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To Smith, Elder & Company   14 January [1863]

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

Jan. 14th

Dear Sir

I have had on my file a little unpaid account ever since 1858.1 When I received it I asked you to be so good as to let me have account of any sales of my three Geological Books.—2 Will you be so kind as to let me now hear on this subject.—3 I presume a few copies will have been sold during the several years since I had an account.— When you see what sale there has been, you can, if you please, make me any offer for the stock in hand, & so finally settle accounts, as we did many years ago for the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle.—4

Pray believe me | Dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin

Footnotes

1
The statement of account has not been found; however, see Correspondence vol. 4, letter to Smith, Elder & Company, [16 February 1849] and n. 3. Smith, Elder & Company published CD’s geology and zoology of the Beagle voyage (see nn. 2 and 4, below).
2
CD’s letter has not been found. Smith, Elder & Company published the three parts of CD’s account of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle: Coral reefs in 1842, Volcanic islands in 1844, and South America in 1846. In 1851, the three parts were combined and reissued, retaining the old pagination, although the title and half-title leaves of the parts were discarded and replaced by a new general title leaf, as Geological observations on coral reefs, volcanic islands, and on South America (Freeman 1977). See Correspondence vols. 2–4 for some of the transactions between CD and Smith, Elder & Company.
3
See letter from Smith, Elder & Company, 3 March 1863.
4
Smith, Elder & Company also published the five parts of Zoology (Freeman 1977; see Correspondence vols. 2 and 3). However, the correspondence referred to has not been found, and, in CD’s account books, there is no explicit reference to a final settlement or sale of the stock of Zoology.

Bibliography

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.

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.

Zoology: The zoology of the voyage of HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain FitzRoy RN, during the years 1832 to 1836. Edited and superintended by Charles Darwin. 5 pts. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1838–43.

Summary

Asks for account of sales of Geology of "Beagle". Willing to consider offer for remaining stock in order to close account.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-3914
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Smith, Elder & Co
Sent from
Down
Postmark
JA 15 63
Source of text
National Library of Scotland (MS.23181, ff.1-5 (S. E. & Co. work slip, ff.1-2, letter ff.3-4, address envelope f.5))
Physical description
ALS 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3914,” accessed on 24 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3914.xml

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

letter

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