Ɛpsilon

To R. F. Cooke   16 July 1880

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

July 16th 1880

My dear Sir

I am much obliged for your note.1 I intended (& had as I thought so clearly expressed myself) to publish the book at my own cost & risk; but I did so merely because I did not think it fair that Mr Murray & you shd. have the risk of publishing a purely scientific work. I shd. certainly prefer to publish on the old or former terms, if, on full consideration, you decide to do so.2 But I believe that you have omitted in your calculations that I have paid to Mr Cooper, for 199 or 200 woodcuts

£ s.

Feb. 3 137.18.0

May 28th 3.11.0

£141:9:0

The cuts were rendered more expensive, as several had to be photographed on wood.—3

In favour of the book, I think I can truly say that it contains much new & curious matter; but then there are very few persons who care for physiological Botany in this country.—4

With respect to price I shd be rather sorry at cost being 15s, & if I publish at my own cost, I will fix 14s. & have printed off 1000 copies.—5

As soon as you have decided let me hear the result.—

I hope & think corrections will not be quite so heavy as on some former occasions; yet they will be considerable, notwithstanding I went thrice carefully over the completed M.S. The paper certainly must be thinner than usual.—6

Only 2 sheets have been returned to Mess Clowes for Press.—

I do not yet know about stereotyped Plates for Mrs. Appleton: I have told them I could not judge whether it was worth their while to reprint the book.—7 There will be a German Edition & perhaps a French one.8

With many thanks for your uniform kind attention to my wishes I remain, My dear Sir | Yours sincerely Ch. Darwin

P.S. Please remember about Index-maker9

2
CD had asked about publication costs in his letter to John Murray, 10 July 1880. John Murray usually published CD’s books at his own expense and paid CD a percentage of the profits on publication.
3
Cooke had calculated the expenses for 1000 copies at £300 (letter from R. F. Cooke, 15 July 1880). James Davis Cooper produced woodcuts for the illustrations. For more on the process of using photography on wood, see Beegan 1995, pp. 266–9.
4
CD alludes to the fact that most British universities and botanic gardens focused on systematic rather than physiological botany. For more on the rise of physiological botany in Britain around this time, see N. Morgan 1980, pp. 142–55.
5
Cooke had calculated profits if the book were sold for 12s., but then suggested 15s. as the price (see letter from R. F. Cooke, 15 July 1880 and n. 3).
6
Cooke suggested thinner paper as the book would be about 600 pages (letter from R. F. Cooke, 15 July 1880).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added
1.1 (& … myself) 1.2] parentheses over commas
1.1 as I thought] interl
1.4 certainly] interl
1.4 old or] interl
3.1 new] above del ‘next’
4.2 & … copies.—] added
8.2 their] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12658,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12658