To W. S. Dallas   [14 January 1868]1

[Down]

My dear Sir

I shd have a very bad heart, as hard as stone, if it were not quite mollified by your note.—2 But you will own that it was vexatious to have my book delayed six weeks, after such an effort as I made to finish it, at great risk to the little health which I possess.—3 Ill luck to the Book  it is not worth its cost. Why the Publisher4 is [to] Publish I can [illeg] And now I am more sorry for you than for myself, as the work has turned out so bad for you.— I hope sincerely we may sometime meet for I have long entertained much respect for all the invaluable services you have conferred on natural History—

Pray

ADraft

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from W. S. Dallas, 15 January 1868.
3
On the delay in finishing the index of Variation, see the letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 January [1868] and n. 11.
4
The publisher of Variation was John Murray.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 were] above del ‘had’
1.1 quite] after del ‘been’
1.2 . — But] after del ‘of the 8th’
1.3 the little] above del ‘such’
1.4 Ill luck … [illeg]] interl
1.5 am] above del ‘have become’
1.6 I hope] after del ‘Have you not a fair claim for further remuneration from Mr Murray’
1.6 sincerely] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5783,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5783