Ɛpsilon

From E. A. Clowes   27 August 1875

Stamford Street | London. S.E.

Aug: 27th. | 1875

Dear Sir,

Mr. Cooke has sent to us to complain about your proofs being printed on larger paper than the book is eventually intended to be worked on as he says that it misleads him in ordering the paper and adds to the expense of the book because it has to be reimposed to fit the dimensions of the smaller paper; under these circumstances shall we in future send you proofs on the right size paper?1

Yours truly | Wm. Clowes & Sons | per E: [A:] Clowes:

C: Darwin Esq

Mr. Cooke did not know that you had asked us to pull your work with a large margin2

1
Robert Francis Cooke was handling the publication of Variation 2d ed. for John Murray’s publishing firm (see letter from R. F. Cooke, 10 August 1875). The proof-sheets are in DAR 213.11; the first, stamped ‘Wm Clowes & Sons | sent out 25 August 75’, has a right-hand margin of 3 cm (114 inches), with later ones varying between 1.75 and 2.4 cm (34 inch and 1 inch).
2
CD found wider margins helpful for marking revisions (see letter to R. F. Cooke, 29 August [1875]); no request from CD to Clowes for wider margins has been found.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10136,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10136