Charles Darwin to Francis Darwin (30th August, 1867)

Title

Charles Darwin to Francis Darwin (30th August, 1867)

Description

Darwin asks his son, Francis, and his Cambridge University friends to check his Latin. Latin was not Darwin's strong point and he frequently relied on his sons and colleagues to check his efforts (see letter to George Robert Gray, below).

The enclosure to this letter has not been found but it is likely that the passage in question involved a discussion of the genitalia of ‘Hottentot’ (a term used in the nineteenth century to refer to peoples of the south-western Africa) women which featured in Descent Vol. 2, p. 345 (see letter from Andrew Smith and the associated extract from Descent, in this case).

Source

F. Burkhardt & J. A. Secord (eds.), The Correspondence of Charles Darwin Vol. 18, 1870 (Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 407.
Original letter: Mommens, Ursula

Date

30th August, 1867

Rights

Image: © Cambridge University Library; Item: © Cambridge University Press

Files

To Francis Darwin_30 Aug 1867--70.jpg

Collection

Citation

“Charles Darwin to Francis Darwin (30th August, 1867),” Darwin Behind the Scenes, accessed April 24, 2024, https://darwinbehindthescenes.omeka.net/items/show/6.