12 Leamington Road Villas
Bayswater, London W.
February 14th 1908
My dear & valued Friend & Master,
The 16th is close at hand & gives me the welcome opportunity of sending you a few lines. For, indeed, I wish to be among those who will greet you with the best of good wishes on your birthday.
My heartiest congratulations therefore, with the warm hope that you may be enjoying renewed health & strength to have a happy day, in spite of the hard work you set yourself.
The arranging of all your collections in a new Phylogenetical Museum must have been an arduous task truly ‒ to have been on your mind during 46 years. ||
Jena must be endlessly indebted to you, & you will have your reward in seeing your work fully appreciated. ‒ I know how widely your books are read in Britain & had a curious proof of this last summer in Scotland; I very unexpectedly, found an eager disciple of yours in a dear little woman of 23, the young wife of a friend of ours ‒ she proved a vehement socialist as well ‒ all this to the great distress of her husband’s family! The husband a good enough young man, but without any special interests.
Your most kind letter in answer to my last year’s greeting gave me the utmost pleasure & has, in fact, been by me all || the year on my many wanderings, though I did not get to the dear „Vaterland”, as I had hoped. In truth my pleasure with your letter & its kind words, nearly led me to write to you again forthwith! & had I not been so driven hither & thither I should have done so. ‒
It was so kind of you to offer to send me any of your works I did not possess. But I think I have them all except some lectures you gave in Berlin some 3 years ago. I hope you may be able to carry out your thought of writing the „Historische Erinnerungen”; & that then I may have a copy. ||
What I should like is to have a photo of yourself, if you could spare me a copy. The last I saw was one prefixed to one of Mc.Cabeʼs translations & I did not seem to like it. ‒ Your nephew Philipp Bleek, the pastor, whose acquaintance I made in Bonn 3 years ago, seems grateful to my having introduced him to the Dean of Canterbury my brother-in-law. Is it not terrible that the Dean should have a sister who follows & loves her old friend & master „Ernest Haeckel”! But we are good friends in spite of his churchiness. He did so rejoice, however, that fate stepped in and prevented my undertaking the translation of your „Welträthsel”, which I should so gladly have undertaken.
But I must not add more, on the day when, I feel sure, you will be overwhelmed with letters & telegrams of congratulations.
Again with heartiest good wishes, believe me,
Ever
Most sincerely yours
L. Dora Schmitz