Ɛpsilon

To S. P. Woodward   10 July 1848

Down Farnborough Kent

July 10th./48

My dear Sir

I have much pleasure in stating that from your long connection with the Museum of the Geological Society & from your general knowledge of Geology and Palæontology, in my opinion, you would be enabled to render very material service in taking care of & in arranging the specimens in the Fossil department of the British Museum.1

With my wishes for your success,—I beg to remain | Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | C. Darwin

S. P. Woodward Esqre

1
Woodward was sub-curator of the Geological Society of London from 1839 to 1845 and assisted CD by preparing specimens from the collections for him to study while he was working on Volcanic islands (see Correspondence vol. 2, letters to S. P. Woodward, [14 January 1843] and 29 [September 1843]). Woodward’s application was successful; he was appointed first-class assistant in the department of geology and mineralogy in the British Museum in 1848, and in that capacity provided CD with information and specimens for his work on fossil cirripedes (Correspondence vol. 4, letters to S. P. Woodward, 21 March [1850] and [April 1850 – January 1851]; DNB; Fossil Cirripedia (1851)). For Woodward’s career at the British Museum, see Stearn 1981, pp. 229–30.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1189A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1189A