Description
“WITH THE KIND REGARDS & RESPECT OF THE AUTHOR”: EXCEPTIONALLY RARE PRESENTATION FIRST ISSUE OF THE DESCENT OF MAN, INSCRIBED BY DARWIN, IN ORIGINAL CLOTH BINDING
DARWIN, Charles. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. London: John Murray, 1871. Two volumes. Octavo, original green gilt-stamped cloth.
Exceptionally inscribed presentation copy of the first edition, first issue, of Darwin’s landmark treatise, in which the word “evolution” is used to describe his theory for the first time in any of his works, in original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by Darwin “With the kind regards & respect of the Author” on a sheet inserted before the half title in Volume I, and with the text block edges machine-cut, both characteristics of the very rare presentation copies of this title. Even among rare presentation copies, few were in his hand, many being written by his secretary or his publisher’s clerks. This copy is presented in Darwin’s hand, and thus is of very great rarity.
“Darwin calculated that it took him two years to write The Descent of Man—three or maybe four if he included all his preliminary work on sexual selection and facial expressions… The book had, in fact, taken Darwin a lifetime to produce… he did much more than simply flesh out his old conviction that humans had evolved from animals… he brought all his accumulated natural history knowledge to bear on the question of human ancestry, all his experience of the human condition as learned from the Beagle voyage and from his life as a naturalist, husband, father, and friend… From the start, he perceived his ‘Man book’ as a necessary counterpart to the Origin of Species. In it he would deliberately cross the last frontier of the evolutionary doctrine that he and Wallace had set out to establish” (Browne, Charles Darwin, II:325).
“The book, in its first edition, contains two parts, the descent of man itself, and selection in relation to sex. The word ‘evolution’ occurs [Volume I, p. 2] for the first time in any of Darwin’s works” (Freeman, 128-29). “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” (Norman 599). “As usual, Darwin did his best to obtain a wide and favourable reception. He suggested various journals for review, and ordered a large number of presentation copies, sending around eighty books to leading men of science and collaborators who had assisted him, as well as to his extended family and friends” (Darwin Correspondence Project). Darwin wrote repeatedly to his publisher about presentation copies of Descent, and in a January 12, 1871 letter he noted that he would send his publisher the “list for distribution in London and by Rail—Copies for abroad I will myself dispatch.” Darwin’s presentation list for Descent included “friends, relatives, collaborators, and critics. At least thirty copies were distributed by Darwin himself; the rest were sent out by the publisher” (The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Vol. 19, pp. 792-793). Of those copies which Darwin inscribed himself, we know of only a handful of copies that have appeared on the market or are held in institutions. First issue: Volume I, page 297 begins with “transmitted”; Volume II with printer’s note on verso of half title, errata on verso of title and Darwin’s note on “a serious and unfortunate error” (p. [ix]). Advertisements in both volumes dated January 1871. Darwin favored machine-cut edges for books as the smoother edge kept dust from collecting where rough edges cut with a paper knife tended to collect dust. While he was unable to convince his conservative publishers to have the edges machine-cut on the regular edition, he did manage to persuade them to machine-cut the edges of the much smaller number of copies designated for his use as presentation copies, as here. Freeman 937. Garrison & Morton 170. Norman 599.
Light foxing to half title of Volume II only, text generally clean. Inner paper hinges reinforced, bindings sound, some mild rubbing and marking to cloth, spine gilt bright. An exceptional, unrestored presentation copy, far nicer than usually found, most rare and desirable inscribed by Darwin.
