darwinian evolution applied to humans

Second edition, thirty-third thousand, of Darwin's application of evolution by natural selection to humans. Originally published in 1871, The Descent of Man contains the first use of 'evolution' in any of his published works, preceding its appearance in the sixth edition of On the Origin of Species by a year, and the second edition includes a new preface describing the 'fiery ordeal through which the book has passed'. The final, definitive version of the text was the twelfth thousand printed in 1875, with the following printings up to the turn of the century being stereos of it.

'In the Origin Darwin had avoided discussing the place occupied by Homo sapiens in the scheme of natural selection, stating only that "light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history". Twelve years later he made good on his promise with The Descent of Man, in which he compared man's physical and psychological characteristics to similar traits in apes and other animals, showing how even man's mind and moral sense could have developed through evolutionary processes. In discussing man's ancestry Darwin did not claim that man was directly descended from apes as we know them today, but stated simply that the extant ancestors of Homo sapiens would have to be classified among the primates; however, this statement, as misinterpreted by the popular press, caused a furor second only to that raised by the Origin. Darwin also added an essay on sexual selection, i.e., the preferential chances of mating that some individuals of one sex have over their rivals because of special structures, colors, and types of behaviors used in courtship, leading to the accentuation and transmission of those characteristics' (Hook and Norman, The Norman Library of Science and Medicine 599).

Second edition, thirty-third thousand; 8vo; engravings throughout the text, ownership initials on the title and front free endpaper, a few small notes and some underlining in pencil, endpapers tanned, contents faintly toned; original green cloth blocked in blind, titles to spine gilt, minor bumps to the corners and edge of the lower board, lower joint just starting, a few small white spots on the cloth, a little wear at the extremities, very good condition; 693pp.

Freeman, The Works of Charles Darwin 979.