DARWIN Charles The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. Eighth thousand.

Freeman, F-940.

Huitième mille, publié dans l’année de l’édition originale, avec tous les errata corrigées des tirages précédents. Charles Darwin explique les raisons pour avoir publié cet ouvrage dans l’introduction : “The sole object of this work is to consider, firstly, whether man, like every other species, is descended from some pre-existing form; secondly, the manner of his development; and thirdly, the value of the differences between the so-called races of man” (p. 2-3).

“In Descent, Darwin details a theory that he calls “sexual selection”— the idea that, in many species, males battle other males for access to females, while in other species females choose the biggest or most attractive males to bond with. The male-combat theory would explain, for example, the development of a bull’s horns, or a moose’s antlers, while the quintessential example of “female choice” is seen in peahens, which, Darwin argued, prefer to mate with peacocks having the biggest, most colorful tails. For Darwin, sexual selection was just as important as natural selection, which he had outlined in Origin — the idea that organisms with favorable traits are more likely to reproduce, thus passing on those traits to their offspring. Both mechanisms helped to explain how species evolved over time” (David Falk, in Smithsonian Magazine).

Charnières intérieures fendues, petites usures à la reliure.

Provenance : John Errington de la Croix (note d’achat sur la première page de garde, daté d’Alger, juin 1872). John Errington de la Croix (1848-1905) géologue et linguiste français, auteur d’un dictionnaire français-malaisien.