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To John Fiske 14 May [1880]¹

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

May 14^th

My dear M^r Fiske

I suppose that you have reached England.² I did not write before, because we have had a succession of visitors & I absolutely require a day or two rest after any one has been here.— Some persons now in the house leave tomorrow evening & others are coming on Tuesday morning.³ If you & M^rs Fiske happen to be disengaged on Friday (21^st) evening, would you come here to dinner & to sleep?⁴ There is a good train which leaves Charing Cross at 4^o 12^’ P.M.—

On Monday the 24^th we leave home for a fortnight for me to rest.⁵ If it would be more convenient to you to come here, after June 8^th or thereabouts it would suit us equally well, & we sh^d. be very glad to see you & M^rs Fiske then.

In Haste to catch Post | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Very many thanks for all the kind expressions in your note.⁶

Footnotes

The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from John Fiske, 20 April 1880.

John Fiske had travelled from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to England in order to give lectures at the Royal Institution of Great Britain (see letter from John Fiske, 20 April 1880).

On 14 May, Mabel Wedgwood and Constance Rose Wedgwood and their fiancés Arthur George Parson and Johannes Hermann Franke were at Down House (letter from Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, 14 May [1880] (DAR 219.9: 233)). It is unclear who the next set of visitors were on 18 May.

John and Abby Morgan Fiske visited Down from 21 to 22 May 1880 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242), letter from Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, [22 May 1880] (DAR 219.9: 234)).

CD was in Bassett, Southampton, from 25 May to 8 June (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).

See letter from John Fiske, 20 April 1880.

Summary

Invites JF to Down.

Letter details

Letter no.: DCP-LETT-12606
From: Charles Robert Darwin
To: John Fiske
Sent from: Down
Source of text: The Huntington Library (HM 8269)
Physical description: ALS 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12606,” accessed on 26 November 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12606.xml

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