64 THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' [1860, 



entirely and utterly forgotten your offer of receiving the 

 sheets as printed off. But I must not blame my publisher, 

 for had I remembered your most kind offer I feel pretty 

 sure I should not have taken advantage of it ; for I never 

 dreamed of my book being so successful with general readers ; 

 I believe I should have laughed at the idea of sending the 

 sheets to America.* 



After much consideration, and on the strong advice of 

 Lyell and others, I have resolved to leave the present book as 

 it is (excepting correcting errors, or here and there inserting 

 short sentences) and to use all my strength, which is but little, 

 to bring out the first part (forming a separate volume, with 

 index, &c.) of the three volumes which will make my bigger 

 work ; so that I am very unwilling to take up time in making 

 corrections for an American edition. I enclose a list of a few 

 corrections in the second reprint, which you will have re- 

 ceived by this time complete, and I could send four or five 

 corrections or additions of equally small importance, or rather 

 of equal brevity. I also intend to write a short preface with 

 a brief history of the subject. These I will set about, as they 

 must some day be done, and I will send them to you in a short 

 time the few corrections first, and the preface afterwards, 

 unless I hear that you have given up all idea of a separate 

 edition. You will then be able to judge whether it is worth 

 having the new edition with your review prefixed. Whatever 

 be the nature of your review, I assure you I should feel it a 

 great honour to have my book thus preceded. . . . 



Asa Gray to C. Darwin. 



Cambridge, January 23rd, 1860. 



My DEAR DARWIN, You have my hurried letter telling 

 you of the arrival of the remainder of the sheets of the re- 

 print, and of the stir I had made for a reprint in Boston, 



* In a letter to Mr. Murray, 1860, my father wrote : " I am amused 

 by Asa Gray's account of the excitement my book has made amongst 

 naturalists in the U. States. Agassiz has denounced it in a newspaper. 



