The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex.

£250 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

darwinian evolution applied to humans Second edition, thirty-third thousand, of Darwin's application of evolution by natural selection to humans. Originally published in 1871, The Descent of Man contains the first use of 'evolution' in any of his published works, preceding its appearance in the sixth edition of On the Origin of Species by a year, and the second edition includes a new preface describing the 'fiery ordeal through which the book has passed'. The final, definitive version of the text was the twelfth thousand printed in 1875, with the following printings up to the turn of the century being stereos of it. 'In the Origin Darwin had avoided discussing the place occupied by Homo sapiens in the scheme of natural selection, stating only that "light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history". Twelve years later he made good on 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 extant 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. Darwin also added an essay on sexual selection, i.e.

• Binding: Hardcover

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