The Temple of Nature; or The Origin of Society: A Poem with philosophical notes by DARWIN, Erasmus (1731-1802) [Fuseli, Henry, illustrates] - 1803

London: Printed for J. Johnson, St. Paul's Churchyard, by T. Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, 1803. Full Calf. Near Fine. First Edition of the author's final work, published posthumously, with plates after drawings by Henry Fuseli. 4to (267 x 206mm): [4],174,[2],124pp, with frontispiece and three further full-page engravings, including The Creation of Eve. Contemporary (probably original) mottled calf rebacked with matching modern calf, retaining original morocco lettering-piece gilt, flat spine in five compartments divided by French fillets in blind. A wide-margined, unsophisticated copy, binding tight and square, pages and plates fresh and virtually free of foxing, but with the following minor flaws: board edges darkened, end sheets embrowned, light offsetting from plates, repaired triangular tear to leaf F with partial loss of six letters, two plates cropped at bottom edge with partial loss to captions. A handsome copy, unaccountably scarce in commerce. Bibliotheca Bibliographici 1781. Shaw & Shoemaker Lowndes 593. Ersamus Darwin's full-blown paean to the forces of evolution (he had adumbrated the concept at the end of a long footnote to The Loves of the Plants, published anonymously in 1789 and republished throughout the 1790s as part of The Botanic Garden). In The Temple of Nature, considered his best poem, Darwin maps the progression of life from microorganisms to civilized society, tracing the origin of life to the forces of heat, repulsion, attraction, and contraction on brute matter, with organic forms arising in the sea, moving onto land, and ultimately evolving into humans. Reproduction, the theme of Canto II, is shown to facilitate evolution through the inheritance of acquired characteristics and the emergence of new traits in sexual reproduction. Recent research has exposed the debt owed to Erasmus by his more famous grandson, Charles. According to the ODNB, "It is now known that Charles's draft 'Preliminary notice' for Krause's (1879) essay on Erasmus's scientific work was substantially edited by Charles's daughter Henrietta in such a way as to underplay Charles's admiration for, and intellectual debt to, his grandfather.") N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).