To Francis Darwin   [2 August 1879]1

6 Queen Anne Street, | London, W

Saturday

My dear F.

We shall be at the “Waterhead Hotel, Coniston”— The train which leaves Euston St. at 10 A.M & reaches Coniston at 6 P.M is a very good one.—2

I have looked to the French life of Dr. Darwin.3

It will be very nice to see you & to hear about axles.4 Bernard is very jolly.5 I asked him whether he liked London. & he answered. “I do, but it is dirty”.

We are all in good heart for our tremendous journey.

yours affect | C. Darwin

Dr F. Darwin

1
The date is established by the address. The Darwins stayed at the home of CD’s brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin, on 1 August 1879, before travelling to Coniston (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)); 2 August 1879 was a Saturday.
2
Francis was on his way back from Würzburg, Germany. In his letter of [before 31 July 1879], Francis had asked how to get to Coniston to join the Darwins on holiday.
3
CD had evidently looked at the biography of Erasmus Darwin published in Biographie médicale 3: 384–93; see letter from James Paget, 25 July 1879. Francis had offered to look at it on his way through London (letter from Francis Darwin, [before 31 July 1879]).
4
Francis referred to his various ‘axles’ (a family word for unresolved work-related issues) in his letter to Emma Darwin of 30 June 1879.
5
Francis’s son, Bernard Darwin.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 shall be] above del ‘are’
1.2 A.M] after del ‘o’
2.1 French] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12179,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12179