THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES

London: John Murray, 1892. Very good plus.. Sixth edition ("forty-third thousand") overall - and the first to use the term "evolution" to describe the mechanism of natural selection that Darwin introduced in the book. "Evolution" - the word now most associated with THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES - did not appear in the publication until the sixth edition. By then, Darwin was well aware that he had a phenomenon on his hands with the title - it was time to widen his audience. The 6th edition was purposefully set in smaller type, slimming the book's profile and making it more affordable ("I have been told on authority which I can trust that [...] workmen club together to buy the Origin," Darwin noted of previous editions in correspondence in 1871). It also contains a glossary for the first time, making the text more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Appropriately, this copy was once owned by James G. Mead, whale biologist and longtime curator of marine mammals at the Smithsonian. Mead is a particular proponent of the anatomical study of marine mammals, a method of examination that Darwin also favored; THE NEW YORK TIMES notes that Mead's use of this technique "has given scientists a detailed look at species that often can be observed only fleetingly in the wild."
A notable edition of an iconic work. 7.5'' x 5''. Publisher's green cloth boards with gilt spine lettering. Floral patterned endpapers of the John Murray monogram. xxii, 432 pages, including index; folds from page 185 on are unopened. Small owner name to front flyleaf "J. G. Mead," dated Feb. 1972. Small owner name to title page "Jas Probert," dated July 1893. Binding with faint spotting to edges, light bumping to corners and spine ends. Light foxing to endpapers. Interior clean.