To Francis Darwin [2 August 1879]1
6 Queen Anne Street, | London, W
Saturday
My dear F.
We shall be at the “Waterhead Hotel, Coniston”— The train which leaves Euston St. at 10 A.M & reaches Coniston at 6 P.M is a very good one.—2
I have looked to the French life of Dr. Darwin.3
It will be very nice to see you & to hear about axles.4 Bernard is very jolly.5 I asked him whether he liked London. & he answered. “I do, but it is dirty”.
We are all in good heart for our tremendous journey.
yours affect | C. Darwin
Dr F. Darwin
Footnotes
The date is established by the address. The Darwins stayed at the home of CD’s brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin, on 1 August 1879, before travelling to Coniston (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)); 2 August 1879 was a Saturday.
Francis was on his way back from Würzburg, Germany. In his letter of [before 31 July 1879], Francis had asked how to get to Coniston to join the Darwins on holiday.
CD had evidently looked at the biography of Erasmus Darwin published in Biographie médicale 3: 384–93; see letter from James Paget, 25 July 1879. Francis had offered to look at it on his way through London (letter from Francis Darwin, [before 31 July 1879]).
Francis referred to his various ‘axles’ (a family word for unresolved work-related issues) in his letter to Emma Darwin of 30 June 1879.
Francis’s son, Bernard Darwin.
Summary
Tells arrangements for their journey to Coniston.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12179
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Francis Darwin
- Sent from
- London, Queen Anne St, 6
- Source of text
- DAR 211: 63
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12179,” accessed on 28 November 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12179.xml
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