Ɛpsilon

To George Cupples   20 September [1870]1

Down | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

Sept. 20

My dear Mr Cupples.

I am delighted to hear about the Dog; but as I said before you have been too generous to make me such a present.2 I do not feel worthy of it, except so far that when I know a dog, I love it with all my heart & soul.—

Whenever I hear of the dog & train & station in London & hour of arrival I will send a servant to meet the train in London, & he shall either keep in London or bring the dog home the same night according to the hour. […] I should be very grateful for a few instructions about food & name of Father or near relatives that we may Christian him3 […] Any hints, if necessary, about teaching him to be quiet & not attack men or animals wd. be advisable. I can assure you, we will all make much of him.

I am very hard at work correcting proofs of my new book, “on the Descent of Man &c” which turns out unfortunately large, viz 2 volumes. I need not say that a copy will of course be sent you when published; but I shall be at least 2 more months at the abominable work of making my rugged style passably smooth.— 4

With cordial thanks— Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

We are pleased to hear that he is not grey but cream-coloured!

Pray give our very kind remembrances to Mrs Cupples.—5

Incomplete6

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from George Cupples, 17 September 1870 (Correspondence vol. 18).
2
Cupples had offered to send CD a deerhound puppy (see Correspondence vol. 18, letter from George Cupples, 29 April 1870).
3
The puppy was called Bran (Correspondence vol. 18, letter from George Cupples, 14 November 1870).
4
Descent was published in early 1871; Cupples’s name appears on CD’s presentation list (Correspondence vol. 19, Appendix IV).
6
The original letter is complete and is described by the dealer as being four pages long; the transcription is partly from photographs, and partly from quotations from the dealer’s description.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Beckenham] before del ‘Bromley’
2.1 hear of] ‘of’ interl
2.6 we] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7322F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7322F