Ɛpsilon

To Asa Gray   19 March [1877]1

Down

March 19th.

My dear Gray

I daresay the enclosed will do for sticking up with the sheets to make the volume complete.— I feel sure that Murray cd not send a hot-pressed copy without breaking up a set—2

We thank you & Mrs. Gray for your kind sympathy.— It was a most dreadful blow, but poor dear Frank sticks to his work like a man, & this is the sole alleviation possible.—3

Yours affectionately | C. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Asa Gray, 6 March 1877.
2
In his letter of 6 March 1877, Gray had requested a title page to complete his copy of Orchids 2d ed., which CD had sent him in sheets. This letter of 19 March was found in this copy (see provenance). John Murray was CD’s publisher.
3
See letter from Asa Gray, 6 March 1877 and n. 4; Gray and his wife, Jane Loring Gray, had just found out about the death of Francis Darwin’s wife, Amy.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10901,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10901