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From R. F. Cooke   15 July 1880

50A, Albemarle St. | W.

July 15, 1880

My dear Sir

Your new work is calculated to run to 600 pages, which is a good deal more than any of yr previous ones.1

Do you wish to publish this at your own expense or do you wish Mr Murray to undertake it on the usual terms?

I think you may fairly print off 1000 copies as we shall be able to dispose of those sooner or later.2

I calculate that the expenses of 1000 copies will be about £300. & if these are sold (& the retail price is fixed at 12/) they may produce from £75 to £100.

But 12/- is a less price than we have generally fixed on your works. It might be 15/-3

Do you wish a set of stereotype plates to be sent to Messrs. Appleton;?4

Have you returned any sheets to Messrs. Clowes5 for press?

We might print off 1250 No instead of 1000 No & then distribute the type.

Let me know your views & wishes.| Yours faithfully | Robt. Cooke

Chas. Darwin Esq

We must not use quite so thick a paper this time

CD annotations6

Top of letter: ‘May 28th | Cooper | 3.11.0 | Feb. 3d | 137.18.| 141 1 ".9.0’ ink
1
The previous longest physical volume of CD’s works was the second volume of Variation 2d ed.; it was 499 pages.
2
In the event, 1500 copies of Movement in plants were printed (Freeman 1977). John Murray was CD’s publisher.
3
The eventual price was 15s. (Freeman 1977).
4
CD’s US publisher, D. Appleton & Co., usually printed CD’s works from stereotypes made by John Murray.
6
CD’s annotation is a note for his reply; see letter to R. F. Cooke, 16 July 1880. James Davis Cooper made the woodblocks for Movement in plants.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12654,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12654