Ɛpsilon

To G. J. Romanes   8 December 1881

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

Decr 8th 1881

My dear Romanes

I return the letters & acknowledge the cheque for £12..10s. 0d. The circular is a grand letter & Mr Allen is a noble man.— It is pretty clear that nothing can be done by the subscribers.—1 But could not we two give him a microscope, if you shd. think fit? I shall be in London next week & shall be very glad to see you; & we can then speak about it.—2 This evening I am overwhelmed with stupid letters to answer, so farewell | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

I will, of course, send the Origin & feel really proud & glad to send a copy to such a man.—3

1
The letters returned by CD have not been identified, but probably included a letter written by Grant Allen to Romanes about reimbursing the people who had subscribed to a fund that allowed Allen and his family to spend the winter of 1879–80 on the Riviera while he recuperated from ill health brought on by overwork (for more on Allen’s decision to return the money, see P. Morton 2005, pp. 81–2). CD had contributed £25 to the fund (see Correspondence vol. 27, letter to G. J. Romanes, 23 July 1879 and n. 1). CD recorded the receipt of £12 10s under the heading ‘Charities’ with a note ‘Repaid by Grant Allen’ in his Account books–classed accounts (Down House MS); the record is undated, but the accounts are entered by year. The circular was probably a letter from Allen to the subscribers explaining his actions.
2
The Darwins visited London from 13 to 20 December 1881 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).
3
CD probably sent a copy of Origin 6th ed.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added
1.1 £ … d.] ‘£’, ‘s.’, ‘d.’ above figures
1.3 by the subscribers.] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13536,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13536