Hardcover
1889 · New York
by Darwin, Charles, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1889. Hardcover. Later printing, with additions and corrections from the sixth and last English edition. Arguably the most significant work of science in the Western canon, The Origin of Species first appeared in 1859, positing a theory of evolution in which living organisms change through a series of random permutations, which are 'naturally selected' insofar as they are adapted to their environment. Octavo, two volumes: xxvi, 365 p. + v, 339 p. with the publisher's ads at the rear. Original brown cloth binding, with gilt titles and black and blind-stamped decorations. Some sparse pencil marginalia, with erasures to the each front flyleaf. Bookplate and a small address label to each front pastedown. The spines are darkened just a touch, with some general shelfwear. (Inventory #: 76372)