Ɛpsilon

To John Murray   5 October [1861]1

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

Oct. 5.

My dear Sir

I think it very good idea to match the Origin; but then I must beg you to have large type & lines wider apart, otherwise the Book will look ridiculously small; but of that hereafter.

The advertisement reads well; I always spell Fertilisation & not Fertilization—2 I will attend to outside ornament.3

Yours sincerely | C. Darwin

1
The year is given by reference to the details concerning the publication of Orchids. See letters to John Murray, 21 September [1861] and 3 October [1861].
2
An advertisement for Orchids appeared in the column ‘Our weekly gossip’ in the Athenæum, 5 October 1861, p. 448: ‘Mr. Charles Darwin has prepared for publication a small work, containing his experience “On the Fertilization of British Orchids by means of Insects.” It will form a sort of sequel to his work, the “Origin of Species”.’
3
See letter to John Murray, 24 September [1861]. An embossed illustration of a Cycnoches flower appeared in gilt on the cover of Orchids (see Orchids, p. 266).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

2.2 ornament.] above del ‘ornament’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3276A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3276A