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Darwin Correspondence Project

To John Murray   20 March 1871

Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

March 20th. 1871

My dear Mr Murray

I am greatly pleased at the sum which the Reprint has produced, & I accept your terms.— Please to pay the £210 to my account at the Union Bank, Charing cross Branch, whenever convenient & the £630 by note of hand at six months’ date.—1 It is quite a grand trade to be a scientific man.—

Many thanks for the Nonconformist.2 I like to see all that is written, & it is of some real use.— If you hear of Reviews in out-of-the-way papers, especially the religious, as Record, Guardian, Tablet,3 kindly inform me.— It is wonderful that there has been no abuse as yet, but I suppose I shall not escape. On the whole the Reviews have been highly favourable. The two articles in the Spectator have interested me much.— Wallace’s Review is admirable.—4

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

1
See letter from John Murray, 18 March [1871] and n. 3. CD had banked with the Charing Cross branch of the Union Bank of London since 1853 (see Correspondence vol. 5, letter to John Higgins, 11 April [1853]).
2
CD refers to a review of Descent in the 8 March 1871 issue of the Nonconformist (see Correspondence vol. 19, Appendix V).
3
CD refers to weekly journals with religious affiliation. The Record was Evangelical, the Guardian was Anglican, and the Tablet was Roman Catholic (North 1997). A review of Descent appeared in the 2 August 1871 issue of the Guardian (pp. 935–6). CD’s copy is in DAR 226.2: 82.1.
4
CD refers to an unsigned review of Descent that appeared in the 11 March and 18 March 1871 issues of the Spectator (pp. 288–9, 319–20) and to Alfred Russel Wallace’s review of Descent in the Academy (Wallace 1871c).

Bibliography

Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.

Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.

North, John S. 1997. The Waterloo directory of English newspapers and periodicals, 1800–1900. 10 vols. Waterloo, Ontario: North Waterloo Academic Press.

Summary

Pleased with sum the reprint [of Descent] has produced. Terms of payment accepted.

Thanks JM for Nonconformist [review of Descent, 32 (1871): 240–1].

Would like to see other out-of-way reviews – especially religious.

Other reviews favourable, including Wallace’s [see 7569], which is admirable.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-7603
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
John Murray
Sent from
Down
Source of text
National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 42152 ff. 250–1)
Physical description
ALS 3pp †

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7603,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7603.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19

letter

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