From G. H. Darwin to Richard Strachey   [29 August 1873]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Friday

Dear General Strachey,

My father has asked me to write to you to thank you for your letter & to say that the information is very valuable to him.

He would have written himself but he has unfortunately been very ill for 4 days & is still in bed & I fear will remain so for some time.2

I am getting on very well with the globe & map3

It will be best I think to have the 32 sheets on separate pieces of paper & to fasten them on to a soft deal scaffolding of this form

diagram

which will hang against a wall & show 1[7]th of the world. The maps to be fastened on by pins.

The globe will all pack up into this form

diagram

& tho’ small when packed looks gigantic when put together— It is on the scale of 320 miles to the inch. If I get it done before you go to Bradford should I send it to you at Clapham or shall it meet you at Bradford?4

Yours very sincerely | G H Darwin

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Richard Strachey, 25 August 1873. The Friday following 25 August 1873 was 29 August.
2
According to Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242), CD was very unwell on 26 and 28 August 1873, but much better in the next couple of days. He was out of bed on 31 August.
4
The meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science was held in Bradford in September 1873. Strachey’s home was in Clapham.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9031,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9031