Details
DARWIN, Charles (1809-1882). Autograph letter signed ('Ch. Darwin') to an unidentified recipient [R.W. Semon], Down, 25 January [postmarked 1879], 3 pages, 8vo, on a bifolium; envelope.
A courteous letter to an opponent of his views on coral reefs: Darwin had some years previously read an article by the recipient 'controverting my views on Coral Formations'. He has however lost the notes he made at the time, and, in the preparation of the new edition of his Structure and distribution of coral reefs, feels himself 'bound, as an honest man, to say that you dispute my views'. He therefore asks the recipient to send the publication details of his essay, 'written very plainly' for this purpose, and goes on to ask 'What coral islands did you visit? And ... can you tell me what was your chief objection to my views, which have been accepted by several persons who have studied coral reefs'.
The recipient is presumably the German biologist, Richard Wolfgang Semon (1859-1918), best known for his pioneering work on brain processes, Die Mneme (1904). His earlier work In the Australian bush and on the coast of the Coral Sea (1899) does contain observations on coral reefs, but, given his youth at the date of the present letter, it seems unlikely that his objections to Darwin's coral theory can have been based on personal observation at this stage.
A courteous letter to an opponent of his views on coral reefs: Darwin had some years previously read an article by the recipient 'controverting my views on Coral Formations'. He has however lost the notes he made at the time, and, in the preparation of the new edition of his Structure and distribution of coral reefs, feels himself 'bound, as an honest man, to say that you dispute my views'. He therefore asks the recipient to send the publication details of his essay, 'written very plainly' for this purpose, and goes on to ask 'What coral islands did you visit? And ... can you tell me what was your chief objection to my views, which have been accepted by several persons who have studied coral reefs'.
The recipient is presumably the German biologist, Richard Wolfgang Semon (1859-1918), best known for his pioneering work on brain processes, Die Mneme (1904). His earlier work In the Australian bush and on the coast of the Coral Sea (1899) does contain observations on coral reefs, but, given his youth at the date of the present letter, it seems unlikely that his objections to Darwin's coral theory can have been based on personal observation at this stage.
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Please note that this is illustrated in the catalogue as lot 54, it is in fact lot 55 that is illustrated.