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To Smith, Elder & Co.   21 January [1843]

Down Bromley | Kent

Jan 21st

Dear Sir

I am obliged for your account, which I will settle, the first time I call.—

I pretty well satisfied with sale of Coral Volume, for I feel certain, every now & then copies will go off for many years to come—but whether quick enough to pay the 60£ with its interest, I am sure I do not know—1 When we can get the Zoology finished, the sale of that I hope, will help matters.

Do you know Editor of the Athenæum;2 I am surprised they have not noticed the Coral Volume.—

Please to send Dr. A. Smiths number3 to care of E. Darwins, 43 Grt. Marlborough St.

Mr. Hinds address is

29 Alfred Place

Bedford Square

Yours very faithfully | C. Darwin

1
CD and Smith, Elder & Co. had advanced an unspecified sum to cover the expenses of publishing Coral reefs; by this time it was clear that the government grant of £1000 would not cover even the costs of Zoology. See Freeman 1977, p. 26 and letter to A. Y. Spearman, 9 October 1843.
2
Charles Wentworth Dilke edited the Athenæum from 1830 to 1846. No notice of Coral reefs appeared in the Athenæum.
3
This refers to a number of Andrew Smith’s Illustrations of the zoology of South Africa (A. Smith 1838–49), published by Smith, Elder & Co. which, when complete, came to five volumes.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

4.1 care of] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-659,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-659