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Darwin Correspondence Project

From Smith, Elder and Company1   3 March 1863

[65 Cornhill, London]

March 3rd. 1863

We beg to hand you acc sales of your works showing a balance due to you of £11 13 1 which we hope you will find correct.2 In reference to your suggestion that we may make you an offer to purchase the remaining stock in hand of your Geology of S. America (76 Copies) & Volcanic Islands (99 Copies) we beg to say that the complete work comprising the whole 3 parts has been selling only at 10/6, or an average of 3/6 each part which price after all trade deductions leaves only about 2/– as the nett receipt for each volume sold— & the binding of each volume would cost 6d 3

Considering therefore the uncertainty of our selling the whole of the stock of the works referred to,4 in the ordinary course of trade, we are sorry we do not feel warranted in making you such an offer as we could have wished to make. If however you would like to dispose of the stock of both works for £5, we are willing to take them on our hands at that price— We delay remitting you a cheque for the balance due on the enclosed a/cts until we are favored with your reply

Footnotes

The text of the letter is taken from a contemporary copy made by the company. A note on the copy records that the letter was assigned to ‘Mr. Wooldridge’; this individual has not been further identified.
See letter to Smith, Elder and Company, 14 January [1863]. The balance represented CD’s share from sales of Coral reefs, Volcanic islands, and South America (all published by Smith, Elder and Company). The exact nature of CD’s agreement with the publisher is unclear, but see Correspondence vol. 4, letter to Smith, Elder and Company, [16 February 1849].
See letter to Smith, Elder and Company, 14 January [1863]. In 1851, Smith, Elder and Company reissued CD’s three works bound as a single volume, with a new general title in place of the original title and half-title pages, and costing 10s. 6d. (Geology of the ‘Beagle’); this reissue was evidently produced from the remaining copies of the original publications (see Freeman 1977). See also Correspondence vol. 3, letter to Smith, Elder and Company, 30 March [1846] and n. 2.
Smith, Elder and Company published a new edition of Coral reefs in 1874 (Coral reefs 2d ed.), and a combined edition of Volcanic islands and South America in 1876 (Geological observations 2d ed.).

Bibliography

Coral reefs 2d ed.: The structure and distribution of coral reefs. By Charles Darwin. Revised edition. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1874.

Coral reefs: The structure and distribution of coral reefs. Being the first part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. FitzRoy RN, during the years 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1842.

Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.

Freeman, Richard Broke. 1977. The works of Charles Darwin: an annotated bibliographical handlist. 2d edition. Folkestone, Kent: William Dawson & Sons. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, Shoe String Press.

Geological observations 2d ed.: Geological observations on the volcanic islands and parts of South America visited during the voyage of H.M.S. ‘Beagle’. By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1876.

Geology of the ‘Beagle’: Geological observations on coral reefs, volcanic islands, and on South America. By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1851.

South America: Geological observations on South America. Being the third part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. FitzRoy RN, during the years 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1846.

Volcanic islands: Geological observations on the volcanic islands, visited during the voyage of HMS Beagle, together with some brief notices on the geology of Australia and the Cape of Good Hope. Being the second part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. FitzRoy RN, during the years 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1844.

Summary

Sum due to CD is £11 13s 1d. Offer £5 for remaining stock of South America and Volcanic islands.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-4020
From
Smith, Elder & Co
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
unstated
Source of text
National Library of Scotland (MS.23181:1)
Physical description
CC 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4020,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4020.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 11

letter