Ɛpsilon

From J. D. Hooker   [19 March 1866]1

Kew

Monday.

My dear Darwin

May I come to you on Saturday?2 My wife & I are going to hear Acis & Galatea at the C.P., with a Lady friend, who lives hard by, & with whom she returns to sleep.3 If you could meet me at Sydenham, with a trap of any kind, at about 512 PM I would go on to you. At some Hotel or the Sydenham station would perhaps be better than the palace itself, to meet the trap

Ever Yr affec | J D Hooker

1
The date is established by the date of Hooker’s visit to Down, and by the date of the performance of Acis and Galatea (see nn. 2 and 3, below). In 1866, 19 March was the first Monday before 24 March.
2
Hooker visited Down from Saturday 24 March to Monday 26 March 1866 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).
3
Hooker’s wife was Frances Harriet Hooker. George Frideric Handel’s Acis and Galatea was performed on 24 March 1866 at the Crystal Palace in Sydenham (Athenæum, 17 March 1866, p. 349). The friend has not been identified.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5077,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5077