To J. V. Carus   17 June [1877]1

Bassett, Southampton. | (where I shall be for next 2 or 3 weeks).2

June 17th.

My dear Sir

I am heartily glad that your Naples expedition has answered so well for you in every way.—3

My new book is not a long one, viz 350 pages, chiefly of the larger type, with 15 simple wood-cuts. All the proofs are corrected, except the Index, so that it will soon be published.—4 I have sent you the 8 first sheets in two parcels, each of 4 sheets, which you ought to have received ere this.—

I do not suppose that I shall publish any more books, though perhaps a few more papers. I cannot endure being idle, but Heaven knows whether I am capable of any more good work:—

Thanks for erratum, the troublesome printers separated the “a” from the “sexual”, after I had seen the last proof—5

With cordial thanks for your never failing kindness towards me.

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. V. Carus, 13 June 1877.
2
CD stayed at William Erasmus Darwin’s house in Bassett, Southampton, from 13 June to 4 July (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).
3
Carus had spent three months at the Zoological Station in Naples (see letter from J. V. Carus, 13 June 1877 and n. 4.
4
Forms of flowers was published in July 1877 (Freeman 1977); it was 352 pages long, excluding preliminaries. Carus translated the book and it was published as part of volume 9 of the German edition of CD’s collected works (Carus trans. 1877e).
5
Carus had noted this mistake in Orchids 2d ed., p. 58 (see letter from J. V. Carus, 13 June 1877 and n. 1).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Bassett, Southampton.] above del ‘Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.’
1.1 Naples] ‘N’ over ‘n’
2.3 have] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11005,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11005