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From Albert Günther   6 February 1875

British Museum | Zoological Department

Febr. 6. 1875

My dear Mr. Darwin

You have always taken such a friendly interest in my progress in life that I cannot allow a day to pass without giving you the news of my appointment to the keepership.1 It is a step which will be the last & most important in my life, as the post will give me as much work as I am able to perform, and as much honour as satisfies my ambition.

Fred. Smith is to be my successor; and if a man ever merited recognition by faithful service, he is F. Smith.2

With kind regards to Mrs Darwin | Yours ever truly | A Günther

1
Günther was promoted from assistant keeper to keeper of zoology at the British Museum following the retirement of John Edward Gray (ODNB).
2
Frederick Smith had chosen not to compete against Günther for the post of assistant keeper in 1872, which Günther had regarded as an act of unselfishness on Smith’s part (see Correspondence vol. 20, letter from Albert Günther, 14 May 1872).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9842,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9842