To ?   4 May [1873]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

May 4th

Dear Sir

My publisher announced my book “on the evil effects of Interbreeding &c” without my knowledge, & quite prematurely.2 It will not be published for a year or longer time.3 Whenever it is, I shall have much pleasure in sending you a copy.

Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the date of the advertisement for CD’s forthcoming book (see n. 2, below).
2
See letter from J. V. Carus, [before 8 May 1873]. CD’s book on ‘The Evil Effects of Interbreeding in the Vegetable Kingdom’ was announced in the Athenæum, 19 April 1873, p. 509. John Murray was CD’s publisher.
3
CD’s work was published in 1876 as Cross and self fertilisation.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8897A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8897A