John Murray an Ernst Haeckel, Edinburgh, 17. Februar 1895
32 Palmerston Place,
Edinburgh.
17 February 1895.
My dear Haeckel
Very many thanks for your congratulations on completion of the Challenger work: the last volumes will be issued the first week of March. The financial data with regard to the expedition have never been published in full. I will send you some details in addition to what you will find in the Editorial || notes to the last volume.
I would have been delighted to have had a sketch from Giltsch for the medal, but unfortunately I last week placed the matter of the design in the hands of the President of the Scotch Academy (Art). You have done much more for the deep and shallow sea than Darwin and I would rather see your name then his on the medal, but I think it will be better to have no names on the medal || except the man to whom it is given. I like the other side you sketch. I’ll show this to Sir George Reid.
I am in hopes that we will get the Government to present and not sell the remaining complete sets. I wish to see them placed where they will be most useful to students. But the Treasury Permanent Officials do not like to miss a chance of bringing in money. A few weeks || ago they sent a complete set to a public sale to see what volumesa would bring at an auction, and they sold for much more than cost price. This was of course without the last two volumes. There seems to be an idea that complete sets (50 vols)b will go up in price as soon as the last volumes are out.
I will write you again soon. I contemplate a visit to the Indian Ocean next winter.
Yours sincerely
John Murray
a gestr.: they; eingef.: volumes; b eingef.: (50 vols)