Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- CHAPTER I THE SPREAD OF EVOLUTION. ‘VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS’—1863–1866
- CHAPTER II THE PUBLICATION OF THE ‘VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS UNDER DOMESTICATION’—JAN. 1867–JUNE 1868
- CHAPTER III WORK ON ‘MAN’—1864–1870
- CHAPTER IV THE PUBLICATION OF THE ‘DESCENT OF MAN.’ THE ‘EXPRESSION OF THE EMOTIONS’—1871–1873
- CHAPTER V MISCELLANEA, INCLUDING SECOND EDITIONS OF ‘CORAL REEFS,’ THE ‘DESCENT OF MAN,’ AND THE ‘VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS’—1874–1875
- CHAPTER VI MISCELLANEA (continued). A REVIVAL OF GEOLOGICAL WORK—THE BOOK ON EARTHWORMS—LIFE OF ERASMUS DARWIN—MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS—1876–1882
- BOTANICAL LETTERS
- APPENDICES
- INDEX
CHAPTER VI - MISCELLANEA (continued). A REVIVAL OF GEOLOGICAL WORK—THE BOOK ON EARTHWORMS—LIFE OF ERASMUS DARWIN—MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS—1876–1882
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- CHAPTER I THE SPREAD OF EVOLUTION. ‘VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS’—1863–1866
- CHAPTER II THE PUBLICATION OF THE ‘VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS UNDER DOMESTICATION’—JAN. 1867–JUNE 1868
- CHAPTER III WORK ON ‘MAN’—1864–1870
- CHAPTER IV THE PUBLICATION OF THE ‘DESCENT OF MAN.’ THE ‘EXPRESSION OF THE EMOTIONS’—1871–1873
- CHAPTER V MISCELLANEA, INCLUDING SECOND EDITIONS OF ‘CORAL REEFS,’ THE ‘DESCENT OF MAN,’ AND THE ‘VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS’—1874–1875
- CHAPTER VI MISCELLANEA (continued). A REVIVAL OF GEOLOGICAL WORK—THE BOOK ON EARTHWORMS—LIFE OF ERASMUS DARWIN—MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS—1876–1882
- BOTANICAL LETTERS
- APPENDICES
- INDEX
Summary
[We have now to consider the work (other than botanical) which occupied the concluding six years of my father's life. A letter to his old friend Rev. L. Blomfield (Jenyns), written in March, 1877, shows what was my father's estimate of his own powers of work at this time:—
“My dear Jenyns (I see I have forgotten your proper names),—Your extremely kind letter has given me warm pleasure. As one gets old, one's thoughts turn back to the past rather than to the future, and I often think of the pleasant, and to me valuable, hours which I spent with you on the borders of the Fens.
“You ask about my future work; I doubt whether I shall be able to do much more that is new, and I always keep before my mind the example of poor old ——, who in his old age had a cacoethes for writing. But I cannot endure doing nothing, so I suppose that I shall go on as long as I can without obviously making a fool of myself. I have a great mass of matter with respect to variation under nature; but so much has been published since the appearance of the ‘Origin of Species,’ that I very much doubt whether I retain power of mind and strength to reduce the mass into a digested whole. I have sometimes thought that I would try, but dread the attempt.…”
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Life and Letters of Charles DarwinIncluding an Autobiographical Chapter, pp. 211 - 253Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009First published in: 1887