To John Murray 22 October [1870]1
Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.
Oct 22
My dear Sir
My family think, & I quite agree with them, that the binding of Domestic Animals with plain lettering, no golden ornaments & smooth cover, looks much better than the Origin.—2
I always give list on back of Title of my books— Can you without much trouble tell me soon how many copies you have printed of my Naturalist’s Voyage: some years ago I made out, by adding 1500 copies printed by Colburn, that the number was 10,000; & it seems absurd to go on printing same number.—3
My dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
What is date of your sale?4
Footnotes
Bibliography
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.
Journal and remarks: Journal and remarks. 1832–1836. By Charles Darwin. Vol. 3 of Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty’s ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle’s circumnavigation of the globe. London: Henry Colburn. 1839. [Separately published as Journal of researches.]
Journal of researches: Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain FitzRoy, RN, from 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839.
Murray, John. 1908–9. Darwin and his publisher. Science Progress in the Twentieth Century 3: 537–42.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
He agrees with his family that binding of Variation looks much better than Origin.
Asks JM to report the number of copies he has printed of Naturalist’s Voyage [Journal of researches].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7348
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Murray
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 ff. 218–19)
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7348,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7348.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18