Ɛpsilon

To Hyacinth Hooker   6 January [1882]1

Down Beckenham

Jan— 6th

Dear Lady Hooker

I have much pleasure in sending 5—5—0 in aid of your subscription for poor Mrs Fitch..— If you want more, I beg you to apply to me again; for it would require a great many letters before I could “treat you as a troublesome person”.2

Believe me dear Lady Hooker | Yours truly obliged | Charles Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Hyacinth Hooker, 7 January 1882.
2
Hannah Fitch was the wife of Walter Hood Fitch, a botanical artist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who illustrated several of Joseph Dalton Hooker’s works. A cheque for £5 5s. to ‘L Hooker to Mrs Fitch Charity’ is recorded in CD’s Account books–cash account (Down House MS) on 6 January 1882. No previous letter from Hyacinth Hooker on this matter has been found.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13600G,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13600G