2010

Charles Darwin Letter Signed with Autograph Postscript

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD
Charles Darwin Letter Signed with Autograph Postscript

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Auction Date:2020 Jul 16 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:15th Floor WeWork, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
LS signed "Charles Darwin," three pages on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 8, Down letterhead, December 26, 1876. Letter to Katharine Murray Lyell, responding to her request for any correspondence that may have passed between him and his mentor, the geologist Charles Lyell. In part: "I used formerly to burn all letters excepting a few, and such as I have kept from Lyell I now send. From the year 1862 I preserved all letters, and wish I had done so earlier. I am thus enabled to send all the letters from Lyell from 1862 to 1869 inclusive…Although I valued most highly all the letters I received from Lyell, I suspect that they are much too special to be of any interest to the public; but I am at present so busy that I have not had time to read over a single one." After prominently signing at the conclusion, he adds a handwritten postscript: "P.S. The letters are so heavy that I have been forced to put them in 2 parcels." In fine condition.

Mrs. Lyell was Charles Lyell’s daughter-in-law, and she was organizing material for the projected biography of Charles Lyell, 'Life, Letters, and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell,' which ultimately appeared in 1881. Lyell was Darwin’s mentor and later his good friend. Lyell’s writings on geology heavily influenced him, and Darwin himself began his scientific life as a geologist (on board the Beagle). Despite being willing to send the letters he has, Darwin expresses concern in this letter that their content may be too specialized (i.e. scientific) for the general public. An excellent letter with significant content and a desirable full signature.