Top of page

Book/Printed Material Letter from Charles Darwin to Carl Semper.

About this Item

Title

  • Letter from Charles Darwin to Carl Semper.

Summary

  • The letter presented here is from a series of letters written between 1877 and 1882 by the British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809--82), and his son, Sir Francis Darwin (1848--1925), to the German scientist Carl Gottfried Semper (1832--93). The letters are preserved in the University and State Library Düsseldorf. Semper specialized in invertebrate zoology and ecology and is best known for his extensive field studies in the Philippines and the scientific findings based on them. In 1880 he published Die Natürlichen Existenzbedingungen der Thiere, which appeared in English in the same year as Animal Life as Affected by the Natural Conditions of Existence. In his letter to Semper of February 8, 1881, Charles Darwin praised the work, which he had just finished reading. "Although a book of small size, it contains an astonishing amount of matter." Darwin also remarked on the originality with which it treated its subject. The two letters to Semper by Francis Darwin in the series concern his father's correspondence. In a letter written in May 1882, the month after Charles's death, Francis wrote to ask Semper "if you would do me the favour to let me see any letters from my father that you may have, which I might make copies of." A prominent botanist in his own right, Francis published his three-volume The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin in 1887.

Names

  • Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 Creator.
  • Semper, C. (Carl), 1832-1893 Recipient.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1878-07-19.

Headings

  • -  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland--Bromley--Beckenham
  • -  1878-07-19
  • -  Authors
  • -  Correspondence
  • -  Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882
  • -  Letters

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 3 pages.
  • -  Reference extracted from World Digital Library: Charles H. Smith, "Semper, Carl Gottfried (Germany 1832-1893)," in "Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists: Chrono-Biographical Sketches: A Biographical History of Biogeography by Charles H. Smith, Ph.D., Joshua Woleben, and Carubie Rodgers." http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/chronob/SEMP1832.htm.|Adrian External Desmond, and James Moore and Janet Browne, "Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882)," in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2004).|Thomas Junker, "Darwin, Sir Francis (1848-1925)," in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2004).
  • -  Original resource at: University and State Library Düsseldorf.
  • -  Content in English.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • Charles Darwin Letters Collection

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021668254

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse. Researchers are encouraged to review the source information attached to each item. For information on contacting WDL partner organizations, see this archived list of partners

The Library asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here.

Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

For additional information and contact information for many of the partner organizations, see this archived capture of the World Digital Library site from 2021.

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Darwin, Charles, Creator, and C Semper. Letter from Charles Darwin to Carl Semper. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, -07-19, 1878] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668254/.

APA citation style:

Darwin, C. & Semper, C. (1878) Letter from Charles Darwin to Carl Semper. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, -07-19] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668254/.

MLA citation style:

Darwin, Charles, Creator, and C Semper. Letter from Charles Darwin to Carl Semper. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, -07-19, 1878] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021668254/>.