On the origin of species by means of natural selection,
Subtitle: or, The preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life
By: by Charles Darwin, M.A. ...
Contributors: Murray, John, 1808-1892, publisher; Tatham, R.G., Esq., former owner; Lacaita, C. C. (Charles Carmichael), 1853-1933, former owner; Edmonds & Remnants; Harcourt Bindery; William Clowes and Sons; Bradbury & Evans
Publisher: John Murray, Albemarle Street
Published: 1859
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 502
Subjects: Evolution (Biology); Natural selection; Heredity
Other titles: Preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life
Description: It took Charles Darwin more than twenty years to publish this book, in part because he realized that it would ignite a firestorm of controversy. The Origin of Species first appeared in 1859, and it remains a continuing source of conflict to this day. Even among those who reject its ideas, however, the work's impact is undeniable. In science, philosophy, and theology, this is a book that changed the world. In addition to its status as the focus of a dramatic turning point in scientific thought, On the Origin of Species stands as a remarkably readable study. Carefully reasoned and well-documented in its arguments, the work offers coherent views of natural selection, adaptation, the struggle for existence, survival of the fittest, and other concepts that form the foundation of modern evolutionary theory.--Amazon.com.
Notes: First edition, first issue.

Two quotations on p. [ii] (verso of half title); advertisements at end (32 p.) dated June 1859 and printed by Bradbury and Evans, Whitefriars.

Printer statement from title page verso and colophon (p. 502).

Diagram (on folded leaf facing p. 117) signed: W. West, lith., Hatton Garden.

Includes index.

Freeman, R.B.  Works of Charles Darwin (2nd ed.), no. 373

Freeman, R.B. Charles Darwin: a companion, p. 220

BM (compact ed.) vol. 6, p. 1010, col. 971

Boston Public Library (Rare Books Department) copy 1: bound in green embossed publisher's cloth with floral borders and panelling, in blind, on both covers. The spine is stamped and tooled in gilt and the pastedowns are light brown. At front is a bookseller's label that reads: "W.W. Lucy, bookseller, Marloborough"; at rear, a binder's ticket that reads: "Bound by Edmonds & Remnants, London." Copy 1 includes two bookplates. On the front pastedown: "Caroli ac Mariae Lacaitae filiorumque. Selham, Sussex"; on the verso of the front flyleaf: "R.G. Tatham, Esq., 1 Montague Place, Poplar, E." Copy 1 is inscribed with Tatham's signature on the verso of the half-title, and is housed in a green cloth box. This copy of the first edition is registered with the Darwin Census, #10198, November, 2011. For more information go to Darwin Online.

Boston Public Library (Rare Books Department) copy 2: bound in modern (20th century) green goatskin, panelled in gilt with combed marbled pastedowns and gilt turn-ins. Its spine is panelled and tooled in gilt with red leather labels, and it is housed in a green cloth box with a green and red goatskin spine. A binder's ticket at rear reads: "Harcourt Bindery, Boston, Mass." An embossed stamp on the title page reads: "Public Library of the City of Boston." Publisher's advertisements are missing. This copy of the first edition is registered with the Darwin Census, #10199, November, 2011. For more information go to Darwin Online.

Boston Public Library (Rare Books Department) copy 3: halfbound in modern brown cloth and goatskin with sprinkled text block edges and a red leather label, tooled in gilt, at the head of its spine. The folded plate in this copy has been tipped in at page 130, rather than 117. Publisher's advertisements are missing. An ownership stamp of the Public Library of the City of Boston is stamped through the title page just above the publisher's statement.This copy of the first edition is registered with the Darwin Census, #10200, November, 2011. For more information go to Darwin Online.