To G. J. Romanes   [7 December 1874]1

2 Bryanston St Portman St

Monday night

My dear Sir

It wd give me great pleasure to see you. Indeed I was thinking, if time & strength permitted, of coming down to the Brown Inn.—2 I am generally good for nothing in the afternoon, & therefore, if it would suit you, would you come to luncheon here on Wednesday at 1 o clock & afterwards we could go into a room by ourselves & have some talk. Or I could see you any morning before 1 oclock.3

In Haste | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin

1
The date is established by the address and by the fact that CD addresses Romanes as ‘My dear Sir’, which suggests that they had not met. In his letter of 16 December 1874, CD addresses Romanes as ‘Dear Mr Romanes’ for the first time. CD was at 2 Bryanston Street, London, from 3 to 12 December 1874 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)); the only Monday during the period was 7 December. CD’s correspondence with Romanes began in July 1874 (letter from G. J. Romanes, 10 July 1874).
2
Romanes studied under John Scott Burdon Sanderson, who was professor-superintendent of the Brown Animal Sanatory Institution (ODNB).
3
CD and Romanes probably met on Thursday 10 December (see letter to G. J. Romanes, [9 December 1874]). Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242) records ‘C. in bed’ for Wednesday 9 December.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Portman St] above del ‘Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.’
1.4 could] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9747,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9747