Darwin, Charles.

8vo (199 x 126 mm.), first edition, folding lithographed diagram by W. West, half-title verso with quotations by Whewell and Bacon, 32-page publisher's catalogue dated June 1859 at the end (Freeman's form 3); original blind panelled green grained cloth (with Edmonds & Remnants ticket), spine gilt (Freeman's variant 1), brown-coated endpapers, minor spotting, hinges repaired, short tears to cloth at head of spine repaired, some further wear to edges of leaves and cloth, spine slightly darkened



"the most important single work in science" (Bern Dibner, Heralds of Science), which still remains -- on the 150th anniversary of both Darwin's birth and publication of the Origin -- a foundational pillar of modern scientific endeavour alongside relativity and quantum mechanics. Darwin's theory of natural selection, which has been called "design without a designer" (Francisco J. Ayala) displaced humans as the epicentre of the natural world, just as Copernicus had cast out the earth from the centre of the universe before him.



The entire text is essentially an introduction to, and amplification of, the iconoclastic thesis that Darwin abstracts at the beginning of chapter 4: "many more individuals are born than can possibly survive ... [I]ndividuals having any advantage, however slight, over others, would have the best chance of surviving and procreating their kind ... [A]ny variation in the least degree injurious would be rigidly destroyed. This preservation of favourable variations and the rejection of injurious variations, I call Natural Selection."

Edward Laws, Tenby, bookplate and inscription on front endpaper

Dibner 199; Freeman 373; Grolier/Horblit 23b; Grolier/Medicine 70b; Norman 593; Printing and the Mind of Man 344b

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing. Please note that in addition the half title is slightly chipped at the head, not affecting any text.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Darwin had assimilated the researches and observations from his five years as naturalist aboard the survey ship H.M.S. Beagle into the essential formulation of his theory of natural selection more than two decades before Origin of Species appeared, but he may not have published his revolutionary theory during his lifetime had not Alfred R. Wallace independently come to a nearly identical conclusion about the transmutation of species. After the Linnean Society read and published jointly Darwin and Wallace's preliminary expositions of the theory of evolution on 1 July 1858 (Darwin was not present since he was mourning the death of his infant son Charles, who had died of scarlet fever on 28 June), Darwin rushed to prepare for publication an epitome of the "big species book" that he had been working on since 1856. (Darwin's first suggestion for a title, An Abstract of an Essay on the Origin of Species and Varieties, was rejected by his publisher as too tentative).

Suffering from the recurring stomach complaints which plagued him throughout his life Darwin took his ailing family to the Isle of Wight on 20 July 1858, where he started work on the essay, which soon turned into a book. By April 1859 he had finished a manuscript of 155,000 words. "The book, stripped of references and academic paraphernalia, was aimed not at the specialists but directly at the reading public...John Murray agreed to publish it sight unseen...Darwin finished revising the proofs...'as weak as a child' (Correspondence, 7.328) and retreated to Ilkley Wells House spa, on the Yorkshire moors. He arranged with Murray to send out a large number of complimentary copies, and from his spa posted self-deprecating letters to many recipients of these copies, exclaiming typically, 'how you will long to crucify me alive' (Correspondence, 7.368). He described his time there, awaiting the outcome, covered in rashes and 'fiery Bils', as like living in Hell' (ibid. 7.362)"  (Oxford DNB). In the event the 1250 print-run was oversubscribed and caused an immediate sensation, requiring Murray to initiate a reprint almost immediately after publication on Thursday 24 November.