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Letter 3141A

Murray, John (b) to Darwin, C. R.

7 May 1861

    Summary Add

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    Encloses amended note of £372 for third edition of Origin. Provides details of the calculation of profits.

Transcription

May 7—1861

My Dear Sir

I enclose my amended note of hand for £372 for the 3rd edition of your work on Species

This, as far as I can judge, is the amount of 23d profit arising from 2000 copies. There are always contingencies arising—such as advertising expences, which make it difficult to fix beforehand the precise profits on any work. Thus in the first Edition—the sum I gave you turned out far more than 23d or at least my share eventually fell below 13 considerably.

Moreover it must be borne in mind that it is not a mere rule of 3 sum to calculate profits of a book— Thus—the 3rd. Edn. of 2000 Copies cost only £70. less than 3000 of the 3rd. edition. Moreover this last is increased by two sheets beyond the second edition 23 shts instead of 21.

I enter into these details to prevent any misunderstanding and hope I have been successful.

If we print any more editions I would prefer deferring the settlement untill the whole is disposed of when I could arrange the amount of 23ds. profit to the uttermost farthing.

I remain | Dear Sir | Yrs. Very faithfully | (signed) John Murray


C. Darwin Esq

    Footnotes Add

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    f1 3141a.f1
    See letters to John Murray, 30 April [1861] and 3 May [1861].
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    f2 3141a.f2
    According to the terms CD and Murray agreed upon for the publication of Origin, CD was to receive `23ds of the net proceeds of the edition—payable by note of hand at six months from the day of publication' (Correspondence vol. 7, letter from John Murray, 1 April 1859).
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    f3 3141a.f3
    According to Murray's ledgers, Murray spent £45 on advertising the first edition of Origin, £60 4s. for the second, and £29 3s. 6d. for the third (see Peckham ed. 1959, pp. 775--6).
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    f4 3141a.f4
    CD received £180 as his share of the profits for the first edition; Murray recorded having made £57 4s. 2d. `balance profit' (Peckham ed. 1959, p. 775).
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    f5 3141a.f5
    The fourth edition of Origin was published in December 1866; CD received his share of the profits in September 1867 after all copies of the edition were sold (Peckham ed. 1959, pp. 776--7).
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