From W. W. Reade 16 February 1872
11 St. Mary Abbot’s | Terrace | Kensington
Feb. 16.—72
My dear Sir
I must in the first place enter my humble protest against the Descent of Man being disparaged by any one, even by its author who may be said to have a right to do what he likes with his own—1 I can only say that your chapters on Man (of the Zoological parts I am of course incompetent to judge) are endorsed by my experience of savages and as you will see when I publish I follow you in toto;2 and I have read those chapters again & again finding always something new. The depreciation to which the book has been subjected is chiefly owing to Anthropology being a new science: you write on a subject not understood: & then of course you labour under the disadvantage of having produced a masterpiece the Origin of species— The parts relating to the moral sense which have chiefly been attacked seem to me the strongest parts of the book.3 But what does it matter about reviews? Where is Mivart’s article now?4 Will any human being ever read it or try to read it from this time henceforth? I guess not. But the book remains.
There was a paragraph in the Athenæum saying I was writing a book in which I would “endeavour to apply Mr. Darwin’s principles in their full extent to history & religion”. I dont know who wrote it. It was very well put—5
I need not say that I shall be very glad to have the opportunity of seeing you again. I have been leading the life of a hermit since I had the pleasure of seeing you last; so any afternoon will find me disengaged: but you have many old friends whose turn comes before mine—6 Thanks for the new edition.7
What you say about unpopularity does not frighten me— I have always expected the worst. Your approbation makes me hope the book will at all events be read; though I have always found men like yourself more quickly appreciate any sign of merit than ordinary readers. The opening of the chapter ought to be good (ie the first sheet): I wrote it six times at least, making it smaller every time. I got one or two ideas from Tylor—(the dream—& phrases of poetry on facts of ordinary life)—but chiefly Mill on Comte—8 I shall give my authorities in an introduction. I wanted to give a clean page—doubting also whether the work was of sufficient importance to load it with references: as I shd. have to if I gave any— My obligations to your works are very great— I am afraid (this I write with a grin) that you will come in for some of the abuse poured on me—
Of course do not answer this—till you come to town.9 | I remain | My dear Sir | Yours very truly | Winwood Reade
I dont know whether you noticed my page is modelled on yours in the Origin of species. I wish there were other resemblances—
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.
Mill, John Stuart. 1865. Auguste Comte and positivism. London: Trübner.
Origin 6th ed.: The origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 6th edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872.
Reade, William Winwood. 1872. The martyrdom of man. London: Trübner & Co.
Tylor, Edward Burnett. 1871. Primitive culture: researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, art, and custom. 2 vols. London: John Murray.
Summary
Defends Descent against CD’s self-disparagement. The parts on the moral sense seem to him the finest in the book.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8215
- From
- William Winwood Reade
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Kensington
- Source of text
- DAR 176: 53
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8215,” accessed on 16 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8215.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 20