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Darwin Correspondence Project

To J. V. Carus   5 October [1870]1

Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

Oct. 5th

My dear Sir

We have all been deeply interested by your letter, just received, & sympathise with every word which you say.2 I am astonished & pleased to hear that you are prepared to begin translating & the publisher to publish.—3

I have corrected 208 pages in second Proofs, but no sheets have yet been struck off: I have written again to day for clean sheets of even 2 or 3 first sheets to be sent on as soon as ready; but I know that they wait generally, & do not print any off, till several sheets are finally corrected.—4 As soon as I hear what Murray will charge for stereotypes of 64 wood-blocks, I will let you know: I asked him to charge only a little more than costs5   You understand that I give you the right of Translation, & you must make your own agreement with publisher.—

With the most cordial feelings | Believe me | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

P.S. You will be pleased to hear that Vol. I consists of only 411 pages.—6

Footnotes

The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. V. Carus, 2 October 1870.
Carus was to translate Descent into German; the publisher of Carus trans. 1871 was E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagshandlung (see letter from J. V. Carus, 2 October 1870 and n. 4).
CD’s letter to William Clowes, the printer of Descent, has not been found.
The first volume of Descent was 423 pages long not including preliminaries (8 pages).

Bibliography

Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.

Summary

Sympathetic to JVC’s views on Franco-Prussian war [see 7332].

Astonished at JVC’s readiness to begin work. Will send sheets as soon as possible. Has asked Murray to charge for stereotypes of 64 woodblocks at cost. JVC must make his own agreement with publisher.

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7333,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7333.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18

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