To J. V. Carus   18 October [1876]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R. [Bassett, Southampton.]

Oct 18th

My dear Sir

I am sorry to hear of the loss.— I directed the sheets myself & am sure that there was no error. But I do not understand whether it is the first or second lot which is lost.2 Therefore will you kindly tell me what sheets you actually possess? I return home on the 20th.3

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

I have other sheets ready but I suppose you are not in a hurry

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to J. V. Carus, 25 October 1876.
2
Carus’s letter has not been found. CD sent the second set of proof-sheets of Cross and self fertilisation with his letter to J. V. Carus of [early October 1876]); he had sent the first set with his letter of 27 September 1876.
3
CD was in Southampton visiting William Erasmus Darwin (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 it is] ‘it’ above del ‘was’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10645,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10645