The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex
Two volumes. London: William Clowes and Sons for John Murray, 1871. First edition, first issue.
Octavo (7 ¼” x 4 13/16”, 185mm x 121mm).
Vol. I: binder’s blank, A4 B-2D8 2E4 2B8 [$2 signed]. 224 leaves, pp. i-v (half-title, blank, title, by the same author, contents) vi-viii 1 2-5 6-9 10-423 [1] (imprint) 21 22-16 (16pp. advertisements).
Vol. II: binder’s blank, A4 (A4+χ1) B-2G8 2H4 2I2 2B8 [$2 signed]. 250 leaves, pp. i-v (half-title, imprint, title, errata, contents) vi-viii [2] (postscript, blank) 1 2-475 [1] (imprint) 21 22-16 (16pp. advertisements).
Bound in the publisher’s green cloth. On the spine, title, author, number and imprint gilt. Black-coated end-papers. Top edges of the text-blocks stained black.
Rubbed, with wear and splits at the extremities. Recently repaired: the text-block adhered to the spine of vol. I (the end-papers split), splits to the text-block of vol. II at 2C and 2D repaired with Japanese tissue. Some tanning throughout, with foxing to the preliminaries, and a small damp-stain to quire A of vol. II. Occasional darkening to the fore or upper edge of a leaf. Bookseller’s ticket of “Dalton & Lucy/ Booksellers to the Queen/ 28, Cockspur St. Charing Cross.” to the front paste-down of vol. I.
Although Darwin’s (1809–1882) magnum opus was the Origin of Species (1859), which sought to explain the mechanism of evolution of all species by natural selection, his reading public clamored for studies of humans. Indeed, the Origin was long mis-interpreted as implying that Homo sapiens was the terminus of all evolution. The Descent of Man (1871) sought specifically to satisfy this burning interest, and was far better received; some bibliographers emphasize its controversiality, but Darwin himself remarked on how liberal Britain must have become to have responded with so little furore.
The Descent, which explores sexual selection particularly thoroughly, is also notable for the first appearance of “evolution” in Darwin’s writing (preceding the sixth edition of the Origin): “The greater number accept the agency of natural selection; though some urge, whether with justice the future must decide, that I have greatly overrated its importance. Of the older and honoured chiefs in natural science, many unfortunately are still opposed to evolution in every form” (vol. I, p. 2). Although the Descent broke less ground than did the Origin, its phrases and conclusions have proven to be more durable in the scientific and popular vernacular.
Item #JLR0830
Price: $7,000