To John Murray 29 January [1867]
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Jan 29th
My dear Sir
I agree to your proposal about half profits. You must be the best judge, but I cannot avoid thinking that you will make a mistake if you print only 750 copies.1 I beg you earnestly to get M.S. back immediately & let me hear immediately & I will send a servant the same day for it. I want to mark the passages for small type & to make some correction, before leaving home for a week’s rest & I must pay my visit in about a weeks time.—2
In Haste | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
P.S. You will understand that I agree for half profits only for the first Edition, for with the weakness of an author I estimate my book at a higher value than you do.—
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
CD agrees to JM’s proposal of half-profits. Thinks it a mistake to print only 750 copies. The agreement on half-profit is for first edition only. CD estimates his book at a higher value than JM does.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5382
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Murray
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 ff. 162–163)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5382,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5382.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15
