To Ernst Krause   2 May 1879

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

May 2 1879

My dear Sir

I leave home on May 6th for 3 weeks rest; & I inform you of this fact in case you shd have finished your life of Dr Darwin within this time.1 If so, it would be the safest plan to address your M.S to

“W. S. Dallas Esq

Geological Society

Burlington House

London—2

Will you further have the kindness to write him a few lines, telling him that you have despatched the M.S in accordance with my request, & asking him to begin the translation as soon as he can.

When away from home I will begin my preliminary notice; but fear I shall not do much, as I require rest—but as soon I return home, I will do nothing else.3

My dear Sir | yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin

LS

1
Between 6 and 26 May 1879, CD visited Worthing, Southampton, and Leith Hill Place (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). Krause was revising his account of Erasmus Darwin (Krause 1879a).
2
William Sweetland Dallas was assistant secretary of the Geological Society of London; he had agreed to translate Krause’s work on Erasmus Darwin (see letter from W. S. Dallas, 14 March 1879).
3
CD was preparing a biographical account of Erasmus Darwin as a preliminary notice to the translation of Krause’s work (Erasmus Darwin, pp. 1–127).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12024,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12024