To H. W. Bates   27 [February 1862]1

Down

27th

My dear Sir

I will write again; but I do not want to lose a post to say that the terms are very favourable: I never heard of such terms being offered for first work.— You may depend he thinks very highly of your Book.—2 I have always agreed for each edition separately, (except for my Journal which I disposed of all at once for much worse terms);3 but I think the terms are so good, I would let Murray do as he likes.—

You might say you should prefer agreeing for only one Edition.—

I am heartily glad.—

Yours | C Darwin

1
Dated by the relationship to the letter from John Murray, 30 January [1862], the letter to H. W. Bates of 31 January [1862], and to the letter to H. W. Bates, 27 February [1862], all of which relate to negotiations for the publication of Bates 1863.
2
CD refers to the publisher John Murray, to whom he had recommended Bates’s travel writings (Bates 1863) for publication. See letter from H. W. Bates, 25 January 1862, letter to John Murray, 28 January [1862], letter from John Murray, 30 January [1862], and letter to H. W. Bates, 31 January [1862]. No letter from Bates describing the terms offered by Murray has been found.
3
CD had earlier recommended that Bates should initially sell only the first edition of his book (see Correspondence vol. 9, letter to H. W. Bates, 25 September [1861]). Owing to his dissatisfaction with his dealings with Henry Colburn over the publication of the first edition of Journal of researches, CD sold the copyright for the work to John Murray in 1845 for £150 (see Correspondence vol. 3, letters to John Murray, 7 March [1845], 12 April [1845], and 2 September [1845]).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3460,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3460