'Charles Darwin and Samuel Butler: A Step Towards Reconciliation', by Henry Festing Jones (1911)
(IV/3/13)
Several years after Butler’s death, his friend and biographer Henry Festing Jones finally put an end to the ‘Butler–Darwin controversy’ with the publication of this pamphlet. With support from Francis Darwin, Charles’s son, Jones transcribed some of the correspondence exchanged between Butler and Darwin, and Darwin and his associates, which helped to explain why those on each side took objection to their harsh treatment at the hands of the other.
The pamphlet was received with interest by members of the literary and scientific communities. The letter below, from the novelist E. M. Forster to Henry Festing Jones, offers one such example: 'Your book reached me in bed this morning and I did not get up till I had finished it. Thank you so much. It is most interesting, and one learns among other things how careful one should be in correcting proofs.'
(VIII/34/9/5)