LETTER FROM HUMBOLDT 227 



ment from you to M. Ancillon would be very 

 suitable also. Do not think it is too late. 

 One addresses him as " Monsieur et plus votre 

 Excellence." I am writing the most pedantic 

 letter in the world in answer to yours, so full 

 of charm. It must seem to you absurd that 

 I write you in French, when you, French by 

 origin, or rather by language, prefer to write 

 me in German. Pray tell me, did you learn 

 German, which you write with such purity, as 

 a child ? 



I am happy to see that you publish the 

 whole together. The parceling out of such 

 a work would have led to endless delays ; but, 

 for mercy's sake, take care of your eyes ; they 

 are ours, I have not neglected the subscrip- 

 tions in Russia, but I have, as yet, no answer. 

 At a venture, I have placed the name of M. 

 von Buch on my list. He is absent ; it is said 

 that he will go to Greece this summer. Pray 

 make it a rule not to give away copies of your 

 work. If you follow that inclination you will 

 be pecuniarily ruined. 



I wish I could have been present at your 

 course of lectures. What you tell me of them 

 delights me, though I am ready to do battle 

 with you about those metamorphoses of our 

 globe which have even slipped into your title. 



