To Richard Kippist   13 May [1863 or 1868]1

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

May 13th

My dear Sir

If “Audubon’s Ornith. Biography” is in our Library, (5. vols.)2—will you be so kind as to have it ready for Carrier tomorrow Thursday morning.3 I forget whether it is permitted to have 5 vols.; but if not, could you venture to break the rule & mention it to the Secretary, as I much want all vols. as I shall have to refer to them many times during next fortnight.—4

Yours very sincerely | C. Darwin

If Carrier does not bring any vols. I shall understand you have it not.—5

1
The date range is conjectured from the stationery and from CD’s request to consult Audubon 1831–[9] (see n. 2, below). The printed stationery on which the letter is written was in use between 1861 and 1869 (see Carroll ed. 1976, p. xxiii); 13 May fell on a Wednesday in only two years in that period, 1863 and 1868. Between 1 April and 16 June 1863 (see ‘Journal’ (Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix II)), CD was writing a draft of the chapters on crossing and sterility for Variation (Variation 2: 85–191); Audubon 1831–[9] is cited in Variation 2: 154 and 157. Between 17 May and 26 December 1868, CD was working on the section of Descent (Descent 2: 38–238) that discussed sexual selection in birds (CD’s journal (DAR 158)); Audubon 1831–[9] is cited extensively. CD made an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the book at the end of May 1868 (see letter from Williams & Norgate, 2 June 1868, Calendar no. 6222).
2
Audubon 1831–[9]. Fellows of the Linnean Society were allowed to borrow books from the society’s library, with certain restrictions (List of the Linnean Society of London 1863); Kippist was the society’s librarian (DNB). CD read Audubon 1831–[9] in December 1858 (Correspondence vol. 4, Appendix IV, 128: 22), and an abstract of the work is in DAR 71: 192–214. The annotated copy in the Darwin Library–CUL (see Marginalia 1: 21–3) appears to have been purchased after 1868 (see letter from Williams & Norgate, 2 June 1868, Calendar no. 6222).
3
George Snow of Down operated a carrier service between London and Down every Thursday (Post Office directory of the six home counties 1862).
4
George Busk was the zoological secretary of the Linnean Society (DNB).
5
There was a copy of Audubon 1831–[9] in the Linnean Society’s library in 1866 (Catalogue of the library of the Linnean Society).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.3 the rule] ‘the’ interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4159,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4159