DARWIN AND HIS PUBLISHER 



By JOHN MURRAY, J.P., D.L., F.S.A. 



The relations between authors and publishers have long formed 

 the subject of satire and ridicule in prose and verse. During 

 the past twenty years, however, the appearance of the memoirs of 

 several of the leading publishers has shown that they, as a class, 

 and as individuals, are not more deeply tainted by original sin 

 than are the authors ; and that cordial relations have been the 

 rule, disputes the rare exception. 



I have been asked to write a short account of the dealings 

 of my father with Charles Darwin, and I assent with the less 

 hesitation because it seems to me that those dealings exhibit a 

 type of what such an association should be — creditable to both 

 parties as gentlemen and men of business. Everything is 

 discussed openly and frankly between them ; critical questions 

 are asked and answered without reserve, and yet — or perhaps 

 I should say, in consequence of this — there is no trace of 

 friction or of ill-humour, and no word of discourtesy is to be 

 found in the whole correspondence. 



Darwin's letters to my father, from the year 1845 till within 

 a few weeks of his death in 1882, lie before me now, bound in 

 a stout volume ; and when I spoke about them to a distinguished 

 man of letters a few days ago, he said : " If you can find, in 

 all those letters, one containing an ill-natured remark, it is 

 worth a considerable sum of money." 



It very often falls to the lot of a publisher not only to super- 

 intend the more or less mechanical processes of producing a book, 

 but also to take a considerable part in the editing, for which 

 he may or may not receive thanks, according to the temperament 

 and courtesy of the author. In the case of Darwin's works my 

 father's part was mainly confined to the mechanical processes, 

 and yet at every stage there came the kindly, considerate, never- 

 forgotten word of thanks ; and those who have smarted under 

 the occasional omission of such courtesies can most highly 

 appreciate the ready and ungrudging concession of them. 



My father was introduced to Darwin by Sir Charles Lyell, 



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