From John Murray   18 September [1869]1

50A, Albemarle St. | W.

Sept. 18

Dear Mr Darwin

The enclosed paper will show that I am about to start a new Monthly Literary Review to convey early & trustworthy intelligence to English Readers on Literature Science & Art & to establish, if possible, a higher tone of Criticism than that now prevailing—2

I shd like very much to announce among my Literary News in the 1st number, a short notice of the New Work upon wch you are now engaged.3 Will you kindly draw up a short account of it for me? The first number will be circulated far & wide & I shall send out many thousand copies—so that this at least will be a favorable mode of advertising— It need not commit you at all as to the time of publication, or of going to press even. I hope to be able to announce at the same time Mr Grotes Aristotle—4

I hope you have recovered from the accident wch I was sorry to hear had befallen you5

I am My Dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | John Murray

Charles Darwin Esq

CD annotations

Top of letter: ‘Good wishes | puzzled— | alter | It [‘is clear’ del] is too clear that [‘it’ del] as it stands it was [written] by me’ pencil, del pencil
1
The year is established by the reference to the Academy (see n. 2, below).
2
The enclosure has not been found. Murray refers to the Academy: a Monthly Record of Literature, Learning, Science, and Art, published from 9 October 1869. The new journal covered the same subject areas as the Athenæum. On the history of the journal, see North 1997, 1: 82–3.
3
The notice appeared in the Academy 1 (1869): 15–16. It announced a three-part work: ‘I. The Descent of Man; II. On Sexual Selection; and III. On Expression of the Emotions.’
4
George Grote’s Aristotle was not published until after his death (Grote 1872).
5
CD had been thrown from his horse. See letter from A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 and n. 12.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6897,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6897