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Lot 36

DARWIN, CHARLES. 1809-1882.

21 September 2015, 13:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$10,625 inc. premium

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DARWIN, CHARLES. 1809-1882.

Autograph Letter Signed ("Ch. Darwin"), 2 p, 8vo (integral address leaf), 12 Upper Gower Street, Friday, [c. 1839-1842], to Thomas Green Esq., some general browning, heavier to verso of address leaf, offset and lighter browning to recto of address leaf and verso of p 2, faint dampstain to inner margin.

A SIGNIFICANT AND EARLY LETTER RELATING TO THE PUBLICATION OF DARWIN'S BEAGLE RESEARCHES, in which Darwin discusses the proofing of a type-set manuscript. Thomas Green was a member of the Geological Society of London, and probably oversaw the publication of its journals, in which Darwin published a number of his Beagle based geological researches. Darwin resided at "12 Upper Gower St" between 1839 and 1842. Given the dating of this letter and the number of proof sheets in question, the letter is most probably referring to typeset pages relating either to Darwin's article "On the Connexion of Certain Volcanic Phenomena in South America" (1840) or to his article "On the Distribution of erratic Boulders and the Contemporaneous Unstratified Deposits of South America" (1842). Dr. John Walker, whom the letter references, was a noted Scottish naturalist who published work in several fields, including several books on fossils. Darwin letters of early date and with Beagle-related content are very rare. See Darwin Correspondence Database, http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-524F.

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