From Raphael Meldola   1 November 1878

My dear Sir,

I am extremely grateful for your kindness in consenting to write a few prefatory remarks to the English edition of Weismanns essays.¹ There is no occasion to put yourself to any inconvenience in the matter as under any circumstances we should not be ready for the preface for many months & you can take your leisure, over it. I have not yet obtained the author’s consent but have written to him & am awaiting his reply. I propose to bring out the book by subscription— armed with a good subscription list & your kind offer to give a short preface I can treat with a publisher on any terms that he may propose— if the subscription list is not sufficient to cover expenses of publication & the publisher will not take the balance of risk I will do so myself.

Of course I cannot promise that the translating & editing of this book will proceed with great rapidity as I have only my spare time (the evenings after 6) to work at it. I must tell you that professionally I am scientific chemist to the above works.² Entomology has only been a pastime with me.

I will wait till you come to London to avail myself of the privilege of seeing you. If you will kindly let me know when you arrive & where you put up, a time most convenient to you for our meeting can be fixed upon. I am extremely sorry to hear that your health is still doubtful—³ I had been given to understand that you were better. I can however fully sympathise with you as I am myself subject to dyspepsia & the least overexcitement is sure to bring on an attack.

Thanking you most warmly for your kind wishes & encouragement, | I am, dear Sir, | Yours very faithfully, | R. Meldola.

C. Darwin Esq^re. LLD. &c