''The Life of Erasmus Darwin'' is the 1879

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist, inventor, and poet. His poems ...

(1731-1802) by his grandson

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

and the German biologist Ernst Krause. Ernst Krause wrote a paper on the scientific works Erasmus Darwin which was published in the German-language journal ''Kosmos'' in February 1879. This was translated into English by William Sweetland Dallas as "The Scientific Works of Erasmus Darwin" (pages 130–216 in the original edition), and Charles Darwin added a "preliminary notice" based on material that was in the possession of his family (pages 1–127). Before publication however 16% of the work was cut out by Charles' daughter

Henrietta Litchfield Henrietta Emma Litchfield (née Darwin; 25 September 1843 – 17 December 1927) was a daughter of Charles Darwin and his wife Emma Wedgwood. Henrietta was born at Down House, Downe, Kent, in 1843. She was Darwin's third daughter and the eldest dau ...

— mostly the most provocative parts. It was also published in German as ''Erasmus Darwin und seine Stellung in der Geschichte der Descendenz-Theorie von Ernst Krause. Mit seinem Lebens- und Charakterbilde von Charles Darwin'' ("Erasmus Darwin and his place in the history of the theory of descent by Ernst Krause. With his life and character by Charles Darwin"). A second (English) edition, edited by Charles Darwin's son

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

was published in 1887. An

unabridged An abridgement (or abridgment) is a condensing or reduction of a book or other creative work into a shorter form while maintaining the unity of the source. The abridgement can be true to the original work in terms of mood and tone (literature), t ...

edition edited by Desmond King-Hele was published in 2003 to mark the 200th anniversary since Erasmus' death.Details of the 2003 unabridged edition
Krause made some alterations and additions to his paper before it was translated, indirectly referring to Samuel Butler's book '' Evolution Old and New''. Butler took exception to not being properly attributed, and this resulted in a "sordid and one-sided quarrel in which Darwin remained silent"

References

1879 non-fiction books Books about scientists Books by Charles Darwin British biographies English-language books {{science-bio-book-stub