Journal of Researches Into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle Round the World, Under the

Journal of Researches Into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle Round the World, Under the Command of Capt. Fitz Roy, R.N. by Charles Darwin. Complete in two volumes. Published in 1846 by Harper & Brothers in New York City. First edition, first printing. Bound in 1/4 leather over green patterned boards, Volume I in brown leather, volume II in green leather. Gilt spine lettering. Small octavos, about 7 x 4.25 . Collated and complete minus the 12 pages of publisher ads at the end of Volume II. Illustrated within text with etchings, maps and charts. OVERALL CONDITION: VERY GOOD The exterior is in an impressive VERY GOOD+ condition. Square spines with firm hinges and joints and tight pages. Hinges professionally reinforced. One volume is slightly taller than the other. Light rubbing to boards, bottom half of spine gilding rubbed off. Spine tips with minimal rubbing. Corners and edges rubbed. Volume I corners lightly bumped, Volume II corners mostly sharp. Boards are clean, colorful and unfaded, a few small nicks. Edges stained red and quite clean overall. INTERIOR: Text block is quite clean overall for this edition. No pencil writing and only a few spots of faded antiquarian ink. Library bookplates on front paste downs of each volume. Each volume also has a few pages with a very light library embossment stamp. Light to minimal foxing in each volume, particularly volume II which has the least amount of foxing I ve ever seen in this publication (very scarce as the 1st US edition is normally extensively foxed). Signs of finger handling - smudges, etc. on occasion though very little in Volume II which is quite clean. Both title pages have abrasions and a small hole where antiquarian ink writing once was, slightly affecting text. Volume I has very light water dampening to the top corner for about 8-10 pages (which is quite good as quite a bit of water dampening is often noted). One page in volume I had a tear which was professionally mended and a few page corners have paper restoration. The most striking positive is the clarity and readability of the text block, which is the cleanest example I see or have seen! Most copies are heavily foxed. A scarce first US edition of Darwin s very important 1st book! ***One of the greatest travel books ever written*** due to the scientific importance of Darwin's observations during his five-year voyage aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. Darwin's own eloquence in relating his diary entries to the reader also contributes to the book's uniqueness and readability. Although ""On the Origin of Species"" is regarded as Darwin's most important work, published 14 years after the 1st US edition, many of his initial eye-opening observations and arguments for evolution, as espoused in Origin of Species, are derived from his voyages well-documented here. In fact, ""Voyage of the Beagle"" was always Darwin's favorite work due to its primacy and to the joy derived from his travel experiences in his 20s as a young naturalist: ""The voyage of the Beagle has been by far the most important event in my life, and has determined my whole career. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was a lad of 22 when he set off as a supernumerary gentleman-naturalist aboard HMS Beagle under the command of Robert FitzRoy on December 27, 1831. He defied his father's wishes in going, receiving financial sponsorship from his cousin Josiah Wedgwood II. The trip brought Darwin through the Southern Hemisphere over the course of nearly five years. He began on the coasts of South America, visited the Galapagos Islands and sailed west through New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and finally Brazil again before returning to Britain. The voyage of the Beagle was the great formative experience of Darwin's youth. Though initially minded toward geology, the variety among species from island to island in the Galapagos chain -- finches first demonstrated the pattern -- captured the young naturalist's attention.