emended edition of your work on Species; & this pleasant duty makes me add this as a postscript.—2

I may add in relation to my three Geological Works, that our Geolog. Socy. awarded me the Wollaston medal for them; & this is here considered a high honour, as all the world is open to receive this medal.—3

My Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter, the letter from Armand de Quatrefages, 18 July 1870, and the letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 20 July [1870] (Correspondence vol. 18).
2
CD’s copy of Charles Darwin et ses précurseurs français (Quatrefages 1870), with the pages uncut, is in the Darwin Library–CUL. The book was a reprinting of a collection of articles that Quatrefages had sent in 1869 (Correspondence vol. 17, letter from Armand de Quatrefages, 29 March 1869); CD’s annotated offprint of the articles (Quatrefages 1868–9) is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL.
3
In his letter of 18 July 1870 (Correspondence vol. 18), Quatrefages asked CD whether he had published ‘the volume on the Geology of South America that was supposed to be part of the Expedition of the Beagle’. Coral reefs, Volcanic islands and South America had appeared in one volume as Geology of the ‘Beagle’ in 1851. CD had received the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1859. The council’s resolution stated (Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 15 (1859): ii):In conclusion, the Council have to state that they have awarded the Wollaston Medal to Charles Darwin, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S., for his numerous contributions to Geological Science, more especially his observations on the Geology of South America, on the Phænomena of Volcanic Islands, on the structure and distribution of Coral-reefs, and his Monographs on recent and fossil Cirripedia.

Bibliography

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.

Geology of the ‘Beagle’: Geological observations on coral reefs, volcanic islands, and on South America. By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1851.

Quatrefages, Armand de. 1868–9a. Origines des espèces animales et végétales. Revue des deux mondes 2d ser. 78 (1868): 832–60; 79 (1869): 208–40; 80 (1869): 64–95, 397–432, 638–72.

Quatrefages, Armand de. 1870. Charles Darwin et ses précurseurs français. Etude sur le transformisme. Paris: Germer Baillière.

South America: Geological observations on South America. Being the third 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. 1846.

Volcanic islands: Geological observations on the volcanic islands, visited during the voyage of HMS Beagle, together with some brief notices on the geology of Australia and the Cape of Good Hope. Being the second 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. 1844.

Summary

Thanks Quatrefages for his work on species. Explains that he received the Wollaston Medal for his three geological works.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-7285F
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Jean Louis Armand (Armand de Quatrefages) Quatrefages de Bréau
Sent from
Down
Source of text
Former collection of Pr. Georges Teissier (private collection)
Physical description
ALS 1p

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7285F,” accessed on 4 October 2023, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7285F.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 24 (Supplement)

letter

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