To J. V. Carus   30 July 1881

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

July 30 1881

My dear Sir

I write one line to say that there has been an extraordinary delay by the Printers in correcting the few last sheets (perhaps intentional on their part) & now my Publisher begs me so earnestly not to publish, until the end of October (our publishing season) that I have been forced to accede.—1 But I have requested the printers to send me clean sheets as soon as ever any are printed off, & as soon as I receive any they shall be forwarded to you.—

Perhaps this delay will suit you better than the immediate publication of the book; but I am much vexed, for I like to throw a subject quite off my mind.

My dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

CD’s publisher was John Murray; Murray’s printers were William Clowes & Sons. Carus was translating Earthworms into German. See letter to R. F. Cooke, 31 July 1881.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13259,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13259