Abstract
THE memory of this great man has suffered from the florid and spiteful biography written by Miss Seward. That she was animated by a feeling of bitterness towards Erasmus Darwin, engendered by disappointment, is clearly shown in these pages; she was an unsuccessful candidate for the post of his second wife, and she seems never to have forgiven him for his blindness towards her merits. A trustworthy life of the author of the “Botanic Garden” was therefore much wanted, and no one could have been better qualified for the task than his grandson, Charles Darwin. He has done his work so well and completely as to leave no room for any subsequent biography; further criticism there may well be, but the facts of the life of Erasmus Darwin can never be better put together, and they are as fully given as there is any need for. The critical essay by Herr Krause forms only little more than one-third of the modest volume, and is really an appendix to the life by Mr. Darwin.
Erasmus Darwin.
Ernst Krause. Translated from the German by W. S. Dallas. With a Preliminary Notice by Charles Darwin. Portrait and Woodcuts. (London: Murray, 1879.)
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Erasmus Darwin . Nature 21, 245–247 (1880). https://doi.org/10.1038/021245a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/021245a0
