On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, FIRST EDITION, with misprint 'speceies' on p.20, line 11, and with the whale-bear story in full on p.184, folding lithographed diagram by W. West, without half-title and publisher's catalogue at end [Freeman 373; Garrison-Morton 220; Norman 593; PMM 344], John Murray, 1859; Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries visited by H. M. S. Beagle, 2 charts (folding), occasional foxing, some offsetting [Freeman 11], Henry Colburn, 1839; On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids Are Fertilised by Insects, one folding plate and 33 woodcuts in the text, faint spotting to title [Freeman 800], John Murray, 1862; The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, 2 vol., FIRST ISSUE, 43 illustrations, with errata, light foxing [Freeman 877], John Murray, 1868; The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, 2 vol., wood-engraved illustrations, damp-staining to lower margin of title and first few leaves of volume 1, light foxing [Freeman 938], John Murray, 1871; The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, 7 heliotype plates (3 folding), illustrations in the text, upper margin a little shaved, occasional light spotting [Freeman 1142], John Murray, 1872; The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom, light spotting to title, lacks errata slip [Freeman 1249], John Murray, 1876; The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species, illustrations and tables in the text, light spotting and toning mostly to title [Freeman 1277], John Murray, 1877; The Power of Movement in Plants, illustrations in the text, light toning [Freeman 1325], John Murray, 1880, FIRST EDITIONS, without half-titles and advertisements, uniformly bound in half calf over marbled boards, gilt lettering and tooling within raised bands to spine, 8vo (11)
Footnotes
A FINELY BOUND SET OF DARWIN FIRST EDITIONS, INCLUDING THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, "THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE WORK IN SCIENCE" (Dibner, Heralds of Science).
This set of first editions was previously owned by Stephen George Holland, founder of cloth merchants Holland and Sherry and heir to Holland and Sons, the renowned cabinet-makers of Victorian England. Holland not only owned an extensive art collection - including numerous artworks by Turner, Gainsborough, Landseer and Constable – but was also an avid bibliophile and his bookplate is found on many books on the market today including works by Dickens, Shelley and Carroll.
Provenance: Stephen George Holland (1817-1908), cloth merchant and art collector, bookplate; Quentin Keynes (1921-2003); acquired from him by the family of the present owner.