Joseph McCabe an Ernst Haeckel, London, 17. November 1904
16, Elm Grove.
Cricklewood.
London N.W.
Dear Professor Haeckel,
I have just finished Die Lebenswunder (with great exertion) & can now tell you where I have taken the liberty of condensing. We had to publish the book uniformly with the Riddle, so I was bound to condense where I could. In all, however, I do not think I have omitted more than about six pages (I think I told you that of the Riddle I did not omit more than three, which did not seem to apply in England). Besides || the short passages I told you of I have condensed p. 383 (which is repeated matter), slightly condensed p. 406 (repeated matter), p. 468 (repeated matter), a omitted some of the sentences of pp. 492–4 (which apply more to Germany), & the paragraph on duelling p. 499 (not applicable here – fortunately!) & German universities p. 555.
I hope this will be agreeable to you. The publisher was pressing me to bring it within 500 pages. The German exemplar has reached me. Many thanks.
With very kind regards.
Yours faithfully
Joseph McCabe ||
P.S. I forgot to say that I have been compelled to omit several of the synopticb tables. We could not get them on one page, & we were pressed for space. Further, the Directors have, on their own responsibility (& entirely against my opinion) omitted the reference to the sexual organs on p. 286. It is, of course, our hypocritical British public they fear.
J. M.
a gestr.: p. 49; eingef.: synoptic