DARWIN, Charles; ROYER, Clémence (trans.).

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De l'origine des espèces ou des lois du progrès chez les êtres organisés. First edition in French, translated and edited by the self-taught theorist, feminist, and author Clémence Royer (1830-1902), together with a loosely inserted autograph letter signed by her. Her lengthy preface and extensive footnotes pre-staged the rise of social Darwinism and anticipated several of the issues Darwin himself would later consider in the Descent of Man (1871).After reading Royer's edition, Darwin judged her "one of the cleverest & oddest women in Europe" (Darwin Correspondence Project). The French philosopher Renan went further, deeming her "almost a man of genius". Although Royer had no scientific training, she worked closely with the naturalist René-Édouard Claparède (1832-1871) to ensure that her translation of Darwin's biology was technically accurate. However, Royer transcended the typically passive role expected of female translators and took a considerably more active engagement in the final text - a move seen at the time as a distinctly masculine one. Assuming an editorial capacity, she outlined her own interpretation of Darwinian science, bullishly exploring consequences that Darwin had carefully left out and adding a Lamarckian slant to his theories. In this, she was among the first to publicly draw eugenicist conclusions from Darwin's work. France had been particularly resistant towards Darwinian science, in part because of Lamarck's continuing grip on its biological thought. B

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