DARWIN, Charles.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Über die Entstehung der Arten im Thier- und Pflanzen-Reich durch natürliche Züchtung, Second edition in German of the Origin of Species, notable as the only book in Darwin's lifetime to include an original photograph of him. Taken by Henry Maull, it was one of the first images of the scientist to become widely available to the public."Darwin sat regularly for his photographic portrait at commercial firms from about 1855 on, sending them to friends and in some cases permitting their sale to the public individually or in albums. One such portrait, taken in the studio of Henry Maull in the mid-1850s, appeared in Literary and Scientific Portrait Club, but a second Maull photo from 1857 [the present] was apparently the first to become widely available when the firm received permission from Darwin to reproduce and sell it late in 1862" (Smith, p. 217). Darwin thought the first Maull photograph made him look "atrociously wicked" but purchased the second in several sizes and formats over a number of years to send to friends; Maull made it into a commercial carte de visite after the Origin was published. "The general effect of the second photograph is strikingly polychromatic. Darwin wears a necktie, waistcoat, and trousers in the noisy checks which were greatly favoured toward 1860, usually dubbed 'Great Exhibition' checks. Once again he did not bother with scientific props" (Brown, p. 334). The Origin was first translated into German in 1860, just months after the first in English;

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.