To J. V. Carus   17 January 1877

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

Jan 17. 77

My dear Sir,

Please to read the enclosed & you will see, as I am sorry to say, that it is necessary for your publisher to decide at once how many copies you require of two of the Geological Maps in my “Geolog: Observations” &c.1 Be so kind as to let me have an answer tolerably soon.

I sent you yesterday a copy of the new edit of the Orchids & this I grieve to add has been greatly altered, but I hope improved2

There are four or five new wood-blocks.3 I hope that your health stands your multiplied labours.

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

LS

1
The enclosure has not been found, but was evidently a letter from Smith, Elder & Co. (see letter from J. V. Carus, 20 January 1877). Geological observations 2d ed. was a combined second edition of Volcanic islands and South America (published in 1844 and 1846 respectively by Smith, Elder & Co.), together with his essay on the ‘Pampean formation’. Although the German edition was based on the combined second edition, it appeared as separate volumes (Carus trans. 1877a and 1878b).
2
Carus’s name is on CD’s presentation list for Orchids 2d ed. (see Appendix IV). Carus’s translation was published in 1877 (Carus trans. 1877c).
3
Orchids 2d ed. contained four new woodblock illustrations (see ibid., pp. 87, 160, 174, 222).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

2.2 but] interl
3.1 There] after del ‘t’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10799,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10799