Charles Darwin. 8 May 1841

Charles Darwin (1809-1882).

Autograph letter signed (‘Ch. Darwin’) to an unidentified correspondent (‘My dear Sir’), 12 Upper Gower Street, Saturday 8 May [1841].

Two pages, 187 x 115mm, bifolium.

The young Charles Darwin burnishes his geological credentials in the wake of the Beagle voyage. ‘I feel extremely obliged to you for your kindness in remembering and trouble in extracting the reference with respect to the Carb[onate] of Lime. Owing to the state of my health it is very doubtful when I shall publish my geological memoranda but when I do, I do not doubt your reference will be of valuable assistance to me’. He goes on to thank his correspondent for his kindness regarding his health and ‘the few facts which I have contributed towards the complex mess comprising geological science’.

Darwin's interest in Carbonate of Lime (calcium carbonate) derived originally from his study of coral reefs, dating from the very first months aboard the Beagle; early on, he recorded in his notes ‘The bottom of the adjoining sea is thickly covered by enormous brain stones […] Without being in the immediate presence of limestones, how extraordinary it is that these polipi should be able to obtain such an enormous stock of Carb. of Lime’. Within a year of his return to England in 1836, his papers on these reefs had helped him forge his reputation as a geologist, and in 1842 he published one of his most important works in the field: The structure and distribution of coral reefs.

Not published in the Darwin Correspondence Project.

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