To C. V. Riley   25 June [1875]1

Abinger Hall | Wotton, Surrey

June 25th

My dear Sir

I am staying at a friends’ house for rest, as I have lately been very unwell, & am sorry to say that I stay till after the 6th of July, so that I cannot see you at Down.2

Shortly before leaving home, three weeks ago, I wrote to you at St. Louis thanking you for the last Report, which I have not yet had time to read, but which I am sure will interest me much, as have all the previous Reports.3

I hope that you may have a pleasant tour & remain, My dear Sir, Yours very sincerely, Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to C. V. Riley, 30 May 1875.
2
Abinger Hall was the home of Thomas Henry Farrer; CD stayed there from 3 June to 6 July 1875 (see CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). Riley had travelled from America with Leonard Darwin, who was returning from the transit of Venus expedition, and apparently met with CD at Abinger (see Riley 1882, pp. 77, 80).
3
See letter to C. V. Riley, 30 May 1875 and nn. 2 and 3. Riley had sent CD the seventh annual report on noxious insects of Missouri (Riley 1869–77, seventh report (1875)); Riley was state entomologist of Missouri. CD’s annotated copy of the report, and the previous ones sent by Riley, are in the Darwin Library–CUL.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Surrey] before del ‘Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.’
2.1 , three weeks ago,] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10030F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10030F