Ɛpsilon

To William Robinson   10 January [1876?]1

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

Jan. 10th

Dear Sir

I am much obliged for your very kind offer of sending me the Garden.2 I have great scruples in accepting it, partly because I have not much strength for reading & can hardly get through the periodicals which I now take in & papers which I must read.— But I will gratefully accept your offer for the next half-year ie. till July 1st., & then if I find that I have time generally to read it, I will take it in for myself.— I wish that I had more strength.—

Dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin

I perfectly remember your pleasant visit here.—3

1
The year is conjectured from the relationship between this letter and the letter to William Robinson, 4 January 1876.
2
Robinson founded the Garden, a weekly illustrated horticultural magazine, in 1871, and earlier in January 1876 sent six complimentary copies of an issue containing CD’s portrait and an article about him (see letter to William Robinson, 4 January 1876). No copies of the Garden belonging to CD have been found.
3
No record of Robinson’s visit to Down has been found; he exchanged letters with CD in 1864 and 1866 (Correspondence vols. 12 and 14).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.4 ie. … 1st.] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10350,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10350