Ɛpsilon

From R. F. Cooke   29 June 1877

50A, Albemarle Street, London. W.

June 29 1877

My dear Sir

I am sorry to find you consider there has been more delay with yr new work than necessary.1

The fact is the paper had to be made & this prevented the sheets being printed off & then we are obliged to get forward the set of the stereotype plates for Messr. Appleton, so as to despatch them before we publish here.2

Only half of them are yet done & cannot be sent off before next week.

I am however urging Messr. Clowes3 to get on faster & will try & get your own copies bound as soon as possible, so that your friends may have copies.4

It is a very bad time for publishing new works for the booksellers will not speculate, owing to the dullness of trade

Yours faithfully | Robt. Cooke

Chas. Darwin Esq

1
CD had finished correcting the proof-sheets of Forms of flowers by mid-June (see letter to J. V. Carus of 17 June [1877]).
2
Forms of flowers US ed. was published by D. Appleton & Co.
3
William Clowes & Sons were printers to John Murray.
4
Forms of flowers was published on 9 July 1877 (Freeman 1977). For CD’s presentation list, see Appendix IV.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11022,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11022