From W. B. Tegetmeier   [29 March – 7 April 1865]1

⁠⟨⁠one page missing⁠⟩⁠ But I daresay you have noticed this yourself for nothing seems to escape you—

Pray do not hesitate to command me in any and every way that I can be of the slightest aid to you

My eye is getting on very well   On saturday I wrote fifty of these small slips of MSS. and have not felt any inconvenience2

I mention this that you may have no scruples respecting me

Believe Me | My dear Sir Yours Very Truly | W B Tegetmeier

C Darwin Esq

[Enclosure]

**Note to. fol 13

I think it is not worth while to mention the works of mine quoted. My edition of the Poultry Book was never completed owing to the failure of the publisher4 and the Profitable Poultry has been long out of print.5 I would rather you would say from “Information obtained from me” if you think fit.6

incomplete

1
The date range is conjectured from the relationship between this letter and the letters to W. B. Tegetmeier, 28 March [1865] and [7 April 1865]. See n. 2, below.
2
Tegetmeier refers to his notes on CD’s manuscript chapter on fowls, which he had been reading and correcting (see letters to W. B. Tegetmeier, 27 February [1865] and 28 March [1865], and letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, 13 March 1865). CD congratulated Tegetmeier on the improvement in his eye in his letter of [7 April 1865]. The enclosure to this letter may be one of the slips referred to.
3
Tegetmeier refers to a note on the first folio of CD’s manuscript chapter on fowls. The note contained CD’s acknowledgment of Tegetmeier’s assistance (see Variation 1: 225, n. 1).
4
Tegetmeier refers to Wingfield and Johnson 1856–7, which he edited; there is an annotated copy in the Darwin Library–CUL (see Marginalia 1: 798–800). Eleven parts were published before the London publisher, William S. Orr & Co., failed.
5
Tegetmeier 1854. An annotated copy is in the Darwin Library–CUL (see Marginalia 1: 803).
6
CD’s acknowledgment on the first page of the published version of the chapter on fowls was evidently based on the advice contained in this letter; Tegetmeier was acknowledged as the chief source of CD’s information and thanked for reviewing the chapter (see Variation 1: 225, n. 1).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4803,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4803