Ɛpsilon

To ?   [9 December 1874, 14 December 1875, or 10 January 1877]1

2 Bryanston Street | Portman St

Wednesday

My dear Sir

I am staying in London for a few days & it has occurred to me that you might possibly be coming into London on Friday or Saturday, & if you could come to luncheon here at one o’clock on either day it would give me very great pleasure.

Please to let me have an answer that I may be sure to be at home

My dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin

LS

1
The possible dates are established by the ‘Down’ headed notepaper on which this letter is written (the printed address was crossed out by the amanuensis and is not reproduced here) and by the handwritten address. The printed notepaper is of a sort that CD used from November 1874, and his daughter Henrietta Emma Litchfield lived at 2 Bryanston Street, London, from 1872; by February 1878, the address had changed to 4 Bryanston Street as a result of renumbering (Correspondence vol. 26, letter to James Torbitt, [28 February 1878]). Between November 1874 and February 1878, CD made three visits to 2 Bryanston Street; the Wednesdays during these visits on which this letter could have been written are 9 December 1874, 15 December 1875, and 10 January 1877.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9724F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9724F