On The Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids are Fertilised by Insects, and On the Good Effects of Intercrossing

by Darwin, Charles
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Overview

First Edition, First Printing. 365 pp. plus 32 pp. Murray catalogue dated 'December 1861.' 33 engravings in text and one fold-out. Bookplate of 'Iohannis Evans' (English Archaeologist and Geologist Sir John Evans) to inside board. Bumping and rubbing to corners. Boards firm. Four inches of spine missing, as well as 1/8th-inch strip to top. Foxing to title page and some preliminaries. Gilt to orchid on front board still bright, less so to title on spine. Less than 2,000 copies printed of this, Darwin's first book after the publication of his monumental 'Origin of Species.' The title "showed that the orchid's beauty was not a piece of floral whimsy 'designed' by God to please humans but honed by selection to attract insect cross-pollinators" (Brittanica). A wonderful addition to any Naturalist's library!
  • Format: Hardback
  • Author: Darwin, Charles
  • Condition: Good
  • Publisher: John Murray, London

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