I was asked whether I knew anything about Darwin's speaking voice and what his accent might have been like. The short answer is: not a clue.
But some time ago I did respond to a query from Michael Sylvester about whether Darwin had a stutter. The answer turned out to be yes, at least according to Darwin's son, Francis, surely a reliable source. This is what I said, quoting Francis: http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Life-and-Letters-of-Charles-Darwin2.htm -------------------------- When puzzled in talking, he had a peculiar stammer on the first word of a sentence. I only recall this occurring with words beginning with w; possibly he had a special difficulty with this letter, for I have heard him say that as a boy he could not pronounce w, and that sixpence was offered him if he could say "white wine," which he pronounced "rite rine." Possibly he may have inherited this tendency from Erasmus Darwin, who stammered. (My father related a Johnsonian answer of Erasmus Darwin's: "Don't you find it very inconvenient stammering, Dr. Darwin?" "No, sir, because I have time to think before I speak, and don't ask impertinent questions.") --------------------- Secondly, I may or may not have also posted on the earliest voice recording ever, which was of "Claire de Lune" in 1860 on a device called the phonautogram ( http://tinyurl.com/arz4pu ) So, with the technical means available from 1860, and with Darwin alive from 1809 to 1882, it seems possible that a recording of his voice could exist, although I was unable to find on one the web. Or perhaps not, as the earliest surviving copy of Edison's voice is 1888, six years after Darwin died. I did find a reference to this fragment "his voice was clear & musical and he sang a cadence of 3 notes in true" http://tinyurl.com/djldgx (image) http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/record?itemID=CUL-DAR89.162 This may be a note by Francis Darwin about his father's voice, but I don't understand the record entry sufficiently to be sure. Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [email protected] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
