Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Charles Darwin. Animals and Plants Under Domestication (Two Volumes). Orange Judd, New York, 1868.
Price: US$425.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Set of two, complete. First American edition. With a preface by Professor Asa Gray. Sets forth Darwin's theories about the mechanism by which "adaptive evolution occurs in the wild" or natural selection. The importance of variation has to do with the idea that best-adapted animals will survive and pass on the successful characteristics to offspring. Many illustrations (all in Volume 2). Set of two hardcovers, 494 and 568 pages - both with listings at the back of other books available at the time. Very good condition overall, with the exception that Vol 2 has moisture markings at the bottom of the closed pages (see photos) which in some cases can be seen light at the bottom of pages. Bookplate of former owner on inside front covers. Same owner name written in pencil on blank endpaper. See photos or feel free to ask for more information.
Seller: Timbuktu Books, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Price: US$585.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Freeman #455. First American Edition. 2 volumes. Preface by Asa Gray. Green cloth with gilt lettering on spines.
Seller: Garrett Herman, Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$600.00 + shipping
Description: Two volume FIRST AMERICAN EDITION of "ONE OF DARWIN'S MOST INFLUENTIAL AND WIDE-RANGING BOOKS. IT IS ALSO HIS LONGEST AND MOST DETAILED WORK" (Freeman, The Works of Charles Darwin, 879). It is also "the only section of Darwin's big book on the origin of species which was printed in his lifetime and corresponding to its first two intended chapters" (ibid). Darwin's intent was "to provide overwhelming evidence for the ubiquity of variation" (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). "This work is notable not only for Darwin's prodigious amassing of facts concerning artificial selection of traits to demonstrate an analogy for natural selection. It also advances his hypothesis of pangenesis and gemmules, as the agents of the inheritance of characteristics" (DSB). Darwin's hypothesis of pangenesis, "here expounded for the first time" (Freeman). Was the by "means of which [he] tried to frame an explanation of hereditary resemblance, inheritance of acquired characters, atavism, and regeneration. It was a brave attempt to account for a number of phenomena which were beyond the bounds of scientific knowledge in his day, such as fertilization by the union of sperm with egg, the mechanism of chromosomal inheritance, and the development of the embryo by successive cell division. His hypothesis of pangenesis could not therefore give a permanently acceptable account of the multitude of phenomena it was designed to explain. It was, however, a point of departure for particulate theories of inheritance in the latter nineteenth century' (DSB, Freeman). "Other chapters consider "the amount and nature of the changes which animals or plants have undergone whilst under man's dominion", employing observations of inheritance within a species in an effort to understand the causes of variability" (ibid). While, as said, Darwin's two volumes "were intended to provide overwhelming evidence for the ubiquity of variation" they also "incidentally answer[ed] Lyell and Gray, who maintained that variations had not occurred purely by chance but were providentially directed. Darwin showed that breeders indeed selected from a vast array of minute random variations. He gave numerous instances of the causes of variability, including the direct effect of the conditions of life, reversion, the effects of use and disuse, saltation, prepotency, and correlated growth" (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). CONDITION & DETAILS: Two volumes. Complete. 8vo (18.7 x 12.2 cm). Vol. I: [6], x, [494], 14 Vol. II: [4],viii, [568], 12. Solidly bound in original publisher's green cloth; gilt-lettered at the spine. Scuffing at the edges with minor chipping at the head and foot of the spine. Clean and bright throughout both volumes. Very good.
Seller: Atticus Rare Books, West Branch, IA, U.S.A.
Charles Darwin. The Variation of Animals And Plants. Orange Judd, 1868.
Price: US$695.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: 2 Volume In Green Cloth. First American Edition (1868) A Bit Of Light Staining. Excellent Fresh Set of This Science Classic.
Seller: Jeff Bergman Books ABAA, ILAB, Flemington, NJ, U.S.A.
Price: US$850.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of Darwin's hypothesis of pangenesis. Octavo, original publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to the spine, illustrated with numerous in-text illustrations and a chart. Preface by Asa Gray. In near fine condition. An exceptional example. Darwin's Variation Under Domestication âtook up in detail that subject which had been confined to one chapter of the Origin. It contained [Darwinâs] hypothesis of pangenesis, by means of which he tried to frame an explanation of hereditary resemblance, inheritance of acquired characters, atavism, and regeneration. It was a brave attempt to account for a number of phenomena which were beyond the bounds of scientific knowledge in his day, such as fertilization by the union of sperm with egg, the mechanism of chromosomal inheritance, and the development of the embryo by successive cell division. His hypothesis of pangenesis could not therefore give a permanently acceptable account of the multitude of phenomena it was designed to explain. It was, however, a point of departure for particulate theories of inheritance in the later 19th centuryâ (DSB).
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
DARWIN, Charles. The variation of animals and plants under domestication. Orange Judd & Co, 1868.
Price: US$950.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: 1868 1ed Charles Darwin Variation Under Domestication Biology Plant Evolution 2v One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species In the summer of 1858, Darwin felt pressured by other scientific research, to publish his evolutionary ideas, before others who had similar findings. He began writing according to his big book of Natural Selection the source for Variation. According to Freeman, This represents the only section of Darwin's big book on the origin of species which was published in his lifetime and corresponds to its first two chapters. (Freeman) When completed, Variation was by far Darwin s biggest book to date. In fact, when he sent it to the printer, he wrote a personal letter to Murray apologizing for the size. I cannot tell you how sorry I am to hear o the enormous size of my Book Because of this, portions of the original manuscript were left out including an important section on man. That portion would eventually become two more of Darwin s famous titles Descent of Man and Expression of Emotions in Man. Variation deals primarily with information on how to domesticate animals and plants, benefits, and consequences. It also contains one chapter consisting of Darwin s own theory of heredity which he called pangenesis. Item number: #21592 Price: $950 DARWIN, Charles The variation of animals and plants under domestication New York : Orange Judd & Co., 1868. First American edition. Details: Collation: Complete with all pages; 2 volumes o Vol. I [2], x, 11-494 43 numbered figures throughout o Vol. II viii, 9-568 References: Freeman 879 Language: English Binding: Leather; tight and secure Size: ~7.25in X 5in (18.5cm x 12.5cm) Our Guarantee: Very Fast. Very Safe. Free Shipping Worldwide. Customer satisfaction is our priority! Notify us with 7 days of receiving, and we will offer a full refund without reservation! 21592 Photos available upon request.
Seller: Schilb Antiquarian, Columbia, MO, U.S.A.