Ɛpsilon

To Lydia Wendland   7 June [1875]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R. [Abinger Hall, Surrey.]

June 7th

D⁠⟨⁠ear⁠⟩⁠ Miss Wendland

I am very much obliged to you for your great kindness in having made for m⁠⟨⁠e⁠⟩⁠ so beautiful a present as the fender-stool.2 [1 line illeg] in our drawing room [2 lines illeg] [g]rateful to you for [g]oing [to] so much trouble. I will venture to send you soon a copy of a book, just published by me, viz Insectivorous Plants; but this book is in no way beautiful, & I am not so inhuman as to expect you to read it.—3

Pray believe me, Dear Miss Wendland | Yours faithfully and obliged | Charles Darwin

incomplete4

1
The year is established by the reference to Insectivorous plants (see n. 3, below).
2
Fender stools were long stools placed in front of the fender of a fireplace and often upholstered in needlework. Patterns in needlepoint were widely available (see, for example, Young Ladies’ Journal, 1 February 1875, supplement, pattern for fender stool).
3
Insectivorous plants was published on 2 July 1875 (see CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).
4
The original letter is complete and is described in the sale catalogue as being two pages long; some parts were illegible in the photograph in the catalogue.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10012F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10012F