My dear Sir

It was very kind of you to tell me so soon of the 600 copies: I expected about 200, so that the loss will not be so heavy as I expected.² Will you be so good as to advise me whether I had not better have 250 copies struck off: for reviews Libraries & 65 presentation copies will dispose of nearly 100 more. What would it cost to have type kept up say for 2 months?

I enclose list of 24 copies to be distributed & please send other 41 copies for foreigners (for N.B I shall want 65 copies cut)³ to me, addressed “Orpington St. S.E R”.—

Please to see about Reviews.— Please insert advertisement by itself twice in Nature.⁴

Lastly I am sorry to trouble you, but it is right that you should know that the index-maker⁵ has made the worst index, I believe, ever published, notwithstanding that my son⁶ & I spent 2 days in correcting it, & this has caused delay. We had to look to fully $\frac{1}{3}$ of references to conjecture what reference meant. The miserable work is chiefly due to ignorance of the matter, but not wholly so, for he scamped his work. For instance under names Lynch & De Vries, instead of looking to see what they had written about the general heading on top of page was copied.⁷ In no book published by you was there ever so bad an index.—

Once again thanking you cordially for all the trouble which you have taken for me I remain, My dear Sir | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

P.S | Sometime I sh^d. like to hear how my other books sold.—