Monograph Sub - Class Cirripedia (barnacles) 1851 FIRST EDITION Charles Darwin
Item History & Price
Darwin published only two books on taxonomy in his life; the subject volume on living barnacles and a second (1854) on fossil barnacles, both years before The Origin of Species. After returning from the Beagle voyages, Darwin spent most of eight years writing these two tomes, both highly technical books that appealed only to a rarified readership - the twin subjects of barnacles and taxonomy combined for relatively dry subject matter compared with more charismatic megavertabrates and insects that tended to be the focus of Victorian scientists, collectors, and laypeople. Also because Darwin was (at the time) a relatively unknown author, only 800 copies of this book were printed, roughly equivalent to the membership of the Ray Society which sponsored it. The reason for Darwin's focus on this material at this early stage in his career was that he had in fact carefully planned to develop his expertise in taxonomy so as to establish an unassailable reputation and sound scientific fundamentals before writing The Origin, which he knew would be vigorously debated and attacked.
Look at the few other copies of this book for sale on eBay right now - a battered copy for $1, 600, and another paired with the 1854 tome on fossils for $17, 000. How few copies of this book still exist? I don't think you will find a better value than the subject volume offered here.
This book is solid and firm - the spine was damaged at the time I acquired it but it was professionally and beautifully repaired (by my most esteemed bookbinder), as seen in the photos. Send questions as needed and good luck bidding!
- DaveOn Jun-05-19 at 15:24:01 PDT, seller added the following information:Please note corrected version of the first sentence: Darwin published two SETS of books on taxonomy in his life: the subject volume on living barnacles and a much longer companion to it in 1854, and a pair of volumes published in the same years on fossil barnacles. The next sentence should have the words "two tomes, both" replaced with "four tomes, all".