FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF DARWIN'S ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, "THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE WORK IN SCIENCE," A BEAUTIFUL UNRESTORED COPY
DARWIN, Charles. On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection… New York: D. Appleton, 1860. Octavo, original green cloth. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
First American edition, first issue, of "certainly the most important biological book ever written" (Freeman)—the book that introduced the idea the world would come to know as "evolution"—published just one year after the London first edition. An exceptionally lovely unrestored copy.
When first published in 1859, On the Origin of Species, "the most important single work in science, brought man to his true place in nature" (Heralds of Science 199). Darwin "revolutionized our methods of thinking and our outlook on the natural order of things. The recognition that constant change is the order of the universe had been finally established and a vast step forward in the uniformity of nature had been taken" (PMM 344). First issue, with only two quotations opposite title page. Freeman 377. See Horblit, 23b; Dibner, 199; PMM 344b. Pencil notations on final blank.
Usual scattered foxing to text, bright unrestored cloth with only mild wear to corners and spine ends. An excellent copy in near-fine condition.