DARWIN’S FIRST PUBLICATION ON TAXONOMY

DARWIN, CHARLES.

Brief Descriptions of several Terrestrial Planariae, and of some remarkable Marine Species, with an Account of their Habits.

London, Taylor and Francis, 1844.

8vo. In a nice later half morocco binding with five raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Blind stamped to upper outer corner of first leaf of table of contents. In "The Annals and Magazine of Natural History", volume 14. A very fine and clean copy. [Darwin's paper] pp. pp. 241-251.. [Entire volume:] vii, [1] - 472 + 12 plates.

First edition of Darwin's paper on flatworms collected by him during the Beagle voyage, one of the important early papers by Darwin on invertebrates originally intended for publication in The Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Beagle. This is Darwin's first publication on taxonomy: illustrated with a plate drawn by Darwin, it describes a new genus and 15 new species of flatworm. Extremely rare on the market.

"The paper on flatworms [...] was Darwin's first venture into taxonomy. In it, he described a new genus and 15 new species; most of the latter are still recognised as valid. He took a great deal of interest in these animals, making extensive notes on their morphology and behaviour" (Porter, Darwin's Sciences).

Previously familiar only with marine species, Darwin was astounded to discover two new species of flatworm living on dry land in Brazil. He was intrigued by their close resemblance to snails, and evolutionary questions may well lie behind his strong interest in them.

PROVENANCE: From the collection William Pickett Harris, Jr. (1897 - 1972) (pencil note on p. iii). American investment banker and biologist. Following a career in banking, Harris was appointed Associate Curator of the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan in 1928. "[Harris] played a highly important role in developing mammalogy and systematic collections of mammals at the University of Michigan" (Hooper p. 923).

Freeman 1669

Order-nr.: 56991