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On the Origin of Species

Foundation of evolutionary biology, introducing natural selection.

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It was published on 24 November 1859 and introduced the theory that populations evolve through natural selection.[1] Evidence within the book supported the concept that life's diversity originated from a common ancestor through a branching evolutionary process.[2]

Making and release

He started writing a brief abstract of his theory in pencil in June 1842.[3] By July 1844 he had expanded this into a 230-page "Essay" to be published if he died prematurely.[4] Lyell and Hooker arranged a joint presentation of both men's papers at the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858.[5] Darwin then began an "abstract of Species book" on 20 July 1858, writing parts from memory.[6]

The first printing of 1250 copies was released on 24 November 1859, with a price of fifteen shillings.[7] The sixth edition, titled The Origin of Species (with "On" removed), was published on 19 February 1872.[8]

What the cited sources add

The Darwin Correspondence Project notes that Lyell urged Darwin to publish a sketch of his species theory in May 1856.[9] The Darwin Correspondence Project states that Darwin was jolted into action by Wallace's letter, leading to the announcement at the Linnean Society in July 1858.[10] Darwin's own copy at Cambridge is in a case of the same pattern as those of the first three editions.[11] The sixth edition changed format to octavo in eights with entirely new cases.[11]

Darwin received six free copies of the first edition, and one inscribed copy is known to exist.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "On the Origin of Species" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Desmond Moore 1991, p. 477 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "On the Origin of Species" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Darwin Manuscripts (Digitised notes on Origin)", Cambridge Digital Library (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "On the Origin of Species" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "On the Origin of Species" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "On the Origin of Species" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; "Darwin Correspondence Project – Letter 2285—Darwin to Lyell (June 1858)" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "On the Origin of Species" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Darwin in letters, 1858–1859: Origin", Darwin Correspondence Project, 2 June 2015; "Letter 2303 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 5 July (1858)", Darwin Correspondence Project; ; "Letter 2432 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 15 March (1859)", Darwin Correspondence Project (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "On the Origin of Species" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dupree, "Asa Gray, American Botanist, Friend of Darwin", Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988, p. 267 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "On the Origin of Species" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The book's full original title. In the 1872 sixth edition, "On" was omitted, so the full title is The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Pr; (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. "Letter 1870 – Darwin, C. R., to Hooker, J.D., 9 May (1856)", Darwin Correspondence Project, 12 June 2015. facts only, no text reused. darwinproject.ac.uk
  10. "Darwin in letters, 1858–1859: Origin", Darwin Correspondence Project, 2 June 2015. facts only, no text reused. darwinproject.ac.uk
  11. The book's full original title. In the 1872 sixth edition, "On" was omitted, so the full title is The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Pr. facts only, no text reused. darwin-online.org.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article On the Origin of Species (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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