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Darwin Correspondence Project

From G. H. Darwin   [1–4 April 1871]1

New University Club | St. James St.

Dear Father,

I found that my 2nd. correction was nothing— the other was Livornia as I wrote you on the 12d2   The £1.1 watch lost 3 minutes in 12 an hour & so I took it back & got a 30s one—wh they warrant. Balfour3 has put off our play expedition till Thursday & so I shall dine tomorrow at 7 unless I hear to contrary

Your affectionate son | G H Darwin

I’ve got the pho’s but I think you ought to go & look a some of them.4 One seems to me to represent shyness.—

Footnotes

The date range is established by the reference to the correction ‘Livornia’ (see n. 2, below), and by the fact that CD was in London from 1 to 5 April 1871 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). George’s reference to his hour of dining and his advice to CD to ‘go & look’ at some photographs suggests that it was written while CD was in London.
The second correction has not been identified. In Descent 1: 264, Livonia was misspelled Livornia in the first and second printings, published in February and March 1871; in the third printing, published in April 1871, it was corrected (see Freeman 1977). George sent this correction on a halfpenny postcard, available in England from 1 October 1870 (Hill 2007, pp. 4–5). The postcard has not been found.
CD was collecting photographs for his work on expression. He came to London on 1 April 1871 to consult Oscar Gustaf Rejlander, a photographer (letter to H. E. Darwin, 20 March 1871).

Bibliography

Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.

Freeman, Richard Broke. 1977. The works of Charles Darwin: an annotated bibliographical handlist. 2d edition. Folkestone, Kent: William Dawson & Sons. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, Shoe String Press.

Hill, Cuthbert William. 2007. Picture postcards. 2d edition. Princes Risborough, Bucks.: Shire Publications.

Summary

Mentions some photos relating to expression.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-7790
From
George Howard Darwin
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
New University Club
Source of text
DAR 210.2: 22
Physical description
ALS 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7790,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7790.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19

letter