Darwin, CharlesBiblio.com
DARWIN, CharlesBiblio.com
Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex
187169501London: John Murray 1871. Full Description:<br> <br> DARWIN Charles. The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. With illustrations. London: John Murray 1871.<br> <br> First edition first issue with "transmitted" appearing as the first word on p. 297 of Volume I with printer's imprint on the verso of the half-title of Volume II and with twenty-five errata seventeen for Volume I and eight for Volume II on the verso of the title leaf to Volume II and with the leaf pp. ix-x containing Darwin's note on "a serious and unfortunate error" tipped in leaf after p. viii in Volume II. Two small octavo volumes 7 1/2 x 4 15/16 inches; 191 x 126 mm Volume II is 5 mm shorter than volume I. viii 423 1 printer's imprint 16 publisher's ads; viiiix-x "Postscript" 475 1 printer's imprint 16 publisher's ads pp. The 16 pages of publisher's advertisements at the end of each volume are both dated January 1871 . Wood-engraved text illustrations.<br> <br> Original green cloth with covers stamped in blind and spines stamped and lettered in gilt. Black-coated endpapers. Head and tail of spines with some minor shelf-wear. Corners slightly bumped. Some very light rubbing to board edges. Some minor bubbling to cloth of front board of volume II. Front inner hinge of volume I with a mostly closed crack holding firm. Previous owner's armorial bookplate on front pastedown of volume II. Some minor pencil markings to volume I otherwise very clean inside. Overall an exceptional set.<br> <br> The first issue of 2500 copies was published on February 24 1871 and the second of 2000 copies in March. "The book in its first edition contains two parts the descent of man itself and selection in relation to sex. The word 'evolution' occurs for the first time in any of Darwin's works on page 2 of the first volume of the first edition that is to say before its appearance in the sixth edition of The Origin of Species in the following year. The last chapter is about sexual selection in relation to man and it ends with the famous peroration about man's lowly origin the wording of which differs slightly in the first edition from that which is usually quoted" Freeman p. 129.<br> <br> "In the Origin Darwin had avoided discussing the place occupied by Homo sapiens in the scheme of natural selection stating only that 'light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.' Twelve years later he made good his promise with The descent of man in which he compared man's physical and psychological characteristics to similar traits in apes and other animals showing how even man's mind and moral sense could have developed through evolutionary processes. In discussing man's ancestry Darwin did not claim that man was directly descended from apes as we know them today but stated simply that the extinct ancestors of Homo sapiens would have to be classified among the primates; however this statement as misinterpreted by the popular press caused a furor second only to that raised by the Origin" Norman Library. This title created almost as much sensation as his Origin of Species. In it he elaborated further on his views adding sexual selection and using the word 'evolution' for the first time.<br> <br> Milestones of Science 48. Freeman Darwin 937. Garrison-Morton 170. Norman Library 599.<br> <br> HBS 69501.<br> <br> $5500. John Murray unknown
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