To John Murray 16 October [1866]1
Down Bromley | Kent
Oct 16th.
My dear Sir
I have heard the wood cutter has sent in his account to you & I now enclose Mr. Luke Wells’ account for drawing the same & will tell him to call for the amount.2
But as you have not agreed to publish my work until seeing the M.S. would you not prefer my sending you a cheque for the amount & likewise for the second set of engravings now being made by Mr. Sowerby.3 Pray do as you like.
I trust I shall begin printing in the beginning of next year but I cannot say quite positively— Please to read over the second page of the enclosed note from Professor Asa Gray & then tear it up; twice over he has urged the same plan & be so good as to consider it & act as you think fit.4 I may repeat what I said before that I have not the least idea whether my new book will get many readers; all that I can say in its favour is that I am sure that some of the chapters contain very curious matter.5
My dear Sir | yours sincerely | Charles Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Calendar: A calendar of the correspondence of Charles Darwin, 1821–1882. With supplement. 2d edition. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1994.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
LL: The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter. Edited by Francis Darwin. 3 vols. London: John Murray. 1887–8.
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
Arrangements for woodcuts [in Variation]. Hopes to be ready to print early in 1867.
Encloses letter from Asa Gray [5160] about Appleton’s refusal to alter their plates for a new edition of Origin.
CD asks JM to consider Gray’s plan to have the English edition compete with the American.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5245
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Murray
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 ff. 147–148)
- Physical description
- LS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5245,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5245.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 14