THE VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS UNDER DOMESTICATION

London: John Murray, 1888. 2 volumes. Second edition, sixth thousand, a very early printing of this important edition revised. With all Illustrations as called for throughout. 8vo, publisher’s original green cloth, decorative borders in blind on the covers, the spine lettered and decorated with a small tool and ornate bands at the spine tips in gilt. xiv, 473, [1]; x, 495, [32 ad catalogue] pp. An excellent set, especially well preserved and quite fine, bright and clean, unusually so, in fact it is still partially unopened and with only a small abrasion to the free-fly being the only evidence of use. Finding these in such nice condition is rare for academic books. A FINE SET, SCARCE IN THIS CONDITION, AND AN IMPORTANT WORK. The second edition is very important in that Darwin made a number of corrections, but more importantly he reworked Chapter XXVII on Pangenesis. This work "represents the only section of Darwin's big book on the origin of species which was printed in his lifetime and corresponds to its first two intended chapters. It contains, in Chapter XXVII, his provisional hypothesis of pangenesis; one which he thought was new, but has a long back history" (Freeman 877).
The first work to truly discuss the actual origin and development of species as an accepted scientific method.
The second part of his 'big book' was not published until 1875, under the title NATURAL SELECTION. It was in this work that Darwin attempted his finalization of the understanding or pangenesis and an explanation of acquired characteristics and hereditary resemblance. These subjects were near to impossible to explain in Darwin’s time as scientific methodology and technology had simply not developed to the point at which finite and provable studies on genes and chromosomes could be explored.