Ɛpsilon

To Eliza Meteyard   16 November [1865]

Down Bromley | Kent

Nov. 16

My dear Madam

The Editor of the Autographic Mirror has applied to me for a specimen of the handwriting of Dr Erasmus Darwin & I shd be glad to oblige him.1 It ought to be a moderately long note signed with his name & if possible possessing some sort of interest or as little dull as possible.

Will you have the kindness to see if you can find such a note among the letters & send it me or even two or three to choose from, & they shall be returned to you if required.2

Hoping that you will excuse my giving you this trouble I beg leave to remain | My dear Madam | yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin

LS

Postmark: NO 16 65

2
CD had sent Meteyard letters from his paternal grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, to his maternal grandfather, Josiah Wedgwood I, for use in Meteyard 1865–6 (see letter from Eliza Meteyard, 25 April 1865 and n. 4, and Supplement, letter to Hurst and Blackett, 15 November [1863] and n. 3). The letter from Erasmus Darwin to Josiah Wedgwood I, 27 April 1766, was reproduced in the Autographic Mirror (L’Autograph Cosmopolite); this letter is quoted in Meteyard 1865–6, 1: 436.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4936,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4936