CHARLES DARWIN, ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES

CHARLES DARWIN

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,

fourth edition (8th thousand), half-title, folding plate, without the publisher’s advertisements at rear, slight browning, original green cloth, gilt, some surface marking and fading to gilt-lettering, [Freeman 385], 8vo, John Murray, 1866.

***Only 1500 copies of the fourth edition were printed. It is 52 pages or 16,000 words longer than the third edition.

Provenance: ink signature of mining engineer James Mason (1824-1903) to title page and his armorial bookplate to front pastedown.

Any 'Art of Nature' sale would not be complete without this foundational work of our understanding of the history of natural selection and evolution. First published in November 1859, the book sparked widespread debate across the scientific, religious and political communities, as well as the informed general public, for whom the book was written.