To Reginald Darwin   27 March 1879

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

March 27th 1879

Dear Cousin

A German has published a sketch of the life of our grandfather, which my Brother & self intend to have translated, & I mean to add a preface about his character &c &c; but my chief object is to contradict flatly some calumnies by Miss Seward.1 Now if you possess any documents about him or letters written by him, & would be so very kind as to lend them to me for a time (they shd. be returned registered) they might prove very useful, though judging from letters in my possession I fear that few would be worth publishing.—

It is very many years since we met, & I hope that you retain your health & strength.2

I am growing a very old man, but keep as yet my mental faculties tolerably clear.—

Pray believe me | Dear Cousin | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

P. S | Did you ever happen to hear whether Dr. D reached his son Charles in Edinburg in time to see him die?3

1
CD and Erasmus Alvey Darwin were arranging a translation of Ernst Krause’s sketch of the life of Erasmus Darwin (Krause 1879a; see letter to Ernst Krause, 9 March 1879, and letter from Ernst Krause, 12 March 1879). Anna Seward had published a biography of Erasmus Darwin in 1804 (Seward 1804).
3
Erasmus Darwin’s eldest son, Charles, was a nineteen-year-old medical student at Edinburgh when he died from the effects of a wound received while dissecting (see Erasmus Darwin, p. 80).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11957,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11957