To A. R. Wallace 19 November [1873]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
Nov. 19th
Dear Wallace
I thank you for your extremely kind letter, & I am sorry that I troubled you with that of yesterday.2 My wife thinks that my son George would be so much pleased at undertaking to work for me, that I will write to him, & so probably shall have no occasion to trouble you.—3 If on still further reflexion & after looking over my notes, I think that my son could not do the work, I will write again & gratefully accept your proposal.— But if you do not hear, you will understand that I can manage the affair myself.— I never in my life-time regretted an interruption so much as this new Edit. of the “Descent”.— I am deeply immersed in some work bearing on physiological points with plants.—4
I fully agree with what you say about H. Spencers Sociology; I do not believe there is a man in Europe at all his equal in talents.5 I did not know that you had been writing on politicks, except so far as your letter on the Coal-question, which interested me much & struck me as a capital letter.6
I must again thank you for your letter & remain | Dear Wallace | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
I hope to Heaven that politicks will not replace Natural Science.—
I know too well how atrociously bad my hand-writing is7
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
Further discussion of ARW’s help on new [2d] edition of Descent.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9154
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Alfred Russel Wallace
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- The British Library (Add MS 46434)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9154,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9154.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21