From John Murray   9 January [1867]1

Albemarle St

Jany 9

My Dear Sir

I think you take too much to heart the amount of the bulk of your MS— I am by no means disheartened & do not contemplate at all throwing up the publication2

Your suggestion of printing technical details in smaller type is a very good one & will relieve us of part of the dilemma3

But before I return your MS to be marked with red I beg you to consent to the carrying out of an Experiment suggested by yourself viz—testing the substance of the MS by its effects on a man of Letters & good information—not a man of science & awaiting the impression made on him by it—

I send the MS. yesterday to such a person a friend of mine, in about a week I shall have his answer & will give you the result4

I remain | My Dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | John Murray

The printer will send you rough proofs of the cuts, wch you may insert with their titles in the places of the MS where they come in5—in case this is not already done.

Ch Darwin Esq

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to John Murray, 8 January [1867].
2
The reference is to Variation. See letter to John Murray, 8 January [1867] and n. 1. CD had expressed his annoyance about the length of his book to several correspondents; for his most recent comment, see the letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 January [1867].
4
Murray’s reader was John Milton, an accountant (A. Fraser 1996, pp. 16, 37–8).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5354,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5354