ONLY TRANSLATION OF DARWIN INTO SERBO-CROATIAN

DARWIN, CHARLES.

Putovanje jednog prirodoslovca oko svijeta.

Zagreb & Beograd, Novo Pokoljenje, 1949. Small4to. In publisher's original half cloth with printed lettering and ornamentation to spine. A ship decorating front board. Hindges very weak and first quire partly detached. 577, (6) + frontiespiece.

Rare first complete Serbo-Croatian translation of Darwin's 'Journal of Researches' - being the only translation of any of Darwin's into this language. It was reprinted in 1951, 1964 and 1966.

In 1945 the decision to recognize Croatian and Serbian as separate languages was reversed in favor of a single Serbo-Croatian or Croato-Serbian language. Today, for political/nationalistic reasons, there is a general opposition to the concept of Serbo-Croatian as a common pool/family.

"On its first appearance in its own right, also in 1839, it was called Journal of researches into the geology and natural history etc. The second edition, of 1845, transposes 'geology' and 'natural history' to read Journal of researches into the natural history and geology etc., and the spine title is Naturalist's voyage. The final definitive text of 1860 has the same wording on the title page, but the spine readsNaturalist's voyage round the world, and the fourteenth thousand of 1879 places A naturalist's voyage on the title page. The voyage of the Beagle first appears as a title in the Harmsworth Library edition of 1905. It is a bad title: she was only a floating home for Darwin, on which, in spite of good companionship, he was cramped and miserably sea-sick; whilst the book is almost entirely about his expeditions on land." (Freeman).

Freeman 244

Order-nr.: 53280