DARWIN, Charles. The Origin of Species. Sixth edition, forty-first thousand. London, 1891.

An attractive late-Victorian edition of Darwin's foundational work on evolution by natural selection, handsomely bound in polished half calf with marbled boards and endpapers. Octavo.

Published more than thirty years after the first edition of 1859, this is the forty-first thousand of the sixth edition and the first printing of the work's newly reset "cheap edition." The text was completely reset for this issue, producing a more compact and affordable volume intended to bring Darwin's arguments to a wider readership.

The sixth edition represents the final form of the text substantially revised by Darwin himself. It introduced numerous additions and corrections, expanded Darwin's responses to objections, and adopted the term "evolution," which had not appeared in earlier editions of The Origin of Species. This 1891 printing preserves that definitive text while marking a distinct new stage in the publication history of the work.

Complete with the folding lithographic diagram illustrating Darwin's model of branching descent and divergence, positioned at page 91.

Provenance

From the library of Henry Ashworth James (1855–1932) of Herstmonceux Place, Sussex, with his engraved armorial bookplate to the front pastedown. The plate bears a dolphin and bull crest with the motto Vincit Amor Patriae.

James was the father-in-law of Sir Karl Theodore Parker (1895–1992), the distinguished art historian who served as Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum from 1945 to 1962.

Condition

An attractive copy in a handsome period-style binding. Calf somewhat rubbed and scuffed, particularly to the spine and raised bands, with lighter rubbing to the extremities; marbled boards with some surface wear. The half-title has a diagonal crease to the lower corner and a short closed tear from the lower edge. Occasional light spotting, toning and handling marks internally. The folding diagram is complete, with the expected folds and minor marginal wear. Henry Ashworth James's bookplate to the front pastedown, with an early pencil notation.

Biographical Note

Octavo. xxi, 432 pp.; folding lithographic diagram. Bound in polished tan half calf over marbled boards, the spine with five raised bands, gilt-lettered title and author, and the date in gilt at the foot; matching marbled endpapers.

Complete according to Freeman's collation, with xxi, 432 pages and the folding diagram.

Freeman 438.