$1,476
Darwin, Charles (1809-1882) On the Origin of Species , First American Edition. New York: Appleton, 1860. First American edition, in publisher's green textured cloth, stamped in blind, gilt-lettered spine, ex libris William Hincks, with his signature on ffep, dark brown coated endleaves; spine sunned, delicate at head and tail, 7 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. William Hincks (1794-1871) was an Irish-born Unitarian minister who came to Canada in 1853 to serve as the first professor of natural history at University College, Toronto. He was strongly opposed to Darwin's theory of natural selection, and taught the quinarian system of taxonomy. "The quinarians claimed that all organisms could be arranged into groups, depicted as five interpenetrating circles. They referred to the connections between the circles as their inosculations (literally, their kissings)." (Quoted from Stephen Jay Gould's An Urchin in the Storm , New York: Norton, 1987, page 59.) This theory had only short-lived, marginal appeal and application.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2016-10-30
