Handwritten letter by Giuseppe Barilli (1872)
Handwritten letter by Giuseppe Barilli (1872)
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Giuseppe Barilli, the inventor of time zones, presents his view on Charles Darwin's debated theory of evolution.
- Handwritten letter in Italian from Giuseppe Barilli to Andreini, a doctor friend.
- 4 pages, each page measures 13.6 cm x 21.2 cm.
- Comes with a translation of the same letter from Italian to French by Andreini + A biographical note in French about Giuseppe Barilli by Andreini.
- City of Cento, Italy, August 18, 1872.
- Paper yellowed by time, some stains, quill pen writing.
- Unique piece.
Giuseppe Barilli (1812 - 1894) was a great curious mind, a man of reflection but also of action. A mathematician, astronomer, inventor, and politician, he contributed, for example, courageously to the creation of the Italian Republic.
This document shows the debate sparked by the publication in 1859 of Charles Darwin's book "On the Origin of Species," one of the most important books in the history of science, presenting the Theory of Evolution, the basis of all modern biology. Giuseppe Barilli, a scientist, disagrees with his doctor friend and presents his view.
This correspondence, between two scientist friends with very different opinions yet profound respect, contains very rare scientific content.
Erasto Villa Branco, Professor of Evolution in the Department of Genetics at the Federal University of Paraná, comments on this document:
Given that this letter is from 1872, it is evident that the author was well-informed and open to accepting new ideas of his time. The letter contains several ideas that were "hot" discussions at the time and have now "cooled down," and at least one that is still very much "alive."
It is curious that a Darwinist or semi-Darwinist would consider his friend materialistic, as this was one of the main accusations leveled against Darwinists themselves. Doctors were indeed more skeptical and more materialistic, but they limited their explanations to biological phenomena, organic issues, diseases, and "states of the soul."
The idea that Nature is harmonious is an idea that has existed for a long time and gained great reinforcement with early Christianity, which believed that the universe was a finished work of God and, therefore, as God was considered perfect, His work could not contain imperfections. This is now an idea that is not part of scientific discussions, but is present in many philosophical and religious currents.
Regarding the origin of the Solar System, he was in agreement with what most scholars today believe. It is almost a consensus that the Solar System formed from the aggregation of dust originating from other disintegrated bodies. At the time, this was not a widely credited idea. The idea that there are life forms outside Earth identical to those here is now completely discarded. This would require a "channeling" that would make species follow the same evolutionary "paths" here and elsewhere. This is no longer accepted within science, although it is often discussed outside of it.
A contemporary discussion that is still ongoing is that of the origin of life. It is far from presenting a consensus. There are several attempts to explain it, and one of them is panspermia. It is an old idea that gained new impetus within science around this period, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is positioned in favor of one of the explanations that consider life to originate from outside Earth. Even Darwin in his time did not claim that the evolution of living beings was a progressive evolution; that is, Darwin saw evolution as change, not as improvement. The reason that probably leads Quirico Filopanti to state this is the same that leads most people of his time to accept evolution: the world would be in continuous improvement. This idea is no longer valid within science today, but it remains the reason why most people accept it. Finally, the idea that a current species descends from another current species is not accepted by today's science but is strong outside of science, as is the case with the other earlier idea. Of course, within science, what is considered are shared ancestors, more closely or more distantly.
Quirico Filopanti was willing to consider the new ideas of his time and clearly sided with some of them, generally more in agreement with current ideas than most of his contemporaries.
November 2010. Erasto Villa Branco, Professor of Evolution in the Department of Genetics at the Federal University of Paraná.
Here we have a true scientific and historical piece.

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