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Darwin Correspondence Project

To W. D. Fox    [29 October 1828]

[Shrewsbury]

Wednesday

My dear Fox

I should have answered your letter before this, but when you know the reason, you will say it is a good one.— But first, I must grieve over the loss both of your hawk & stuffed birds the first is the most serious one, but I cannot help grudging the fate of the others, as one gets a sort of affection for anything procured by one own self: I go to Cambridge on Thursday, & shall arrive there on Friday evening, & I hope it will not be long before you are there, & now for the glorious news. I have been introduced, & if I may presume to say so, struck up a friendship with Mr. Hope:1 I met him at dinner, & I find he knows all my Scotch friends, & we had so much entomological talk, that he asked me bring over all my insects to Netley.2 When we meet I will tell you the result, but I must mention, what he said, that for 4 or 5 years back, he had not seen such a rich case collected in one year yours must be still richer: I hope you had all the duplicates of carabi taken at Barmouth, as most are very rare, & some new he believes he is a perfect specimen of an Entomologist, so generous, straitforward. I could not prevail upon him to have any new ones, except 2 flies, he believes both new to England. My head is quite full of Entomology. I long to empty some information out of it into yours.— He thinks he can give me 3 or 400 speci⁠⟨⁠es⁠⟩⁠ at Christmas. the other day he sent 700 to Dr Fleming.3 In the spring he wants me to come an expedition, all over the Welch mountains & he insures me to find many new insects. I could write all day about him; but I long to see you! he has given me a great many water beettles.

Yours affectionat, | Ch Darwin

Catherine sends something more than her love to Julia, & entreats she will write soon.

I suppose you will soon be up at Xst. Coll: as the delightful! mornings! at the Priory4 are come to end.—

Footnotes

Netley Hall, the Hope family seat, about 5 miles south of Shrewsbury.
Probably John Fleming.
Breadsall Priory, near Derby, home of Elizabeth Collier Darwin, widow of CD’s grandfather Erasmus.

Summary

Has met Frederick William Hope, the entomologist; relates F. W. Hope’s praise of CD’s collection and his generous offer of assistance.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-52
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
William Darwin Fox
Sent from
Shrewsbury
Postmark
Shrewsbury OC 3⁠⟨⁠0⁠⟩⁠ 1828 153
Source of text
Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 6)
Physical description
ALS 4pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 52,” accessed on 19 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-52.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 1

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