Ɛpsilon

To John Murray   5 [August 1870]1

Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

July 5th

My dear Sir

In 5 or 6 days I shall have my M.S (except last chapter which is partly written) ready to send to Printers; & all wood-blocks, except for one of later chapters are complete.2

Please inform me whether my servant shall leave the M.S (with letters of instructions) at Mss Clowes3 or to you.— I shall be ready to begin correcting Slips on the 22d, after a short absence from home for rest.—4

My dear Sir | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Do you know anything about Mr Clowes works in hand—will they be able to keep me steadily at work—it drives me mad to change from job to job.—

I ought to begin, at once, for I am a fearfully slow corrector & always liable to interruptions from illness.—

1
The month and year are established by the relationship between this letter, the letter from John Murray, 6 August [1870] and the letter to Mr Dorrell, 9 August 1870. CD evidently wrote ‘July’ in error.
2
CD refers to Descent.
4
CD visited Southampton from 13 to 26 August 1870 (see ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Beckenham] before del ‘Bromley.’
1.1 5] over ‘4’
2.2 Slips] above del ‘Revises’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7265,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7265