The Descent of Man
by Darwin, Charles
- Used
- Very Good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
Beverly Hills, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
John Murray, Albemarle Street, London, 1871. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. First edition, 1st issue. London: John Murray, 1871, 1871. 2 volumes, octavo. Original green cloth, titles to spines gilt, sides with panels blocked in blind, blue coated end papers. The covers are in very good condition. Gilt nice and bright. There is scuffing to the covers and the corners are a bit bumped. The bindings are very tight and square. Internally both volumes are very good. Gutters of vol.1 have been repaired. Previous owners' name and initial on front free end paper and half-title page of vol. 1, on front free end paper of vol.2. Some foxing to first and last few leaves of each volume, but the text pages are clean and bright throughout. The original adverts are complete and dated January 1871. Some scuffing to front paste-down of vol.2. Cloth very lightly rubbed. Engravings throughout. First edition, first issue with the errata on the verso of the title leaf of vol. II. Here the word "evolution" appears for the first time in any of Darwin's works, preceding its appearance in the sixth edition of The Origin of Species the following year. Darwin had hoped that one of his supporters might tackle the thorny question of human evolution, but was forced to face the logic of his own theory himself. Darwin deviated from his ostensible subject of mankind to describe sexual selection in the animal kingdom, enabling him to answer those who saw peacock tails as an expression of divine aesthetics. Darwin also set out a definite family tree for humans, tracing their affinity with the Old World monkeys, and laid out his views on the evolutionary origins of morality and religion. "The Descent, understood by Darwin as a sequel to the Origin, was written with a maturity and depth of learning that marked Darwin's status as an "élite gentleman of science" (ODNB). Housed in a custom-made collectors slipcase. Quite uncommon in the true first issue.
Synopsis
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex is a book on evolutionary theory by English naturalist Charles Darwin, first published in 1871. It was Darwin's second great book on evolutionary theory, following his 1859 work, On The Origin of Species. In The Descent of Man, Darwin applies evolutionary theory to human evolution, and details his theory of sexual selection.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Bookbid Rare Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 1409510
- Title
- The Descent of Man
- Author
- Darwin, Charles
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Publisher
- John Murray, Albemarle Street, London
- Date Published
- 1871
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
Bookbid Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Bookbid Rare Books
Biblio member since 2009
Beverly Hills, California
About Bookbid Rare Books
Bookbid Rare Books is a rare book dealer located in Beverly Hills, California. The family run company has sold modern literary first editions and children's books for over 20 years. Member of ABAA, ILAB.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Paste-down
- The paste-down is the portion of the endpaper that is glued to the inner boards of a hardback book. The paste-down forms an...
- Errata
- Errata: aka Errata Slip A piece of paper either laid in to the book correcting errors found in the printed text after being...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...