Charles Darwin | Autograph letter signed, 18 April 1882, his last known letter

Charles Darwin.

Autograph letter signed, to James Porter, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, on the campaign to procure a portrait of the Duke of Devonshire, Chancellor of the University (“…I read in the newspapers about the Portrait, & intended to have sent a subscription, but my illness drove the whole subject out of my mind…”), 1 page, 8vo (205 x 127mm), integral blank, headed stationery of Down, Beckenham, Kent, 18 April 1882, light creasing and spotting, weak at folds

DARWIN’S LAST KNOWN LETTER, WRITTEN THE DAY BEFORE HE DIED. Heart disease rendered Darwin sick and weak from March 1882. He had repeated fainting fits and was often in great pain, but he continued to find solace in the natural world and in the company of family and close friends. Within hours of writing this letter Darwin suffered a final attack from which he never recovered, and he died at 4pm on Wednesday 19 April 1882.

The recipient of this letter was James Porter (1827–1900), Fellow of Peterhouse and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1881 to 1884. Darwin’s letter originally enclosed a cheque for £3 3s., as recorded in his account book. The poignancy of the final letter written by a great man was not lost on Porter, who wrote to The Times a few days later reporting on this letter’s content (24 April 1882).

G.F., Watts’s portrait of William Cavendish, 7^th Duke of Devonshire, was given to Cambridge University by the body of subscribers and is now in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum.

PROVENANCE:

Sold in our New York rooms, 24 September 1986, lot 21 (part lot)

LITERATURE:

DCP-LETT-13769J