To John Murray 29 September [1870]1
Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.
Sept. 29th.
My dear Sir
Many thanks for all your assistance & for the cheque for 10£"10s . 9d2
I did not promise Mess. Appleton stereotypes of text, only of cuts.—3 If you could manage to let me hear (& you will have hereafter to determine) what to charge for the 62 cliches, I shd like to hear soon & inform my correspondents, so that there may no disappointment hereafter.—
I shd. be particularly glad to hear what passage you thought coarse: I cannot remember any except a quotation from Hunter about the female requiring to be courted “to give her desires” or some such words.4 I somehow fancied that a quotation rendered the sentence less coarse; I felt it was so, & I hope it is almost the only one. How to alter it I do not yet see; but please, if you can, inform me which sentence it is that you object to
My dear Sir | Your’s very faithfully | Ch. Darwin
To | J Murray Esqre
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
CD did not promise Appleton stereotypes of text [of Descent]; only of cuts.
Wishes to know which passage JM thought "coarse". Remembers only a quotation from John Hunter on courtship of female being required "to give her desires" [Descent 1: 273]. He fancied a quotation rendered the sentence less coarse.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7331
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Murray
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 42152 ff. 212–13)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7331,” accessed on 15 August 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7331.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18