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Darwin Correspondence Project

To R. F. Cooke   27 June [1875]1

June 27th

My dear Sir

I am very sorry to hear about 15s— do consult Mr. Murray & see if you cannot reduce the price to 14s.—2 Also I hope to Heaven that the book will not look so big, as the copy sent— It seems now ridiculous.—

It wd be worth while to defer sending the foreign copies till Thursday July 1st, as the postage to everywhere except France (I do not know about Italy & Brazil) will be reduced by half.—3

I fear at 15s the sale will be very small: I know it is my fault, as I never can help making my books too long.—

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

P.S. The copy received will do very well for myself, so please send only one additional copy here.

We return home (Down) on July 6th.—4

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from R. F. Cooke, 26 June 1875.
2
In the event, John Murray priced Insectivorous plants at 14s. (Publishers’ circular, 16 July 1875, p. 498).
3
For changes in postage costs, see the letter to R. F. Cooke, 24 June [1875] and n. 5. Italy was a signatory of the treaty forming a postal union but Brazil was not. France did sign the treaty, not on 9 October 1874, when the other signatories did, but on 3 May 1875, and evidently the ratification was not completed (see Treaty on postal union, p. 13). For CD’s presentation list for Insectivorous plants, see Appendix IV.
4
CD stayed at Abinger Hall from 3 June to 6 July 1875 (see CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).

Bibliography

Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.

Treaty on postal union: Treaty concerning the formation of a general postal union. Signed at Berne, October 9, 1874. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1875.

Summary

Sorry to hear price of 15s [for Insectivorous plants]. Asks that JM consider 14s. Fears small sale at 15s. It is his fault – he never can help making his books too big.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-10032
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Robert Francis Cooke
Sent from
Abinger Hall
Source of text
National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 42152 ff. 336–7)
Physical description
ALS 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10032,” accessed on 24 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10032.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 23

letter

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