To W. E. Darwin 15 [October 1858]1
Down.
15th
My dear William.
You sent us a fine long letter, & we were uncommonly glad to hear that you were established.2 You had a precious hard day’s work the first.— You are over the rooms which my cousin W. D. Fox had & in which I have spent many a pleasant hour.— I was in old court, middle stair-case, on right-hand on going into court, up one flight, right-hand door & capital rooms they were.3 If you find you do not like your rooms you could change another year.
I shd. like to know whether my old gyp, Impey is still alive; if so please see him, & say that I enquired after him.—4
I shall go up to London for a day on Tuesday & will then consult my Bankers about your affairs.— Did you pay for furniture; if not, ask whether the Cambridge tradesmen object to cheques on London Bankers: I shd. much like to know this, as guide whether you had better open account with Union Bank or whether have money placed at some Cambridge Bank.— I wonder whether you could think of anyone, to ask this—
I am very glad that you like King’s— it used to be a great pleasure to me.—5 You have to see the beautiful pictures in the Fitzwilliam.6 The backs of the Colleges (N.B not colledges as some people spell it) are indeed beautiful; I do not think there is anything in Oxford to equal them.—
Remember to let me know in good time before you run short of money & do, I earnestly beg you, keep accounts carefully, & which, as far as I am concerned, shall be quite private.—7
Etty is at Leith Hill but comes home next week.8 On the 25th I mean to go for week or 14 days to Moor Park, as my stomach of late has been horridly bad.9 Aunt Catherine comes here for fortnight next Monday.—10 Mammie & Lizzie are gone to lunch today with the Normans; as we declined a dinner invite, which the beautiful Miss Norman brought us.—11
Good Bye | My dear old man | Yours affect | C. Darwin
You were very wise to join the Union, I think.—12
If you can think of anything it is a very nice scheme giving Mrs. Wilson a little souvenir.—13
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Freeman, Richard Broke. 1978. Charles Darwin: a companion. Folkestone, Kent: William Dawson & Sons. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, Shoe String Press.
Summary
Writes to WED about his living arrangements at Christ’s College; reminisces about his own Cambridge days.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-2341
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Erasmus Darwin
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Provenance unknown
- Physical description
- ALS 6pp & CC 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 2341,” accessed on 26 November 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-2341.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 7