Darwin, Charles.

first edition, presentation copy, with "from the author" in murray's clerk's hand on the half-title, 8vo, original cloth, binding rubbed, first few leaves spotted, spine ends and corners with wear



a good association copy. Anton Dohrn was a correspondent of Darwin and founder of the Zoological Station at Naples. Four other volumes by Darwin are included in the lot.

Anton Dohrn, ownership signature dated 1875, shelf label of the Naples Zoological Station on front pastedown

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate
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The Naples Zoological Station is still extant today. It was "not only the first laboratory set up specifically for marine studies but also the first institute formally organised for the sole pursuit of research and the prototype for those that followed" (DSB). From an early stage, Darwin provided the Station with both moral and financial support. Darwin habitually sent copies of his works at the Station, which were always effusively received by Dohrn, whose interest in zoology had been ignited by the publication of the Origin of Species in 1859. Their correspondence has been published by Christiane Groeben in Charles Darwin–Anton Dohrn Correspondence (Naples, 1982).

The four other volumes from the Station library included in this lot comprise: On the Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants, London, 1875, second edition, original cloth; The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms. London, 1881, original cloth, some wear; The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. London, 1871, 2 volumes, volume one without covers and preliminaries, volume 2 worn.