Lot 159
Darwin, Charles -- Handwritten Page From On the Origin of Species With Holograph Annotations (1809-1882) British naturalist whose scientific studies and subsequent theory of natural selection form the basis of modern evolutionary theory. He published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. Autograph manuscript fragment of On the Origin of Species, one page, apparently the upper half of a 4to sheet of pale blue paper, with holograph revisions. Captioned "Sect. III. Struggle for Existence," and paginated "75" in the upper right corner. Mounted, with letter fragments of other people on verso. One diagonal crease at right edge, else fine.
Darwin writes as follows: "natural vegetation have [these first three words are marked out] been most remarkable, more than is generally seen in going from one quite different soil to another; not only were the proportional numbers of the [a word is marked through] heath-plant wholly changed, but twelve species (not counting grasses & carices) flourished [the word 'there' is marked through] plantation which will ['never' is marked through] not be found on the Heath. The effect on the insects must have been still greater, for six insectivorous birds were very common in the plantation, which [a word is marked through] were not to be seen on the heath, & this was frequented by two or three distinct insectivorous birds." A partial sentence is visible at the lower edge: "been the effect of the…."
This manuscript fragment in Darwin's hand can be found in the paragraph of the printed manuscript which begins: "Many cases are on record showing how complex and unexpected are the checks and relations between organic beings, which have to struggle together in the same country." Darwin gives an example which he observed in Staffordshire, on the estate of a relation, where there were hundreds of acres untouched by man, as well as hundreds of acres enclosed and planted with Scotch fir. He notes the change in the native vegetation of the planted part of the heath.
There are several changes from the handwritten fragment to the printed manuscript: "going" in line two changes to "passing"; the placement of "were" in the third line is moved in front of "wholly changed"; in line five, "will" becomes "could"; and on the next to last line, "this" changes to "the heath."
A draft of sixteen lines brought $200,000 at Sotheby's in 2016. Estimate $70,000 - UP
Ex: Zeitlin & Ver Brugge, Booksellers, 1972.
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| Realized $102,000 |
