“Kosmos. Sketch of a Physical Description of the World, by A. von
Humboldt. From Sketches and Lectures delivered in the years 1827 and
1828, enlarged and corrected according to the latest researches.
“‘Naturæ vero rerum vis atque majestas sin omnibus momentis fide caret,
si quis modo partes ejus ac non totam complectatur animo.’—_Plin. Hist.
Nat._, _lib._ 7. c. 1. Stuttgart.”
54.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
WEDNESDAY, _April 28th, 1841_.
Be very kind and indulgent in reading my work. I am anxious that you
should get a complete idea of the composition of it. In A, I have made
large corrections. Notice especially p. 37 and the notes; Schelling’s
name, pp. 37 and 68; Hegel, p. 66. The positive declaration at p. 64,
that it is not the creator of Natural Philosophy whom I accuse, will, I
hope, make my biting severity at the “gay Saturnalia,” _le bal en
masque_ of the craziest of all natural philosophers, seem more
pardonable to him. “Il faut avoir le courage d’imprimer. Ce que l’on a
dit et écrit depuis trente ans.” It has been a lamentable period, in
which Germany has sunk far below England and France. Chemistry, without
so much as wetting one’s fingers.
The diamond is a pebble arrived at consciousness. Granite is ether.
Carus.
The side of the moon turned towards the earth is of a different
convexity from the reverse. The cause of it: the moon fain would stretch
out her loving arms—she cannot, but gazes at the earth, and protrudes
her lower jaw.
The granite blocks on the rocks are the convulsions of nature.
It is well known that the forests are the hair of the earth-animal. The
swelling equatorial region is the belly of Nature.
America is a female figure, long, slender, watery and freezing at 48°.
The degrees of latitude are the years woman gets old at, 48 years. The
East is oxygen, the West hydrogen; it rains when clouds from the East
are mixed with clouds from the West.—_Schelling._
Petrifactions in rocks are not the remains of former living beings. They
are the first attempts of nature at making animals and plants. In
Siberia some dogs lived for years on such an experiment—a stinking
elephant at the mouth of the Lena.
These are the Saturnalia! Cast your eye particularly on the notes, _en
masse_, of which I inclose a few. P. 40–49; p. 55–57.
I wish to give to the work the greatest generality and breadth of views,
a lively and, if possible, graceful style, and to replace all technical
terms with well-chosen, graphic, and descriptive language.
Correct freely, my friend; I gladly follow where I can. Some not very
common erudition I intend to banish to the notes. This book should be
the reflex of my own self, of my life, of my own very old person. This
freedom of treatment enables me to proceed more aphoristically. More
will be suggested than elaborated. Much will be well understood by those
only who know thoroughly one special branch of natural history; but I
think my style is such as to confuse no one, not even the superficial.
My real aim is to hover over those results which are known in 1841.
_Mens agitat molem_, may the mind still be there!
That such a work cannot be finished by one born in the comet-year, 1769,
is as clear as daylight. The separate fragments will appear in parts of
twelve to fifteen sheets each, so that those who may see me buried will
possess in each fragment some one subject complete. Thus of the
“Prolegomena,” there will be No. 1–4; My “incentive,” descriptive
poetry, which you have not yet seen, is a chief feature of the work on
which I rely a good deal.—No. 5. The history of man’s conception of the
world, which is quite finished, will form the entire second book. Plain
scientific description will always be intermingled with the oratorical,
like nature itself. The glittering stars fill us with joy and
inspiration, yet in the canopy of heaven all bodies revolve in
mathematical figures. It is essential to preserve a dignified style, so
that the impression of nature’s greatness will not be wanting. I hope
you will not find fault with my quoting (C) in a note the passage from
Shakespeare which is but little known.
All the notes are to be printed in very small type at the end of each
chapter, never at the bottom of the page. I had said that a knowledge of
nature is not absolutely necessary to enjoy it, but that it increases
the enjoyment. Pardon this hasty writing. I leave to-morrow morning with
the King for Potsdam, to stay there six or seven days. With thanks and
friendship, your illegible