DARWIN, Charles Robert (1809-1882)

Lot 124
09.07.2025 10:30UTC +01:00
Classic
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1450403
Lot 124 | DARWIN, Charles Robert (1809-1882)
Estimate value
£ 4 000 – 6 000
DARWIN, Charles Robert (1809-1882)
On the Origin of Species. London: John Murray, 1860.
Second edition, second issue of the work which laid the foundations for evolutionary biology. As one of the most significant achievements in the history of science, Darwin’s work ranks alongside Newton’s Principia and Einstein’s theory of relativity for its transformative impact on our understanding of the world. On the strength of the spectacular success in selling out the first edition, John Murray invited Darwin to make alterations and submit them for a second edition less than a month after the first edition had left the presses. Upon hearing that Richard Owen thought the whale-bear story was incorrect, Darwin diluted the story in this edition, 'an alteration which Darwin later regretted' (Freeman, p.78). Freeman 376.

Octavo-in-12s (198 x 123mm). Half-title, folding lithographic diagram, 32pp. of publisher's adverts at end dated January 1860 (short splits along two folds in plate, closed tear just into text at fore-margin of K8, occasion faint marginal spotting or staining, some small marginal chips or tears). Original publisher's green cloth by Edmonds and Remnants [Freeman's variant a] with their ticket, some index leaves unopened (corners rubbed, expertly rebacked preserving original backstrip). Provenance: Edith Kingdon Gould (1864-1921, American actress and socialite who married railroad heir George Jay Gould; book label on title).
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