On the origin of species, by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. (1859)

A$625,000 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Limited edition

London : John Murray, 1859. First edition (with two quotations only, from Whewell and Bacon, on the verso of the half-title leaf). Octavo, original publisher s gilt-lettered green cloth by Edmonds Remnants of London with their binder s ticket to rear pastedown (very slightly bruised at head and foot of spine, a couple of very small marks); original endpapers, early owner s name to front pastedown; pp. ix, [blank], 502, 32 (publisher s catalogue dated June 1859), folding lithographed plate; , upper hinge slightly cracked, preliminaries a little foxed, but a fine, clean and fresh copy. Housed in a custom quarter-morocco box. An entirely unrestored, crisp and sharp copy of one of the most significant publications in the history of science. Freeman, 373 ( the most important biological work ever written. ); Dibner, 199 ( the most important single work in science. ); Printing the Mind of Man, 344b ( revolutionized our methods of thinking and our outlook on the natural order of things. The recognition that constant change is the order of the universe had been finally established and a vast step forward in the uniformity of nature had been taken. ) This fine first edition example of On the origin of species was awarded Best Book at Firsts London 2026.

• Binding: Hardcover

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