Ɛpsilon

To Richard Kippist1    10 March [1858]2

Down, Bromley, Kent,

March 10

My dear Sir,

I am owing to a mistake which I made in very great want of two Books, which I had once before out of Library. In fact I am come to a dead stand still until I can get them. I do not know what regulations are, but I think the council would permit your being so kind as to send off the two vos. to the enclosed address tomorrow morning. Will you so far oblige me? The Books are the vol. of Boreau’s Flora du Centre de la France3 which includes genus Carex. And Flora Ratisbonensis (Naturhistorische Topog: von Regensburg) Dr. A. E. Fürnrohr, 1839.4 I do hope you can oblige me in this: if sent off soonest tomorrow morning by Charing Cross Coach I shall get them on Friday morning.

NO, I have just thought of better plan; I will send our carrier, tomorrow morning, for the chance of you being able to give the Books to him.5

My dear sir | Yours very sincerely, | C. Darwin

1
The recipient is identified by CD’s reference to works by Alexandre Boreau and August Emanuel Fürnrohr (see nn. 3 and 4, below). CD had borrowed these books from the Linnean Society in July 1857 (see Correspondence vol. 6, letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 August [1857] and n. 5). Richard Kippist was the librarian of the Linnean Society. Parts of this letter were published in Correspondence vol. 7; a complete transcript of the letter appeared in a later sale catalogue.
2
The year, as given in James Cummins’s catalogue, is confirmed by CD’s request to borrow books previously used in his tabulation of large and small genera (see Correspondence vol. 7, letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 [March 1858]).
3
Boreau 1840.
4
Fürnrohr 1839.
5
The Down carrier, George Snow, went to London once a week (Post Office directory of the six home counties).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-2238,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-2238