Down, Bromley, Kent, S.E. March 5, 1869.
My dear Wallace,—I was delighted at receiving your book[78] this morning. The whole appearance and the illustrations with which it [is] so profusely ornamented are quite beautiful. Blessings on you and your publisher for having the pages cut and gilded.
As for the dedication, putting quite aside how far I deserve what you say, it seems to me decidedly the best expressed dedication which I have ever met.
The reading will probably last me a month, for I dare not have it read aloud, as I know that it will set me thinking.
I see that many points will interest me greatly. When I have finished, if I have anything particular to say, I will write again. Accept my cordial thanks. The dedication is a thing for my children's children to be proud of.—Yours most sincerely,
CH. DARWIN.
9 St. Mark's Crescent, N.W. March 10, 1869.
Dear Darwin,—Thanks for your kind note. I could not persuade Mr. Macmillan to cut more than twenty-five copies for my own friends, and he even seemed to think this a sign of most strange and barbarous taste.