To John Murray   28 May [1866]1

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

May 28

My dear Sir

You are much the best judge about the number of copies to print off.2 I have corrected the vol. thoroughly & improved it I think a good deal; but have added, which perhaps you will be sorry to hear, about 50 pages.3 I hope you will think it worth while to advertise the book as added to & corrected.4 I suppose you have remembered the lithographed Diagram.5

I trust to your kindness to give me a few copies, for I shall have to give away a dozen or two in addition.6

I am much obliged for your kind expressions about my improved health; & now that the Origin is nearly finished I hope to make real progress in my next book—7

My dear Sir | yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

LS

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from John Murray, 25 May [1866].
3
CD had been revising Origin since 1 March 1866 (see CD’s ‘Journal’, Appendix II), after Murray had informed him that a new edition was called for (see letter from John Murray, 21 February [1866]). The fourth edition of Origin is fifty-seven pages longer than the third edition. The front matter included a list of significant additions.
4
CD had made the same recommendation to Murray for the third edition of Origin (see Correspondence vol. 9, letter to John Murray, 30 April [1861]). In a letter to H. W. Bates, 9 April [1863] (Correspondence vol. 11), CD expressed his suspicion that Murray had not advertised Origin much.
5
As with previous editions, the fourth edition of Origin contained only one plate, a diagram illustrating divergence of character (Peckham ed. 1959, p. 211).
6
For a presentation list for the fourth edition of Origin, see Correspondence vol.14, Appendix IV.
7
CD refers to Variation, published in 1868.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5103,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5103