skip to content

Darwin Correspondence Project

To E. A. Wheler   19 April 1879

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

April. 19th 1879

My dear Cousin

How good you are to take so much trouble.1 I have marked in pencil the two letters “to be returned to you”; but it will safe me some copying so I will accept your offer of keeping them for about 6 or 8 weeks— I have not yet written a word, & shall not till I leave home.—2 I greatly fear that you will be sadly disappointed with my “Preliminary notice”; but no man can do better than his best.

yours very sincerely Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

Wheler had sent two letters from Emma Nixon about Erasmus Darwin. CD began writing his biographical sketch of Erasmus Darwin while away from Down from 6 to 26 May (‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). It was published as a preliminary notice to the English translation of Ernst Krause’s essay on Erasmus Darwin’s scientific work (Erasmus Darwin).

Bibliography

Erasmus Darwin. By Ernst Krause. Translated from the German by W. S. Dallas, with a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1879.

Summary

Thanks his cousin for lending two letters [to be used in Ernst Krause’s biography of Erasmus Darwin, their grandfather].

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-12004A
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Elizabeth Anne Galton/Elizabeth Anne Wheler
Sent from
Down
Source of text
Chiswick Auctions (dealers) (10 October 2018, lot 19)
Physical description
ALS 1p

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12004A,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12004A.xml

letter