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Darwin Correspondence Project

To R. F. Cooke   9 November [1875]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S. E. R.

Nov. 9th

My dear Sir

I hope that you & Mr. Murray are satisfied with the sale of my Books.— I am highly pleased; 3012 copies having been sold.—2 Climbing Plants have gone off better than I expected.3

I imagine you will soon have to print another 1000 of Origin;4 if so let me hear, though I do not remember any errata to be amended.

I have heard from Appletons, & in a few days, when you are not so busy, I will write on this matter.—5

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the reference to Climbing plants 2d ed. (see n. 3, below).
2
The sales figure was probably for CD’s most recently published book, Insectivorous plants. It appeared in July and was reprinted twice in 1875, making a total of 3000 copies (Freeman 1977).
3
Climbing plants 2d ed. was published in the first half of November 1875 (Publishers’ circular 1875, p. 932). See letter to R. F. Cooke, 23 October [1875].
4
Origin 6th ed. was reprinted in 1876; this was the eighteenth thousand with slight textual changes (Freeman 1977).
5
The most recent extant letter from CD’s US publisher, D. Appleton & Co., is that of 11 October 1875, regarding the US edition of Variation 2d ed.

Bibliography

Climbing plants 2d ed.: The movements and habits of climbing plants. 2d edition. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.

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.

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

Origin 6th ed.: The origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 6th edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872.

Variation 2d ed.: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2d edition. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1875.

Summary

Climbing plants has sold better than he expected.

Thinks another 1000 of Origin may have to be printed; he has no corrections to make.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-10252
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray
Sent from
Down
Source of text
National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 42152 ff. 322–3)
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10252,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10252.xml

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

letter

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