On the Origin of Species in its 6th edition, earning Darwin nearly £3000.) On 5 April, Darwin sent Murray the first three chapters, and a proposal for the book's title. An early draft title page suggests "On the Mutability of Species". Murray cautiously asked Whitwell Elwin to review the chapters. At Lyell's suggestion, Elwin recommended that, rather than "put forth the theory without the evidence", the book should focus on observations upon pigeons, briefly stating how these illustrated Darwin's general principles and preparing the way for the larger work expected shortly: "Every body is interested in pigeons." Darwin responded that this was impractical: he had
On the Origin of Species were weakened by Darwin making concessions and adding details to address his critics, and recommended the first edition. James T. Costa said that because the book was an abstract produced in haste in response to Wallace's essay, it was more approachable than the big book on natural selection Darwin had been working on, which would have been encumbered by scholarly footnotes and much more technical detail. He added that some parts of "Origin" are dense, but other parts are almost lyrical, and the case studies and observations are presented in a narrative style unusual in serious scientific books, which broadened