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Darwin Correspondence Project

From Emma Darwin to Ernst Haeckel   22 September [1876]1

Down Beckenham

Sep. 22

Dear Professor Häckel

I am writing by my husband’s desire to say how very glad we shall be to see you on whatever day suits you best—2

If you are not able to spend the night here I would advise you to come by the 11·35 train from Charing Cross to Orpington which will bring you here in time for luncheon.3 If you can spare the time to sleep here I wd advise the 4·12 or 5·2 trains, by which means Mr Darwin wd be able to enjoy a conversation with you before dinner as well as after & see some thing of you the next morning. I hope you will let us know the day & hour that we may send to Orpington to meet you—

My husband begs me to tell you again what pleasure it will give him to see you—

very sincerely yours | Emma Darwin

Footnotes

The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to Ernst Haeckel, 16 September 1876.
Haeckel had attended the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Glasgow (6–13 September 1876), after which he travelled in Scotland (Krauße 1987, p. 133). Haeckel had suggested visiting between 25 and 27 September 1876, but the death of CD’s daughter-in-law, Amy Darwin, had disrupted the family’s plans and they had previously been uncertain whether they would be at home (see letter to Ernst Haeckel, 16 September 1876).
Haeckel came for luncheon on 26 September 1876 (letter from Emma Darwin to Leonard Darwin, [26 September 1876] (DAR 239.23: 1.49), and Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)). Orpington was the nearest railway station to Down.

Bibliography

Krauße, Erika. 1987. Ernst Haeckel. 2d edition. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner.

Summary

Arranges for EH’s visit to Down.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-10614
From
Emma Wedgwood/Emma Darwin
To
Ernst Philipp August (Ernst) Haeckel
Sent from
Down
Source of text
Ernst-Haeckel-Haus (Bestand A-Abt. 1:1-52/ 41 [9894])
Physical description
ALS 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10614,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10614.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 24

letter