Ɛpsilon

From G. H. Darwin   [1–4 April 1871]1

New University Club | St. James St.

Dear Father,

I found that my 2nd. correction was nothing— the other was Livornia as I wrote you on the 12d2   The £1.1 watch lost 3 minutes in 12 an hour & so I took it back & got a 30s one—wh they warrant. Balfour3 has put off our play expedition till Thursday & so I shall dine tomorrow at 7 unless I hear to contrary

Your affectionate son | G H Darwin

I’ve got the pho’s but I think you ought to go & look a some of them.4 One seems to me to represent shyness.—

1
The date range is established by the reference to the correction ‘Livornia’ (see n. 2, below), and by the fact that CD was in London from 1 to 5 April 1871 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). George’s reference to his hour of dining and his advice to CD to ‘go & look’ at some photographs suggests that it was written while CD was in London.
2
The second correction has not been identified. In Descent 1: 264, Livonia was misspelled Livornia in the first and second printings, published in February and March 1871; in the third printing, published in April 1871, it was corrected (see Freeman 1977). George sent this correction on a halfpenny postcard, available in England from 1 October 1870 (Hill 2007, pp. 4–5). The postcard has not been found.
4
CD was collecting photographs for his work on expression. He came to London on 1 April 1871 to consult Oscar Gustaf Rejlander, a photographer (letter to H. E. Darwin, 20 March 1871).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7790,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7790