William Reese Company

First Russian Edition of the VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE

PUTESHESTVIE VOKRUG SVIETA NA KORABLIE BIGL'. [Translation: VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD ON THE SHIP BEAGLE].

Darwin, Charles:

St. Petersburg. 1865. viii,540,[1]; [3],viii,466pp. plus frontispiece. 12mo. Half titles. Modern half calf and marbled boards, spines gilt with raised bands. Light dampstaining at top edge of a few leaves, light tanning and foxing throughout. Very good. Item #WRCAM54258

The very rare first edition in Russian of Darwin's classic scientific journal and travel account of his experiences and observations aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. "His first published book is undoubtedly the most often read and stands second only to ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES as the most often printed. It is an important travel book in its own right and its relation to the background of his evolutionary ideas has often been stressed" - Freeman. Despite recording over 250 editions of Darwin's JOURNAL, and eighteen in Russian, Freeman misses this initial printing, translated into Russian by Elizaveta Bekatova and edited by her husband, Andrei Beketov. OCLC records only one copy, at the University of Toronto. FREEMAN, pp.31; 52-53 (ref).

Price: $12,500.00