From John Lubbock   3 November 1864

The Athenæum

3 Nov. 64

My dear Mr. Darwin

I must write ⁠⟨⁠a⁠⟩⁠ line to congratulate you on having got the Copley & am sure you know that no one of all your friends will rejoice more than I do.1

You know that we very nearly carried it ⁠⟨⁠last⁠⟩⁠ year & I really believe ⁠⟨⁠that⁠⟩⁠ the fight we then ⁠⟨⁠made⁠⟩⁠ may have had its influence on the present occasion.2

Many thanks for the paper on Cynips.3 The case seems surely rather weak, however I have made a mem. for the next Nat. His. R. & will return the paper in a few days.

I was very sorry to hear a poor account of you & hope you are better now.

I shall be at High Elms on Sunday.4 Is there any chance of seeing you in the morning.—

Believe me always | Yours affec | John Lubbock

C Darwin Esq

1
The Council of the Royal Society of London voted to award CD the Copley Medal on 3 November 1864 (Royal Society, Council minutes). See letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 November 186[4].
2
Lubbock had nominated CD for the Copley Medal in 1863; William Benjamin Carpenter had seconded the nomination. The medal was awarded to Adam Sedgwick. See Correspondence vol. 11, letter from E. A. Darwin, 9 November [1863], letter from E. A. Darwin to Emma Darwin, 11 November [1863], and letter from Edward Sabine to John Phillips, 12 November 1863.
3
The reference is to ‘On dimorphism in the hymenopterous genus Cynips’, by Benjamin Dann Walsh (Walsh 1864a). CD’s annotated copy is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL. See letter from B. D. Walsh, 29 April – 19 May 1864 and n. 7. Lubbock reviewed the paper in Natural History Review (Lubbock 1865a).
4
High Elms, the Lubbock family seat, was in Down (Post Office directory of the six home counties 1866).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4653,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4653