Ɛpsilon

From R. F. Cooke   5 January 1877

50A, Albemarle Street, London. W.

Jany. 5 1877

My dear Sir

Having now given Messr. Appletons a certain start with the Stereotype plates of the Orchids, we are giving out copies to the binders preparatory to publication here & you will shortly receive yr own copies.1

After our Annual dinner we have only about 100 copies left of the “Descent” & so had better work off 1000 No more.2

If you want any alteration made in the plates will you let me have them.

Allow me to offer you the best wishes of the Season | Yours faithfully | Robt. Cooke

Chas. Darwin Esq

CD annotations

Top of letter: ‘Reviews | Date of Publication of Descent— | Price of Crossing book | About extra copies.’ pencil; ‘See about Descent.’3 pencil circled pencil
End of letter: ‘Supplement at very end or end of chapter [‘or Vol. I’ del]’4 pencil
1
Orchids 2d ed. was published in January 1877 (Publishers’ Circular, 1 February 1877, p. 93). Orchids 2d US ed. was published by D. Appleton & Co. on 3 March 1877 (Publishers’ Weekly, 3 March 1877, p. 288).
2
On John Murray’s annual November sale dinner, at which major booksellers bought stock at a discount, see J. Murray 1908–9, p. 540. The 1877 reprint of Descent 2d ed. had ‘Twelfth thousand, revised and augmented’ on the title page (Freeman 1977).
3
CD’s annotations were probably notes for his reply, but none has been found. CD may have discussed the points in person while he was in London from 6 to 15 January 1877 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). He evidently wanted to ask about the price of Cross and self fertilisation and about the reprint of Descent 2d ed.
4
The 1877 reprint of Descent 2d ed. contained a supplemental note reprinted from CD’s article in Nature, 2 November 1876, pp. 18–19, ‘Sexual selection in relation to monkeys’, in which CD described some observations he had received in letters from Johann von Fischer (see Correspondence vol. 24, letters from Johann von Fischer, [before 15 September 1876] and 15 September 1876).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10771,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10771