Ɛpsilon

To John Murray   22 October [1870]1

Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

Oct 22

My dear Sir

My family think, & I quite agree with them, that the binding of Domestic Animals with plain lettering, no golden ornaments & smooth cover, looks much better than the Origin.—2

I always give list on back of Title of my books— Can you without much trouble tell me soon how many copies you have printed of my Naturalist’s Voyage: some years ago I made out, by adding 1500 copies printed by Colburn, that the number was 10,000; & it seems absurd to go on printing same number.—3

My dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

What is date of your sale?4

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from John Murray, 24 October [1870].
2
CD refers to the binding of Variation and Origin; see also Peckham ed. 1959, p. 17, and R. B. Freeman 1977, p. 123.
3
The reference is to the editions of Journal of researches (1839, 1845, 1852, and 1860). The spine of the 1845 edition read Naturalist’s voyage, and the spine of the 1860 edition read Naturalist’s voyage round the world (R. B. Freeman 1977, p. 32). Journal of researches was first published by Henry Colburn as the third volume of The narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty’s ships Adventure and Beagle in 1839 (Journal and remarks); it was reissued by Colburn as an independent volume (Journal of researches) in 1839 and 1840. The second edition was published by John Murray in 1845, and reissued in 1852 and 1860, with the tenth thousand issued in 1860. See R. B. Freeman 1977, pp. 31–40.
4
On Murray’s November ‘sale dinners’ for the principal booksellers, see J. Murray 1908–9, p. 540.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Beckenham] before del ‘Bromley.’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7348,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7348