From Charles Layton   23 December 1869

16 Little Britain (City)

Decbr 23/69

Charles Darwin Esq

Dear Sir

I have just received letter from Messrs Appletons, in which they say, your proposal is accepted by them, and they will reprint from last Editn Origin of Species, making the corrections you sent,1 and receiving from you when ready early sheets of New Work on Man, with Electros of Illustrs and paying on that work 10[per cent] copyright—2

Messrs Appletons also mention that they had already an agreement with Profr Gray to remit you 5[per cent] on previous Sales of Origin of Species, and next Month you will receive a Small remittance on that a/c—3

Yours Respectfully | Charles Layton | Agent D. Appleton & Co

1
Layton evidently refers to CD’s proposal in his letter to Layton of 24 November [1869]; Layton was the London agent for D. Appleton & Co. in New York City. D. Appleton & Co. published the fifth English edition of Origin ‘with additions and corrections’ in 1870 (Origin 2d US ed.).
2
See letter to Charles Layton, 24 November [1869]. In 1871, D. Appleton & Co. issued three printings of Descent (see Freeman 1977).
3
On the agreement with Asa Gray regarding the remittance and previous sales of Origin, see Correspondence vol. 14, letter from Asa Gray, 7 May 1866 and n. 3. For D. Appleton & Co.’s statement on sales of Origin by February 1870, see Correspondence vol. 18, letter from D. Appleton & Co. to Asa Gray, 1 February 1870. On 12 October 1870, CD recorded receiving a cheque from Layton for the ‘sale of Origin in the United States 1866–71’; the amount was £62 5s. 2d. (CD’s Account books–banking account (Down House MS)).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7033,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7033