RARE FIRST FINNISH TRANSLATION OF DARWIN'S 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES'

DARWIN, CHARLES.

Lajien synty luonnollisen valinnan kautta eli luonnon suosimien rotujen säilyminen taistelussa olemassaolosta. (i.e. English: "Origin of Species").

Hämeenlinna, Karisto, 1913.

Large8vo. In contemporary half calf (original?) with gilt lettering to spine and embossed lettering to back board. Light wear and a few scratches to extremities. Previous owner's name to front free end-paper. Internally fine and clean. XVI, 621, (1) pp. + frontiespiece of Darwin.

Rare first Finnish translation of Darwin's Origin of Species. The present translation was published fairly late compared to those of much of the rest of Western Europe. Finlanders had been reading a translation of the 5th London edition since 1871, in Swedish, the language of academe in Finland at the time.

Up until 1913 various books in Finnish had been published on Darwin and his theory but "What was still lacking was Darwin's own book in Finnish translation, although such an edition had been suggested in the Vanamo Society as much as ten years earlier. When a government fund for furthering Finnish literature was established in 1909, The Origin of Species was listed among important books that needed to be translated, although it was noticed that now, fifty years after its original publication, it would have more historical than scientific value. For various reasons it took some time before this translation was realized, and finally it was published serially between 1913 and 1917.
Finnish, although the language of the overwhelming majority of the population, had for centuries been suppressed and gained cultural status and official recognition only gradually during the latter half of the nineteenth century, which, of course delayed translation of both classical and contemporary literature, including Darwin's works. In this respect the Finnish situation may be compared with the case of the Baltic Peoples, the Czechs and the Slovaks, the Hungarians, the Croatians and the Serbs and some other European nations which in Darwinian times had not yet gained their independence. " (Glick & Engels, The Reception of Charles Darwin in Europe, Vol 1, p. 144)

Translator A. R. Koskimies, is also known for his translations of Le Sage, Jane Austen, and Boccaccio. The present book was translated from the 6th London edition.

OCLC list only one copy: The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Toronto. Also The National Library of Finland and The Huntington hold a copy.

Order-nr.: 60522