Ɛpsilon

To W. B. Tegetmeier   12 August [1862]

Down. | Bromley. |Kent. S.E.

Aug. 12th.

My dear Sir

I think yours is a capital but too kind & flattering an article on my orchid Book.—1 You are an excellent hand at writing & I know that you once attended much to Botany  

Many thanks for Green feathers, which I am very glad to see.—

I much fear, from your not mentioning subject, that you have not got the Curatorship at Southampton.2 I write in hurry for I start tomorrow for a month to “Sea Villa, Bournemouth”, on account of one of my Boys, who has had frightfull illness of 8 weeks.3 All my work has gone of late to the dogs.—

My dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | C. Darwin

Endorsement: ‘1862—’

1
Tegetmeier’s review of Orchids appeared in the August 1862 number of Weldon’s register of facts and occurrences relating to literature, the sciences, and the arts (Tegetmeier 1862). There is a copy of this review in the Scrapbook of reviews (DAR 226.1: 140).
2
Tegetmeier had applied for a position as curator of the museum at the new Hartley Institution, Southampton; CD had written a testimonial in support of his application (see letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 20 June 1862).
3
Although the Darwins travelled as far as Southampton on 13 August (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)), their onward journey to Bournemouth was delayed because Leonard Darwin suffered a relapse in his recovery from scarlet fever, and Emma Darwin contracted the disease (see letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 August [1862]).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3687,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3687