DARWIN & WALLACE | FIRST EDITION OF "ON THE TENDENCY OF SPECIES TO FORM VARIETIES", [1858-59].

DARWIN, CHARLES AND ALFRED RUSSELL WALLACE

"On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection"[1858-59] pp 45-62, contained in the whole volume III (Zoology) Of: Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society. London: Longman, Brown, Green et al, 1859

8vo. Later marbled boards, lightly rubbed; some light scattered foxing, slightly heavier to first two leaves. 

FIRST EDITION OF THE JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT OF DARWIN AND WALLACE'S THEORY OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION, Freeman's fourth form. After postponing for many years publication of his own researches on natural selection, Darwin was startled to learn that Alfred Wallace had independently arrived at a nearly identical hypothesis about the development of species. After reading the paper on species divergence that Wallace sent to him from the Spice Islands, Darwin confessed to Charles Lyell, "I never saw a more striking coincidence; if Wallace had my ms. sketch written out in 1842, he could not have made a better short abstract! Even his terms now stand as heads of my chapters. ... So all my originality, whatever it may amount to, will be smashed ..." (18 June 1858). Lyell and Joseph D. Hooker suggested that the two naturalists present their findings simultaneously, and they read Darwin and Wallace's joint announcement of the evolution theory to the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858.

As described by Freeman, "there are five different forms in which the original edition can be found, but they are all from the same setting of type". In accordance with the normal publishing customs of the Linnean Society, this number of the Journal was initially issued as the Zoology part alone in pink wrappers [Freeman 347] or alongside the Botany papers in blue wrappers to those subscribers who took both parts [Freeman 346]. It was then included in the annual volume of the Journal published later using reserved stock, once again as Zoology alone [Freeman 351] or with the Botany part [Freeman 350]. The fifth form is the author's offprint [Freeman 348], which has "From the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society for August 1858" added to p.45.

LITERATURE:

Freeman 351; Grolier/Horblit 23a; Grolier/Medicine 70a; Norman 592; PMM 344a; cf. Dibner 199