Ɛpsilon

To W. C. Marshall   27 September [1878]1

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

Sept. 27th

My dear Marshall

I send a line to thank you very much for remembering about the plant, which is now planted & I hope will flourish, & it shall then be observed.— Whenever any systematic botanist is here I hope to get name.— Pinguicola is a fine case.2

I am writing this in your new room, which makes a most splendid study & is the comfort of my life.—3

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the reference to building work at Down House (see n. 3 below).
2
See letter from W. C. Marshall, 25 September [1878]; the plant has not been identified. Pinguicula: butterwort.
3
Marshall had designed and superintended the building of an extension at Down House, including a room originally intended as a billiard room, but later adapted for use as a study (see Correspondence vol. 24, letter to W. C. Marshall, 19 September 1876). CD’s Classed account books (Down House MS) record payments for the ‘new room’ to Marshall and others from 3 March to 27 December 1877, and payments for the study in May and July 1878.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11153,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11153