This collections object is a third edition of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. While On the Origin of Species was originally published in 1859, this version was published in April 1861. There were 2,000 copies of the third edition printed. Some changes, corrections, and additions were made, including a table, a historical sketch that acknowledged others who had previously come up with ideas similar to evolution, and a postscript. On the Origin of Species was published by John Murray II. On one of the first pages it reads, in part, “On / the Origin of Species / by means of natural selection / or the preservations of favoured races in the struggle / for life. / By Charles Darwin, M. A., /…Third Edition, / with additions and corrections. / (Seven Thousand.) / London: / John Murray, Albemarle Street. / 1861. / The right of translation is reserved.”

A very interesting aspect of this book is the inscription inside the cover. It has the Bible Verse Job 17:14; it is written here as “I have said to corruption thou art my father/ and to the worm thou art my mother and sister.”  The King James translation – the common English translation of the Bible at that time – continues with “15And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? 16They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.” Written on the next page is “Lyon Playfair / from the Author” and then written by a different hand, “Lyon Playfair”. While it would be truly amazing if this text, especially the text written in the first hand, was written by Charles Darwin himself, there is currently no way to know this with any certainty.

Due to a mention of Darwin in Memoirs and Correspondence of Lord Playfair, first Lord Playfair of St. Andrews we know that the two men knew each other well enough to correspond with each other. In 1861, the date of publication of the third edition, Lord Playfair was the Chair of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. They were both members of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; the council proposed to make Charles Darwin an Honourary British Fellow in 1865 during Lord Playfair’s tenure as Vice President (1864 – 1870), and Darwin was made a member that year. It is therefore possible that the text, including “Lyon Playfair / from the Author” was written by Darwin himself as it can be shown that the two men had some interactions with each other.

This book is preserved as part of the original Sam Waller collection.