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Darwin Correspondence Project

From R. F. Cooke   7 October 1881

50A, Albemarle Street, London. W.

Octr. 7 1881

My dear Sir

It may interest you to learn that we have now subscribed your new work to the Booksellers & the result is, that we propose to print off 500 more copies.1

With the copies sent to you & your friends & to the Reviews, which come to 100, we have sold about 1200 besides.2

Have you therefore any corrections to make in the type?

We dont propose to print off more, because you may by & bye, receive some suggestions or corrections from your friends.

We printed as you know 1000 & the type is standing.3

Yours faithfully | Robt. Cooke

Chas. Darwin Esq

Footnotes

In the event, there were four further printings of Earthworms in 1881; the fourth and fifth thousand had errata corrections made (Freeman 1977). CD also added some new material to the fifth thousand (see, for example, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 and n. 2).
For CD’s presentation list for Earthworms, see Appendix IV.
John Murray usually kept the type of CD’s books standing in case CD wanted to make corrections in later print runs (see, for example, Correspondence vol. 28, letter from R. F. Cooke, 10 November 1880).

Bibliography

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

Earthworms: The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881.

Freeman, Richard Broke. 1977. The works of Charles Darwin: an annotated bibliographical handlist. 2d edition. Folkestone, Kent: William Dawson & Sons. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, Shoe String Press.

Summary

Murray has sold 1200 copies [of Earthworms], so another printing of 500 is proposed. Has CD any corrections to send?

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-13374
From
Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
London, Albemarle St, 50a
Source of text
DAR 171: 519
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13374,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13374.xml

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