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Darwin Correspondence Project

To John Murray   [26 June 1845]

Down Bromley Kent

Thursday

Dear Sir

I have adopted & am much obliged for, your criticism on the Preface. It will be now too late to insert the advertisement of the Zoolo. & Geol. of the Voyage in the First Part.—

I am sorry to say that this Part runs to 176 pages: I found I could not shorten so much as not to leave a broken sheet, so that I have managed to get all in this Part, by running two chapters together & by throwing away two pages of type: I have written to Mrs. Clowes, begging them to send me a little account for the setting up & distributing of these two pages & for the corrections consequent on it:

I will try to make the next Part only 160 pages, but I find it almost impossible, with so many alterations to keep any accurate calculation, as is shown by the last M.S. having run out 13 pages too much.

Dear Sir | Your’s very faithfully | C. Darwin

PS. To night. Mrs. Clowes will receive title & every sheet finally corrected.— The title, Preface Contents &c all been put by Mrs Clowes into half a sheet

Summary

Agrees with JM’s criticism of preface [of Journal of researches, 2d ed.].

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-879
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
John Murray
Sent from
Down
Source of text
National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms.42152 ff.17–18)
Physical description
ALS 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 879,” accessed on 16 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-879.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 3

letter