From Orange Judd & Co 21 April 1869
Office of the American Agriculturist | 245 Broadway | New York
Apr 21 1869
Dear Sir.
We have too long delayed answering your esteemed favor of Jany 25th and beg pardon for the seeming neglect.1 “The Variation of Animals and Plants” has not sold quite as largely as we had hoped, the second edition of our thousand being now about half sold.2 But the sale appears steady and will we think continue for sometime to come. Our universal, almost custom is to stereotype or electrotype books which makes it much more difficult to change the matter than if kept in type.3
Then you are so exceedingly progressive, which of course we like, that it is difficult for publishers to keep up with you. There is one difficulty with regard to publishing the “Origin of the Species”.4 it needs and must have frequent changes and additions which of course are not congenial with the profits of bookmaking generally. Then again our relations with Messrs Appleton & Co are such that while we might consider fairly that they had given up their claim to publish according to the ordinary rules of American Booksellers & publishers ettiquette yet we would not like in any way to annoy them by appearing to others who do not fully understand the whole matter to trepass upon their grounds.5 We regard on these accounts feeling obliged to decline your kind offer. We are inclined to keep some of the English Edition of the Origin in stock and will sell what we can of the New Edition. Can the additions and alterations in the Variation be put in the form of an appendix or supplement to our next edition? We shall be pleased to receive a copy in sheets when ready. Enclosed we hand you Bill of Exchange on Baring Bros & Co for fifty pounds and only wish it were more,6 and remain
Yours truly | Orange Judd & Co
Chas Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
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.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Reports on the sales of Variation; discusses the difficulties of inserting additions and corrections.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6709
- From
- Orange Judd & Co.
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- New York
- Source of text
- DAR 173: 36
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6709,” accessed on 17 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6709.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 17