Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$225.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Small octavo in russet boards with double rules and black designs in the corners; gilt titles bright to spine. Some modest rub to head and heel of spine, "very good." 436 pp. including Index, followed by 12 pp. publishers ads, most being for the works of Herbert Spencer, though also for the new American edition of Darwin's "Origin of Species."
Seller: Cat's Curiosities, Pahrump, NV, U.S.A.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Description: Fifth Edition with Additions and Corrections, Very Scarce. Octavo. Original brink red cloth over boards, blindstamped decorations at covers, gilt lettering at spine. Good, spine ends bumped with minor chipping, corners bumped, spine darkened, cloth of spine partially detached, light wrinkling to covers, minor spotting to covers, internally very good, pages agetoned.
Seller: Yesterday's Gallery, ABAA, East Woodstock, CT, U.S.A.
Price: US$517.50 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Vi, 409; V, "Postscript", 436. First Edition, Later Issue, Still Dated 1871 On Title Page, No Indication Of Later Printing, But Later Issue As The First Issue Identifies 16 Errata In Volume I. Two Volumes In Original Brown Cloth, Gilt Lettering On Spine, Black Border And Design On Covers, Light Yellow Endpapers. Two Page Catalog [ Origin Of Species, And A Book By T H Huxley] At End Of First Volume; 12 Pp Catalog, Mostly Works By Spencer But Again Including Origin Of Species, At End Of Second Volume. A Very Clean, Unmarked Set, Possibly Unread. Edges Of Page Block Still Show Original Polish. Gilt Bright, Cloth Evenly Colored, Endpapers Immaculate, Hinges Strong And Without Cracking, Attractive. Points Of Fraying At Corners And Tips [Tips With Minute Professional Repairs To Cloth And Color; Faint Dampstain In Parts Of Lower Covers Of Vol. Ii [Also Professionally Refurbished And Almost Invisible], With No Trace Of Dampstaining Inside.
Seller: Arroyo Seco Books, Pasadena, Member IOBA, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$600.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 20 x 13 cm. Octavo. 447pp [8pp] ads. Half-title. Fold-out lithographic diagram opposite page 114 in nice condition. Bound into brown pebbled cloth. Stated fifth (American) edition. Spine is sun toned and the head and tail are chipped. There is some discoloration to the title page from what looks like a newspaper clipping lay for many years. Binding is tight. Freeman F390b.
Seller: Midway Book Store (ABAA), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.
Price: US$628.61 + shipping
Description: 1st US Ed., second issue, 2 Volumes (complete), original cloth boards decorated in black, gilt spine titles. b&w illus, pp vi, 409; v, 436 plus publisher's ads (including ads for On the Origin of Species). Professionally recased in original boards. Very good condition. Ground-breaking considerations on the origins of man, covering evolutionary development, races of man, and the role of sexual selection in species differentiation. First use of the word 'evolution' by Darwin (page 2, last line, of Vol. I) preceeding its appearance in the 6th ed of 'Origin of Species'. Freeman 942.
Seller: Muir Books -Robert Muir Old & Rare Books - ANZAAB/ILAB, PERTH, WA, Australia
Price: US$695.25 + shipping
Description: Octavo. . 5th edition with additions and corrections. Half-title, 447pp., (8)pp. publisher's ads. Darwin's work introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. Bound in publisher's brown pebble grained embossed cloth, spine lettering faded, yellow endpapers, marginal faint damp stain to lower corners not affecting text, wear to spine ends. Previous owner's name E. K. Boyle, dated 1871, who was a prominent lawyer of Belfast, Maine. A very good copy.
Seller: Alcuin Books, ABAA/ILAB, Scottsdale, AZ, U.S.A.
Price: US$700.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 1871, 447pp, fold-out chart, 5th ed. w/ additions & corrections, corners slighlty bumped, slight darkening to spine, light shelfwear to cover, some wear to spine ends, heavier to bottom, owner's name to fep, 2 pgs w/ browning from newspaper clipping, 3 pgs w/ small spiece missing from margin, 2 pgs still uncut, light foxing to pg edges, a couple pencil notes to rear ep, no dj, contents clean & unmarked.
Seller: Russ States, Oil City, PA, U.S.A.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Description: Fifth Edition, with Additions and Corrections. Octavo, original brown blind stamped pebbled cloth. Very Good, with light edge wear including lightly bumped spine ends, and a short abrasion on the side of the spine.
Seller: Yesterday's Gallery, ABAA, East Woodstock, CT, U.S.A.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Description: Fifth Edition, with Additions and Corrections. Octavo, original brown blind stamped pebbled cloth. Very Good, with light edge wear including lightly bumped spine ends, and a short abrasion on the side of the spine.
Seller: Babylon Revisited Rare Books, Northampton, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$825.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 2 volume set. 1st American edition, first printing, 2nd issue. With list of errors in Vol. I placed in Vol. II as in London edition. Publisher's orange cloth. Hardcover. Pencil corrections to volume I to errors, otherwise pages are clean and unmarked. vi, 409; v, 436. + ad for the Origin of the Species in the rear and blank end pages. Blind stamp on fep. Good Hinges repaired. bindings. Vol. 1 spine edge has a restored frayed edge. Small chip missing from head of vol. 1 spine. "The book, in its first edition, contains two parts, the descent of man itself, and selection in relation to sex. The word 'evolution' occurs, for the first time in any of Darwin's works, on page 2 of the first volume of the first edition, that is to say before its appearance in the sixth edition of The Origin of Species in the following year. The last chapter is about sexual selection in relation to man, and it ends with the famous peroration about man's lowly origin, the wording of which differs slightly in the first edition from that which is usually quoted" (Freeman, p. 129). Freeman 941. Garrison-Morton 170.
Seller: Sequitur Books, Boonsboro, MD, U.S.A.
Price: US$860.17 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 8vo (small). Fifth edition, with additions and corrections. Orig. russet cloth, gilt title to spine, black stamped borders to front board, stamped in blind to rear board. 447 pp., [1] folding chart, [8] pp. publisher's ads at rear. Cloth is lightly rubbed and stained, scuffed at spine. Rubbing to extremities. Spine darkened and tilted. Wear to corners. Rear hinge starting. Ink ownership inscription to ffep dated 1872. Some staining and foxing to folding chart. A very good copy of the corrected 5th edition, the fifth being the first to include the famous phrase "survival of the fittest," which had appeared in other works by Alfred Russel Wallace and Darwin before this but wasn't added to this seminal work until the 1869 5th edition.
Seller: Minotavros Books, ABAC ILAB, Whitby, ON, Canada
Price: US$1512.50 + shipping
Description: First US edition, first issue (with errata to verso of title in vol II); 2 vols, 8vo, (20.2 x 13.5 cm); illustrated throughout, hinges slightly loose on vol I but holding, occasional marginal annotations in vol I, slight spotting to prelims, slight marginal discolouration of leaves to both vols, pale yellow endpapers; publisher's russet cloth stamped in black with frames and cornerpieces, gilt lettering to spine, black ink stain to upper cover of vol II, spines bumped, corners slightly rubbed, overall a very good set; [vi], 409, [2]ads; [vii], 436, [12]ads pp. In this work Darwin discussed the natural selection of mankind and his descent from a lower order. It is where the word 'evolution' first made its appearance on page two of the first volume - a year before the sixth and final edition of his Origin. 'The Descent, understood by Darwin as a sequel to the Origin, was written with a maturity and depth of learning that marked Darwin's status as an elite gentleman of science' (ODNB). Freeman 941.
Seller: Shapero Rare Books, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$3744.00 + shipping
Description: 203 x 121 mm. (8 x 5"). All volumes with ads at the end. Two separately published works in three volumes. Publisher's brown buckram, covers with black-stamped frames, flat spines with gilt titling, "Origin" with a leaves uncut in a couple of places. Descent with 76 illustrations in the text; "Origin" with folding diagram. Front free endpaper of all three volumes with pencilled signature of L. G. Andrews. Freeman 942, 394. âTiny tear to head of one spine, one corner slightly bumped, extremities lightly rubbed, a little chafing to a couple of boards, one page with faint printing smudges, other trivial internal imperfections, but FINE COPIES, internally clean and fresh, in sound bindings with few signs of use. The first edition of "Descent of Man" is especially notable for Darwin's first use of the word now virtually synonymous with his name: "evolution" appears on p. 2 of volume I, noting the opposition of some older scholars of natural science to his theory of natural selection. Darwin considered "descent" a continuation of the other work here, his ground-breaking "Origin of Species," with special focus on man's descent from ape-like creatures. As DNB notes, "'Descent' of Man brought the full force of evolutionary proposals directly into the heart of ordinary Victorian life." Another area of controversy in "Descent" was Darwin's theory on sexual selection, which he used to explain physical characteristics more aesthetic than functional, such as the male peacock's splendid tail, the male hummingbird's iridescence, and the male human's beard--all features that might give the possessor advantage in the attraction of a mate. Widely considered the most important biological book ever written, "Origin" went through six revised editions following its first appearance in 1859, with our fifth edition marking Darwin's first use of Herbert Spencer's phrase "survival of the fittest" to describe natural selection. Our copy has never been read all the way through--a couple of leaves that remained uncut by the binder are still attached, and no one has attempted to open them. Copies of these editions appear on the market from time to time, but not often in the little-used condition seen here. First American Edition of "Descent" (with first use of the word "evolution" by Darwin), later issue without errata; Fifth Edition of "Origin.".
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.