Ɛpsilon

To John Murray   4 September [1870]1

Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

Sept 4th

My dear Sir

Some members of my family have remarked that the old Origin of Species has a very poor appearance compared with my Domestic Animals; & I think this is due to the quality of the paper; so that I hope you will attend to this point for present work. The smooth Binding of Dom: Animals, also, looks much better than Origin.—2 The Printers have sent me splendid lot of proofs.—3

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from John Murray, 6 August [1870].
2
The first five editions of Origin were bound in textured cloth, whereas Variation had smooth covers (see R. B. Freeman 1977, p. 123) and was printed on heavier paper. The sixth edition of Origin (published in 1872) differed from previous editions in its printing and binding (see R. B. Freeman 1977, p. 79). Descent was bound in smooth covers and printed on heavier paper, like Variation.
3
CD refers to the proofs of Descent and to the printing firm William Clowes & Sons.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Beckenham] before del ‘Bromley.’
1.3 point] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7316,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7316