To John Murray 10 July 1880
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)
July 10 1880
My dear Sir
I have received Revises of the 2 first sheets of my book, & I now want to beg a little advice. The book, I believe to possess some value, & I shd. expect for some years a few copies would be sold.— I shall give away about 40 or 50 copies.— Now had 750 or 1000 copies better be printed off? The book will cost me a good deal & I do not want to waste more money than can be avoided. It would, however, be a pity if in the course of a year or two or three copies could not be bought.— Can you give me an idea of cost of paper & printing off of 250 copies?1
Secondly, before long an Index, (& I shd. wish a good one to be made) must be thought of— Can you find an Index-maker & arrange about fair remuneration for me?2
I will order a set of sheets for Index-maker, & 2 other sets for German & perhaps French Translations.3 I enclose a few instructions about making Index.—
Pray believe me | My dear Sir | yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Carus, Julius Victor, trans. 1881. Das Bewegungsvermögen der Pflanzen. By Charles Darwin. (German translation of Movement in plants. Vol. 13 of Charles Darwin’s gesammelte Werke.) Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagshandlung (E. Koch).
Heckel, Édouard, trans. 1882. La faculté motrice dans les plantes. By Charles Darwin. (French translation of Movement in plants.) Paris: C. Reinwald.
Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.
Summary
Asks advice on size of printing for Movement in plants. Expects it to sell a few copies for some years. Asks price of paper and of printing of 250 copies. Sends instructions for the index.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12651
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Murray
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 42152 ff. 370–1)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12651,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12651.xml