To A. R. Wallace 5 March [1869]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
March 5th
My dear Wallace
I was delighted at receiving your Book this morning. Its whole appearance & the illustrations, with which it so profusely ornamented, are quite beautiful. Blessings on you & your publisher for having the pages cut & gilded.—2 As for the Dedication, putting quite aside how far I deserve what you say, it seems to me decidedly the best expressed dedication, which I have ever met.3
The reading will probably last me a month, for I dare not have it read aloud, as I know that it will set me thinking. I see that many points will interest me greatly.— When I have finished, if I have anything particular to say, I will write again. Accept my cordial thanks. The dedication is a thing for my children’s children to be proud of.—
Yours most sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
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.
Summary
Reception of ARW’s book, Malay Archipelago.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6642
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Alfred Russel Wallace
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- The British Library (Add MS 46434)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6642,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6642.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 17
