The text is from the last page of a letter, which has been framed with an Elliot & Fry carte de visite of CD, one of several poses produced in 1874. However, the letter and carte were not necessarily originally associated. The beginning of the date range is established by CD’s marriage to Emma Darwin on 29 January 1839 (Correspondence vol. 2), since the letter appears to be in her hand; the end of the date range is the year of CD’s death.