DARWIN (CHARLES) Autograph letter signed ('Ch. Darwin') to Henry Lee ('My dear Sir'), apologising for expressing himself stupidly, explaining '...I did not mean to express my opinion on what the species was but merely referred to the range of L. australis...', promising to find the specimens when he returns home in a few days but that '...the subject has gone much out of my mind; & my health is so weak, & I am so overwhelmed with proof sheets & other work, that I hope you will excuse me not investigating the specimens closely...', 2 pages on a bifolium, dust-staining, creased at folds, 8vo (202 x 124mm.), London, 17 December [1871]; with autograph envelope (2) Footnotes: 'I AM SO OVERWHELMED WITH PROOF SHEETS & OTHER WORK': DARWIN TAKES TIME FROM CORRECTING PROOFS OF ORIGIN OF SPECIES TO CORRESPOND ON BARNACLES. Our letter forms part of a longer correspondence between Darwin and Henry Lee on Lepas australis, or the goose barnacle, on which Darwin had written a monograph, Living Cirripedia, published in 1852. Lee had evidently sent specimens to Down for Darwin to examine, and on 26 November Darwin had written to Lee correcting a mistake Lee had made about the Lepas and referring him to his monograph on the subject. The year 1871 had been somewhat of a milestone for Darwin, being the year that his landmark work on human evolution, Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex was published, leading to a storm of controversy and correspondence. Despite being plagued by illness over the summer, which he refers to here, the proofs he is working on are likely to be those of the sixth edition of the Origin of Species, which he had begun editing in June and was published the following year. He was also engaged in his research into human and animal expressions, Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, also published in 1872. Little wonder he was unable to give Lee's specimens his full attention. Our letter is published on the Darwin Correspondence Project website (ref:DCP-LETT-8108A) and in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, 2012, Vol.19, pp.723-724. Henry Lee (1826-1888) of Croydon was appointed naturalist of the Brighton Aquarium in 1872 and later held the post of director. He was an amateur collector of natural history specimens and microscopist, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, and member of the Geological and Zoological societies of London. While at the aquarium he initiated much important research, including studies into the habits of herring and the nature of whitebait and crayfish, and was an energetic debunker of maritime myths such as the Kraken and the Loch Ness monster. Provenance: Christie's, 19 December 1986, lot 56; Walter A. Benjamin Autographs, May 1988; Profiles in History, 'The Property of a Distinguished American Private Collector, Part II', 30 May 2013, lot 204. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing