DARWIN, Charles (1809-1882). Autograph letter signed ('Ch. Darwin') to 'Dear Sir' [William Pengelly], Down, 19 March (the date completed in a different hand, '1873'), one page, 8vo , mounted on a leaf from an album (two unrelated items on verso). Darwin confirms the intelligence of dogs: 'I am much obliged to you for so kindly sending me the very curious account of the sagacity of dogs. I can believe almost anything about them'. He recalls meeting his correspondent at Torquay some years ago, 'a lively and very pleasant remembrance'. His correspondent, William Pengelly (1812-1894), was an expert on the geology of Devon. His attention had been attracted by a letter of Darwin's in Nature on perception in the lower animals. Pengelly had previously verified accounts of the intelligence of a dog in the Queen's Hotel at Exeter which had developed a technique for opening swinging doors, and another which had found its way home from London to the Isle of Wight, and he wrote to Darwin on 17 March 1873 enclosing copies of correspondence about them. Pengelly's daughter, Hester, gives the context of the present letter in her memoir of her father, William Pengelly of Torquay (1897, pp.229-230).
DARWIN, Charles (1809-1882). Autograph letter signed ('Ch. Darwin') to 'Dear Sir' [William Pengelly], Down, 19 March (the date completed in a different hand, '1873'), one page, 8vo , mounted on a leaf from an album (two unrelated items on verso). Darwin confirms the intelligence of dogs: 'I am much obliged to you for so kindly sending me the very curious account of the sagacity of dogs. I can believe almost anything about them'. He recalls meeting his correspondent at Torquay some years ago, 'a lively and very pleasant remembrance'. His correspondent, William Pengelly (1812-1894), was an expert on the geology of Devon. His attention had been attracted by a letter of Darwin's in Nature on perception in the lower animals. Pengelly had previously verified accounts of the intelligence of a dog in the Queen's Hotel at Exeter which had developed a technique for opening swinging doors, and another which had found its way home from London to the Isle of Wight, and he wrote to Darwin on 17 March 1873 enclosing copies of correspondence about them. Pengelly's daughter, Hester, gives the context of the present letter in her memoir of her father, William Pengelly of Torquay (1897, pp.229-230).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
