Ɛpsilon

To H. A. Pitman   [13 May 1879]1

[Bassett, Southampton.]

Sir

Absence from my home has prevented me from sooner acknowledging your letter May 9th., received yesterday Evening.2 The honour which the R. C of Physicians has conferred on me by the award of the Baly medal is a very great one, & it is as deeply gratifying as it is surprising to me.3

I hope to be able to attend on June 26th to receive the medal, but my health is very doubtful & I may not be equal to the exertion. I will however, have the pleasure of communicating with you nearer to the time.

With my thanks for your obliging letter | I have the honour to remain | Sir | Your obdt servant | C. D

ADraftS

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter, the letter from H. A. Pitman, 9 May 1879, and the letter to J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 13 May 1879.
2
See letter from H. A. Pitman, 9 May 1879. Between 6 and 26 May 1879, the Darwins visited Worthing, Southampton, and Leith Hill Place; CD would have received Pitman’s letter in Southampton, where they stayed from 8 to 21 May (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).
3
On the Baly medal, awarded biennially by the Royal College of Physicians of London, see the letter from H. A. Pitman, 9 May 1879 and n. 1.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Sir … C. D 3.1] pencil
1.2 May] after del ‘of [below del ‘dated’]’
1.2 yesterday] after del ‘only’
1.2 Evening] above ‘Eg’
1.3 it] interl
0.1 Sir … C. D 3.1] pencil

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12047,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12047