Ɛpsilon

From Edward Atkinson   25 October 1877

Clare College Lodge, | Cambridge.

October 25, 1877

Sir,

I have the honour to inform you that the Grace for conferring upon you the Honorary LL.D. Degree has been this day passed by the Senate with complete unanimity.1 It rests with yourself to select the day on which it would be most agreeable to you to receive it. There are congregations this term on the 1st, the 15th, & the 22nd of November, and on the 6th of December. The Public Orator, by whom recipients of Honorary Degrees are presented, usually wishes for a fortnight’s notice.2 But I am sure that he and all others who bear office in the University would be desirous of meeting your wishes in this matter in every way that they are able.

Believe me to be, | Sir | Your very obedient Servant | E. Atkinson Vice Chancellor

Charles Darwin Esqre. M.A. F.R.S. | &c &c &c

1
Atkinson had informed CD in June that the Senate of the University of Cambridge would consider giving him an honorary degree (see letter to Edward Atkinson, 9 June 1877).
2
John Edwin Sandys was the public orator (Cambridge University calendar 1877, p. 243).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11209A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11209A