I found many interesing treasures in Maira Kalman’s book My favorite things. The book is a walk through both Kalman’s personal history and aesthetic taste in words, illustrations and photographs. It reminds me that some artist’s are both collectors as well as archeologists, and edified my own propensity to collect random things that most people would call “junk” (much to my husband’s dissapointment). I was particualrly touched by her penchant for collecting broken chairs. But by far the thing that most facinated me was a letter that was written by Charles Darwin. It is a complaint that reads like a diary entry about an obviously difficult time in his life. His dissiluusionment is apparent, but so his his sense of humor. I’ve included a copy of it below. The quality is rather poor, so I suggest you check out Kalman’s book for the better version and to see the many other curiosities she’s collected.

Charles Darwin’s Complaint