From R. F. Cooke   23 August 1872

50A, Albemarle Street, London, W.

Augt. 23 1872

My dear Sir

The expense of having to pay £66.0.0 for every 1000 Impressions of the Heliotypes sticks in my gizzard.1

I have ordered 2000 sets for the 1st. edition for England.

But do not think we might from a set of these heliotypes have them photographed on to wood & so secure the expression & then engraved. The 1st. expensive would be £100, but we should be able to print off the impression much cheaper.

How does this occur to you? It is only an idea of mine just now.

The Index is in hand2

Yours faithfully | Robt. Cooke

C. Darwin Esq

My chief is back again3

1
On the costs for heliotypes of the photographic plates for Expression, see the letter from R. F. Cooke, 16 August 1872.
2
The index to Expression was being prepared by William Sweetland Dallas (letter to R. F. Cooke, 4 August 1872).
3
John Murray had been in Scotland (letter from R. F. Cooke, 21 August 1872).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8483,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8483