Mon cher Mons. Tyndal
Je me propose de partir demain soir pour Londres. Je demeurerai d’abord dans un hotel, puis je chercherai un logement garni dans les environs de l’Athénée de l’Institution ou de Sommerset House. C’est là je crois le centre des établissements que je suis intéressé à visiter. Je connais bien une dame, Grosvenor Square, chez laquelle j’ai déjà logé, mais je serais là trop loin du quartier central. J’aurai l’honneur d’aller vous voir à mon arrivée, pour que vous m’aidiez un instant à trouver un logement ce qui ne sera pas difficile ni long. Notre ami Mr Grove voulait m’arrêter un logement dans les environs de sa maison. Je le prie de n’en rien faire. Je serai trop loin de ce que je considère comme le centre et je serai trop exposé à le déranger souvent.
Rappelez-moi, je vous prie au souvenir de Mr Faraday.
| Votre dévoué | C. Despretz | Le 6 mai 1856
[Paris] Le 6 mai| 1856
My dear Mr Tyndal,
I intend to come to London tomorrow evening. First I will stay in a hotel, and then I will seek furnished accommodation in the vicinity of the Athenaeum of the Institution,1 or of Somerset House. 2 I believe that is the centre of the institutions that I am interested in visiting. I know a lady in Grosvenor Square3 with whom I have stayed before, but I would be too far away from the central area. I will have the honour of seeing you upon my arrival, so that you might help me to find lodgings, which should not be difficult nor take long. Our friend, Mr Grove, wanted me to stop at a place close to his home.4 I declined his suggestion. I would be too far from what I consider the centre, and I would be too prone to bother him often.
Please remind Mr Faraday of me. | Your devoted | C. Despretz | May 6th 1856
RI MS JT/1/D/124
the Athenaeum of the Institution: ‘of the Institution’ is unclear. In letter 1159 Despretz had talked about being admitted to the Athenaeum Club.
Somerset House: A government building on the Strand and overlooking the River Thames. In 1856 it housed, among other offices, the Royal Academy, the Royal Society, the Society of Antiquaries, and the administrative offices of the University of London.
Grosvenor Square: Clearly, Despretz was unfamiliar with London since Grosvenor Square, a fashionable garden square in Mayfair, was closer to the RI and Tyndall’s lodgings in Mount Street than the Athenaeum.
close to his home: William Robert Grove lived at 6 Queen Anne Street in Marylebone to the north of Oxford Street. The family later moved to neighbouring Harley Street.
Please cite as “Tyndall1219,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on