Ɛpsilon

To J. V. Carus   29 June 1881

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.) [Glenridding House, Patterdale.]

June 29th 1881

My dear Sir

I am glad to answer your queries as fully as I can.1 I have corrected the whole of the little book (about 320 pages large type, with 15 wood-blocks) once over, & half of it the second time.2 I believe my Printers will not strike off any copies until the whole is finally corrected, but this will now be soon done.—3 I have already ordered copies of clean-sheets to be sent me, by instalments, as soon as ready, one set for you for the translation of the book, & another for E. Krause to judge by.—4

The subject has been to me a “hobby-horse”, & I have perhaps treated it in foolish detail. Anyhow, as I told Krause, I do not think that any part would be fit for Kosmos; but I have left the matter in his hands to do exactly what he thinks best, & I really feel incapable of advising.5 Krause must look over the sheets & settle what he thinks best.—

I am very sorry that your outing has done you no good, & earnestly hope that your longer vacation may benefit you.—6

My dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Charles Darwin

2
CD and his son Francis Darwin had started correcting proof-sheets of Earthworms in May 1881 (see letter from Francis Darwin, 14 May 1881).
3
William Clowes & Sons were printers to John Murray (1808–92), CD’s publisher.
4
Ernst Krause wanted to publish an excerpt from Earthworms translated into German in Kosmos (see letter from Ernst Krause, 15 May 1881). Kosmos had recently been purchased by Eduard Koch, the head of E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, CD’s German publisher.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added
1.5 for the … book, 1.6] interl
3.1 no] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13227,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13227