Ɛpsilon

To William Bowman   1 June [1876]1

H. Wedgwoods2 | Hopedene

June 1st

My dear Bowman

Your note has been forwarded to me here, & it was very kind of you to write to me.3 I shd. have enjoyed beyond measure hearing Donders, but in truth I have not strength to come to London today for the lecture.4 Pray remember me most kindly to him: I shall never forget his generous assistance to me formerly.—5

I have been admiring your beautiful house from this place, but have not been able to walk so far as yet: the gardener here has had instruction to act as a detective & report to me if you came down on a Sunday, when I shd have called & had the great pleasure of seeing you.6 But we leave this place next Wednesday morning7 & I fear you will not be here on Sunday.—

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the reference to CD’s visit to Hopedene, Holmbury St Mary, Surrey; CD stayed at Hopedene from 24 May to 7 June 1876 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II).
2
Hensleigh and Frances Emma Elizabeth Wedgwood.
3
Bowman’s letter has not been found.
4
Frans Cornelis Donders was vice-president of the biology section at the South Kensington Museum conferences on the special loan collection of scientific apparatus in May and June 1876 (Conferences on the special loan collection of scientific apparatus; chemistry etc., p. 149). Donders spoke on the velocity of thought (ibid., pp. 224–8).
5
CD and Donders had corresponded since 1869; in 1872, Donders had helped CD with information about the human eye for Expression (Correspondence vol. 20).
6
Bowman’s country house was Joldwynds, in Holmbury St Mary (ODNB).
7
In 1876, the Wednesday following 1 June was 7 June (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.2 June 1st] before del ‘Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.’
1.3 for] ‘f’ over ‘t’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10521,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10521