To John Murray 23 October [1866]1
Down Bromley | Kent
Oct 23rd.
My dear Sir
I asked Dr Gray to tell Messrs. Ticknor & Field that you would let them have 250 copies of New Edit. of Origin at price; but a letter from Gray has crossed mine on the road.2 He sends the enclosed note from Messrs Ticknor, which I do not understand for I do not see what “Da & Co” means.3 Anyhow Gray says that they are afraid of the Appletons & will not publish an edit. of my new book. You see they recommend, as does Gray that you shd send copies for the American Market.4 But there is no hurry about this.
With respect to the Origin I do not suppose that Gray will communicate again with Messrs Ticknor & Field & it is not fair to ask him to take any more trouble. So you must do what you think best about sending copies of the Origin to some House in America.
Gray is going to review the new edit. & evidently thinks there would be some sale for it.5 It has just occurred to me that if Gray does communicate with Messrs. Ticknor & they accept the 250 copies it would be an awkward predicament if they were sent elsewhere. You must decide what had better be done.
My dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin
Please let me hear what you decide.—
Footnotes
Bibliography
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
A letter from Asa Gray informs CD that Ticknor & Fields will not publish a new edition of Origin to compete with Appleton’s unrevised edition. They recommend sending copies of the English edition for the American market.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5253
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Murray
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 ff. 151–152)
- Physical description
- LS(A) 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5253,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5253.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 14