Darwin's Zoology of the Beagle, Parts I & II "Mammalia"
Zoology of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle. Under the Command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., During the Years 1832 to 1836... Part I [II]. Mammalia.
London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1838.
OWEN, Richard. WATERHOUSE, George R.. The Zoology of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle.. Under the Command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., During the Years 1832 to 1836... Part I [II]. Mammalia. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1838.
Full Description:
DARWIN, Charles. OWEN, Richard. WATERHOUSE, George R.. The Zoology of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle.. Under the Command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., During the Years 1832 to 1836... Part I [II]. Mammalia. London: Smith, Elder and Co., [1838]-1840.
First editions of Part I and Part II of Mammalia, in two quarto volumes (12 1/8 x 9 1/2 inches; 307 x 241 mm).
Part I. Owen, Richard. Fossil Mammalia. [1838]-1840. [2], iv, iv, 111, [1, colophon] pp. Complete with thirty-two lithographic plates by G. Scharf, one of which is folding and two which are double paged. With the preface to the whole work and a geological introduction by Charles Darwin. Bound without the half-title, but with the additional fly-title.
Part II. Waterhouse, George Robert. Mammailia. 1839. [4], xii, 97, [3, blank] pp. Complete with thirty-two hand-colored lithographic plates and three numbered engraved plates. With the errata slip bound in before B1. Bound without the half-title, but with the additional fly-title. This volume with a geographical introduction and notes by Darwin.
Two volumes uniformly bound in half tan calf over contemporary marble boards. Spines each with red and green morocco spine labels, lettered in gilt. Contemporary endpapers. All edges speckled red. Some repairs to inner hinges. Text is very clean. The final three plates in volume II with some foxing, otherwise all plates are very clean. Overall a very good copy of these two volumes.
These first two volumes out of the complete work in 5 volumes are the only two volumes to be published with introductions by Charles Darwin. In the first volume he writes a Geological Introduction and in the second volume he writes a Geographical Introduction. ""Darwin contributed a geological introduction to Part I, the Fossil Mammalia (pp. 3-12), and a geographical introduction to Part II, the Mammalia (pp. i-iv)." (Freeman, p 26).
In 1832, Captain Robert Fitzroy of the Royal British Navy undertook a five-year circumnavigation of the earth. Fitzroy, who was only twenty-seven at the time, asked a young Charles Darwin to be the naturalist for the voyage. The five-year journey included passing the coastlines of South America, and particularly the Galapagos Islands near Ecuador. Darwin collected numerous specimens and data from this now famous area and these became the basis for his theory of natural selection, which was a key component in his masterful theory of evolution.
"The lavish scientific record of Darwin's collecting endeavours during the five-year voyage of the Beagle, originally issued in 19 numbers. The 166 plates, 82 finely hand-coloured,[of the complete works] were due to the tireless energy and flair which the relatively untrained ship's scientist put first into the collection of specimens and then into ensuring that the zoological specialists duly reported on them after his return. The cost of the plates was covered by a treasury grant of one thousand pounds, but to complete the work for Smith and Elder, who were publishers of large illustrated books and government publications, Darwin had to persevere as steadily with his pen as with his gun and geological hammer, turning himself into a considerable authority during the course of five years spent editing the work of others." (Christies)
"He superintended the Zoology's text, wrote introductions for the different parts, and added notes from his various Beagle records about animal behaviour and habitats wherever appropriate, while also supervising the printers, proofreading the sheets, arranging artists for the plates, chivying the experts, and keeping them all moving forward within a tight self-imposed budget" (Janet Browne, Charles Darwin: Voyaging, 2003, p. 370).
Freeman, Darwin, 9.1 & 9.2. Nissen, IVB, 384. Nissen, ZBI, 1391. Sabin 18649.
HBS 69522.
$25,000.
Price: $25,000.00
Item #69522