To W. D. Fox [7 April 1831]
My dear Fox
Do you mean to cut the connection; why do you not write? I sent the last letter; so by the laws of nations you ought to have written.— I was in such bustle, when I last wrote to you: that I really forget how our various money transactions go on.— I will state them.— I have in my possession your 5£: I have paid Aiken 2"13"6. But have not paid Bakers bill, (not having seen him) which amounts 5£"3s"6 including 12s. for apples for Henslows— I shall start for Cambridge tomorrow week: but shall stay a few days in London to hear Operas &c &c.— Let me have a letter from you waiting at Cambridge, or before I go there: I will settle all your affairs for you.—
I expect to spend a very pleasant Spring term: walking & botanizing with Henslow: I suppose it is out of the question, your snatching a Parsons week1 & running up to Cambridge. I think you would enjoy; I am sure I should;— Think of it.—
At present, I talk, think, & dream of a scheme I have almost hatched of going to the Canary Islands.— I have long had a wish of seeing Tropical scenery & vegetation: & according to Humboldt Teneriffe is a very pretty specimen.—2
Looking over your letter I find there is a bill Orridges, is it distinct from the 2£"13"6?
If you are not busy, you had better write to me before tomorrow week, & give me circumstantial account of every thing that you can think of.— How all your family are? &c &c.
Believe me dear old Fox | Most sincerely | Chas Darwin *S 2
Shrewsbury Thursday
PS. tell me how, where &c &c, you are living?
Footnotes
Bibliography
Humboldt, Alexander von. 1814–29. Personal narrative of travels to the equinoctial regions of the New Continent, during the years 1799–1804. By Alexander de Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland. Translated into English by Helen Maria Williams. 7 vols. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown; J. Murray; H. Colburn.
OED: The Oxford English dictionary. Being a corrected re-issue with an introduction, supplement and bibliography of a new English dictionary. Edited by James A. H. Murray, et al. 12 vols. and supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1970. A supplement to the Oxford English dictionary. 4 vols. Edited by R. W. Burchfield. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1972–86. The Oxford English dictionary. 2d edition. 20 vols. Prepared by J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1989. Oxford English dictionary additional series. 3 vols. Edited by John Simpson et al. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1993–7.
‘Recollections’: Recollections of the development of my mind and character. By Charles Darwin. In Evolutionary writings, edited by James A. Secord. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2008.
Summary
CD expects pleasant spring term; will botanise with Henslow.
He is dreaming of going to the Canary Islands for tropical scenery.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-96
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Darwin Fox
- Sent from
- Shrewsbury
- Source of text
- Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 39)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 96,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-96.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 1
