The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication [Survival of the Fittest]

London: John Murray, 1882. Original Cloth. Fine. Second Edition (Revised), Fifth Thousand, two volumes complete in fine original bindings, featuring first occurrence of the phrase "survival of the fittest." Crown 8vo (188 x 118): xiv,473,[1]; x,495,[1]pp, with 43 woodcut illustrations. Publisher's green cloth, covers paneled in blind (arches style), spine stamped in gilt, chocolate coated end papers, top edge rough-trimmed. A superb set, with bright bindings, uncracked hinges, and virtually spotless pages. Very mild rubbing to corner tips, dusty top edges, else very fine. Freeman 883. Intended originally as the first two chapters of a monumental work that Darwin envisioned but never published on the origin of species (not the Origin of 1859, which Darwin viewed as only an abstract of a more substantial project). This second edition, substantially revised and enlarged from the first edition of 1868, is the final text, in which Darwin proposed the concept of pangenesis, his provisional hypothetical mechanism for heredity (which was proven obsolete by the 1900 rediscovery of Mendel's theory of the particulate nature of inheritance) and in which he detailed and discussed at length artificial selection. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).