Descrizione

Second Edition, 5th Impression. Illustrated with diagrams and 109 tables. 8vo, publisher's original dark green cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine and decorated in blind with panel designs and border ruling on the covers. viii, 487 pp. A very fine and bright copy indeed, especially well preserved.

Edizione: a fine copy of this elusive book. darwin considered this book to "form a complement to that on the fertilisation of orchids". "this book will form a a compliment to that on the fertilisation of orchids, in which i showed how perfect were the means for cross-fertilisation, and here i shall show how important are the results.<br> the life and letters of darwin (iii, p. 274) quotes asa gray as saying that "if the orchid-book (with a few trifling omissions) had appeared before the 'origin' the author would have been canonised rather than anathematised by the natural theologians," and noted that a review in the 'literary churchman' found only one fault "that mr. darwin's expression of admiration at the contrivances in orchids is too indirect a way of saying, 'o lord, how manifold are thy works.'"<br> the book was concerned with working out in detail the relationships between sexual structures of orchids and the insects which fertilize them, their evolution being attributed to natural selection, and therefore was the first of the volumes of "supporting evidence" for his origin of species. the effects of cross and self fertilisation continues the work begun in 'orchids".