Ɛpsilon

To T. W. Denby   1 March 1874

March 1st/ 74

T. W. Denby Esq | 8 or 3 Frederic Place | Old Jewry London

Sir

I shd be much obliged if you wd read the enclosed copy of a letter from me to Sir J. Lubbock.1 He in his answer, says he believes, or is almost certain that the land in question “is among mrg settlem2   As you will see by the enclosed he refers me to you.3 If that portion of the field cannot be sold, could it not be exchanged for an equal area of my own land? I have heard in such settlements, that this is permissible; but as Sir John does not in his answer allude to my proposal to exchange, he may possibly have some objection to this plan. After you have ascertained whether the land is settled, will you be so good as to inform Sir John, & find out for me whether he wd be willing to sell, or exchange it, as either plan would be a great advantage to me.—

Draft

1
CD enclosed a copy of his letter to John Lubbock, 23 February 1874, concerning his wish to purchase, instead of continuing to rent, a little wood that adjoined the Down House property. The wood contained the ‘sandwalk’, the gravel path on which CD made several circuits a day for exercise and uninterrupted thinking.
2
Lubbock had explained that his marriage settlement might preclude the sale of the land to CD (see the letter from John Lubbock, 27 February 1874).
3
Both Lubbock’s note to Denby and the letter from John Lubbock, 27 February 1874, were written at the bottom of the sheet of paper on which CD wrote his letter to John Lubbock, 23 February 1874 (see n. 1, above); Denby therefore had all the correspondence to hand.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 He in] interl after del ‘In’
1.2 says he … enclosed he 1.4] interl after del ‘in which he’
1.4 If that portion of the field] after del ‘, & *Will you t   [below del ‘settle’] You will observe in Sir Johns answer he does not allude to my proposal to exchange the land. If the little bit of land’; interl above del illeg
1.4 for an … own land? 1.5] after del illeg; interl above del ‘as I propose in my letter.’
1.5 I have … permissible;] added
1.5 that] moved from after ‘have heard’
1.6 in his answer] interl
1.8 me] above del ‘[him]’
1.8 be willing] above del ‘prefer’
1.9 or] after del ‘it if it can be sold’
1.9 either plan] interl above del ‘this’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9327,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9327