"Blackwood writes to say I am 'a popular author as well as a great author.' They printed 2,090 of 'Adam Bede,' and have disposed of more than 1800, so that they are thinking of a second edition." In May, Blackwood proposed to add, at the end of the year, £400 to the £800 originally given for the copyright. A fourth edition of 5000 volumes was issued in 1859, all of which were sold in a fortnight; a seventh was printed the same year, and in October Blackwood felt justified in proposing to pay £800 more at the beginning of the new year. The sale amounted to 16,000 volumes in one year. Octavo. COLLATION: _Three volumes._ CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN (1809-1882) 96. On | The Origin Of Species | [Four lines] By Charles Darwin, M.A., [Three lines] London: | John Murray, Albemarle Street. | 1859. | The right of Translation is reserved. The simplicity and honesty of Darwin's character are nowhere more clearly seen than in his correspondence over the production of this book, which, from its unorthodoxy, he feared might expose others as well as himself to censure. For example, he says in a letter of March 28, 1859, to Sir Charles Lyell, the famous geologist, who made the arrangements for the publication of the work: "P.S. Would you advise me to tell Murray that my book is not more _un_-orthodox than the subject makes inevitable.... Or had I better say _nothing_ to Murray, and assume that he cannot object to this much unorthodoxy, which in fact is not more than any Geological Treatise which runs slap counter to Genesis." Afterward, in a letter to J. D. Hooker, under date of April 2, 1859, he says: "... I wrote to him [Mr. Murray] and gave him the headings of the chapters, and told him he could not have the MSS. for ten days or so; and this morning I received a letter, offering me handsome terms, and agreeing to publish without seeing the MS.! So he is eager enough; I think I should have been cautious, anyhow, but, owing to your letter, I told him most _explicitly_ that I accepted his offer solely on condition that, after he has seen part or all the MS., he has full power of retracting. You will think me presumptuous, but I think my book will be popular to a certain extent (enough to ensure [against] heavy loss) amongst scientific and semiscientific men.... Anyhow, Murray ought to be the best judge, and if he chooses to publish it, I think I may wash my hands of all responsibility...."