To J. V. Carus   16 August [1868]1

Freshwater | I. of Wight.

Sunday Aug 16

My dear Sir

You will see by the address above that I am not at home & I regret extremely to have missed your visit.2

My health lately has been very indifferent & we came to this place for a change, but it has not done me much good.

We return home on Friday night & if you could spare time, after the British Assoc, to pay me a visit I should be delighted to see you.3

I have heard that the second part of my book is now published in Germany & I dare say that a copy of it is at Down; but I have not seen it as yet.4 I shall always feel greatly indebted to you for the honour which you have done me in translating it & for the great care which you have taken in making the translation accurate.

With sincere respect & thanks I remain | my dear Sir | yours very truly | Charles Darwin

P.S. I have some scruples in asking you to come so far to see me as owing to my health I can only converse for a short time, nevertheless I must repeat how very glad I shd be to see you

LS

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. V. Carus, 14 August 1868.
3
The Darwins arrived back in Down on Friday 21 August (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)). CD did not meet Carus in 1868 (Correspondence vol. 17, letter to J. V. Carus, 5 January 1869).
4
See letter from Eduard Koch, 21 July 1868. CD refers to the German translation of Variation (Carus trans. 1868). The Darwins went to the Isle of Wight on 16 July (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6317,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6317