To Abraham Clapham1   [29 October 1847?]2

Shrewsbury

Friday

My dear Sir

Your letter has been forwarded to me here, where I am staying for a week to see my Father.— I am in truth really obliged to you for your kind offer of experimentising on hybrids in the ensuing year.

I hope you will record all facts, such as the number of plants you experimentise on, their names &c &c.— Of course when I publish, your experiments will be given with your name.— Negative facts (ie failures) are as important to know as successes.—

I have this day written to my Publisher to send you a copy of my Journal3 by the first opportunity. It gives me real pleasure to show you this very small mark of my thankfulness

Pray believe me | In Haste | Yours faithfully | C. Darwin

The copy I send is the second Edition, & is I hope somewhat improved, from the 1st. that was published.

1
The correspondent is probably Abraham Clapham (see letter to Abraham Clapham, 10 December [1849], and letter from Abraham Clapham, 8 March 1850, also concerned with hybridisation). CD cited information from ‘A. Clapham, nurseryman, of Bradford’ in Variation 1: 377.
2
The conjectured date is based on CD’s visit to Shrewsbury from 22 October to 5 November (‘Journal’; Correspondence vol. 4, Appendix I).
3
Journal of researches 2d ed.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

4.1 In Haste] added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1137,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1137