Ɛpsilon

To E. R. Lankester   9 July 1879

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

July 9th 79

My dear Dr. Lankester

I hope that you will be so good as to thank the authoress for her kind present & yourself accept my thanks. It is a grief to me that some part of my brain has undergone a new form of degeneration, for though in old days I much enjoyed the higher kinds of poetry, now for several years I have not been able to read a line! Perhaps the ‘key-notes’ may revive my taste, & I will make the trial, but greatly fear that all the ganglia in my skull have become too prosy.—1

I am delighted to hear that you will be able to give up more time for original investigations; for I have always thought, if you will allow me to say so, that you could do splendid work.2

Believe me | Yours sincerely | Charles Darwin

We are going to the Lakes for a Holiday soon & I will take the Poem— the place will be propitious.—3

1
No letter from Lankester on this subject has been found, but he evidently sent a copy of Key-notes (Bevington 1879), a collection of poems by Louisa Sarah Bevington.
2
Lankester was professor of zoology at University College, London, and also edited the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science; in 1879, he moved to Northbank, London, to be closer to University College and also was given assistants who acted as demonstrators for lectures (Lester 1995).
3
The Darwins stayed at Coniston in the Lake District from 2 to 27 August 1879 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.6 too] added in margin

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12140,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12140