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History, Travel, Exploration

Charles Darwin

A true first issue, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=charles%20darwin&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Darwin</a>'s The Descent of Man.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Charles Darwin (English).</li><li>London: John Murray, 1871.</li><li>With "transmitted" the first word on p. 297 in the first volume.</li><li>In the second, the printer's note on the verso of the half-title, errata on title verso, and the postscript leaf after p. viii.</li><li>The first issue had a print-run of just 2,500 copies.</li></ul> Charles Darwin expands on his theory of evolution, focusing on human origins and the role of sexual selection. In this groundbreaking work, Darwin argues that humans share a common ancestor with other animals, particularly apes, emphasizing the continuity between humans and the rest of the natural world. He explores how natural selection and sexual selection have shaped human physical and behavioral traits, including differences between sexes and races. Darwin also discusses the development of moral sense, intellect, and social behavior, suggesting that these too evolved gradually. The book was controversial, challenging religious and scientific views of the time by placing humans firmly within the framework of evolutionary biology. The Descent of Man not only deepened public understanding of human evolution but also laid the foundation for later studies in anthropology, psychology, and evolutionary theory, making it a landmark in scientific literature and is claimed to be such by Sigmund Freud, "One of the ten most significant books ever written". [ref: 20642 ] £15,000

The Descent of Man (First Edition, First Issue)

An apparently unpublished letter by Darwin regarding a new second American edition of Origin of Species; autographed and signed ("Ch. Darwin") to Charles Layton, Appleton's London agent.<ul><li>Charles Darwin (English).</li><li>Down, Beckenham, Kent: November 26, [1869].</li><li>3 pages.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Bifolium of Down, Bromley, Kent, stationery, with "Bromley" crossed out and corrected to Beckenham.</li></ul> Charles Darwin (1809-1882) writes to Charles Layton, London agent for Appleton, about bringing out a revised and expanded second American edition of On the Origin of Species. The letter is a reply to Layton's of the day before, in which he'd inquired after stereotyped plates of the English edition. In part: "The last or 5th Edit. of the Origin was printed off some months ago &amp; it is impossible to supply stereotypes. I hope that you will inform Mr. Appleton of what I have said of the increased size of this last &amp; 5th Edit. As 2000 copies of this Edit were printed, there will not be a new Edit. for a considerable time ... If Mr. Appleton will reprint this 5th Edition ... I will pledge myself to endevour to persuade Mr. Murray to supply stereotype plates of my new book on the Descent of Man; but as I never before heard of such such a scheme, I have no idea whether he will comply. At any rate I will please myself, on the above conditions &amp; on the terms suggested in your letter, to send over the sheets as printed &amp; stereotype casts of the woodcuts. But please remember my new book will not got to press for many months." Appleton had published the first American edition of Origin in 1860, from Murray's second English edition. In keeping with the terms of the present letter, Appleton published the second American edition, based on the 5th English edition, in 1870, followed by the first American edition of The Descent of Man in 1871.

History, Travel, Exploration

History, Travel, Exploration

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Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin