DARWIN, CHARLES. 1809-1882.


The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. London: John Murray, 1871. 2 volumes. 8vo (189 x 126 mm). Half-titles, engraved illustrations. 16 pp publisher's catalogue dated January 1871 at end of each volume. Original green cloth, blind-stamped, spines gilt-lettered. Hinges of first volume cracked, lower upper corner bumped. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, the first appearance of the word "evolution" in Darwin's works. "In the Origin, Darwin had avoided discussing the place occupied by Homo sapiens in the scheme of natural selection, stating only that 'life will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.' Twelve years later he made good his promise with The Descent of Man, in which he compared man's physical and psychological characteristics to similar traits in apes and other animals, showing how even man's mind and moral sense could have developed through evolutionary processes. In discussing man's ancestry, Darwin did not claim that man was directly descended from apes as we know them today, but stated simply that the extent ancestors of Homo sapiens would have to be classified among the primates; however, this statement, as misinterpreted by the popular press, caused a furor second only to that raised by the Origin" (Norman). First issue, with the errata on the verso of volume 2 title-page, the "Postscript" leaf in Vol II tipped in after page viii, and "transmitted" appearing as the first word on page 297 of Vol I. Freeman 937; Garrison-Morton 170; Norman 599.