To John Murray   12 May [1871]1

Bassett | Southampton

May 12th.

My dear Mr Murray

All right & very pleasant.— You can send Bills here, or wait about 10 days & send to Down.—2

Please specially remember that I shall require at least 6 weeks notice before a new Edit. of “Descent”, has to go to press, as it will be considerably corrected.—

I wrote the other day to Mr Cooke about the cheap ed. of the Origin.3 I am becoming very anxious for such an edition, as I could advantageously answer objections in it. Will you be so kind as to inform me, as soon as you can decide on the subject, as I cd then work slowly in preparing it.

I do not quite understand what the editor of Vanity Fair wants;4 I cd send him 2 or 3 of the best photos which have been made of me, but I could not endure to give sittings to his artists, if that is what he wishes.

yours sincerely | Ch Darwin

LS(A)

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from John Murray, 10 May 1871.
2
The bills were Murray’s payment for the third printing of Descent. See letter from John Murray, 10 May 1871. The Darwins were visiting William Erasmus Darwin in Southampton from 11 to 19 May 1871 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).
4
Murray had received a request for a portrait of CD from the editor of Vanity Fair, Thomas Gibson Bowles. See letter from John Murray, 10 May 1871.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Bassett … corrected.— 2.00] in CD’s hand
2.2 has … press,] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7755,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7755