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Lot 40

DARWIN, CHARLES. 1809-1882.

21 September 2015, 13:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$10,000 inc. premium

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DARWIN, CHARLES. 1809-1882.

Autograph Letter Signed ("Ch. Darwin"), 1 p, 8vo (integral blank), Down, Beckenham, Kent, Railway Station Orpington S.E.R., November 11, 1881, on personal stationery watermarked Joynson Superfine, [to J.F. Galbraith], some stains to blank, two small spots to upper section, light thumb-soiling to fore-edge, some small adhesive stains to lower edge.

"November 11, 1881.
Dear Sir,
I thank you for your kindness in having written me so long a letter, but I can assure you that there is not a naturalist in the world who would credit that germinating seeds could be developed into animals of any kind. There was plenty of time and means for the indefinite multiplication of innumerable kinds of animals in the cask.
Yours faithfully
Ch. Darwin.
"

The recipient, J.F. Galbraith of Nelsonville, Manitoba, wrote Darwin a 3-page letter on October 20, 1881 in which he recounts an incident of development of worms in a barrel of wheat, noting that he had pondered Darwin's view that plants and animals may have had a common ancestor. Darwin tactfully sets him straight.
See Darwin Correspondence Database, http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-13417; Burkhardt, Frederick, A Calendar of Correspondence of Charles Darwin, 1821-1882, Volume 1, p 562.

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