# Is "Insectivorous Plants" by Charles Darwin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Insectivorous Plants by Charles Darwin (John Murray, 1875) is identified by: Published 2 July 1875, octavo, x, 462 pages, illustrated with wood-engravings drawn in part by Darwin's sons George and Francis Darwin. The London Murray edition of 2 July 1875 precedes the American edition issued by D.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published 2 July 1875, octavo, x, 462 pages, illustrated with wood-engravings drawn in part by Darwin's sons George and Francis Darwin
- The first-issue ('first thousand') state carries no thousand-notation on the title page and no publisher's advertisements bound in, while Murray's second and third thousands, both issued later the same year, state their thousand on the title page
- The second thousand carries a six-line errata slip; the third thousand corrects those six lines but adds a newly discovered set of six, again on a loose slip
- Bound in publisher's green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, boards blind-panelled, with brown-coated endpapers
- Publisher imprint reads John Murray
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Darwin |
| Publisher | John Murray |
| Year | 1875 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published 2 July 1875, octavo, x, 462 pages, illustrated with wood-engravings drawn in part by Darwin's sons George and Francis Darwin |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Published 2 July 1875, octavo, x, 462 pages, illustrated with wood-engravings drawn in part by Darwin's sons George and Francis Darwin. The first-issue ('first thousand') state carries no thousand-notation on the title page and no publisher's advertisements bound in, while Murray's second and third thousands, both issued later the same year, state their thousand on the title page. The second thousand carries a six-line errata slip; the third thousand corrects those six lines but adds a newly discovered set of six, again on a loose slip. Bound in publisher's green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, boards blind-panelled, with brown-coated endpapers.

## Is this the true first?
The London Murray edition of 2 July 1875 precedes the American edition issued by D. Appleton and Company of New York later the same year, which was printed from stereotype plates of the English setting.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Insectivorous Plants* by Charles Darwin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/insectivorous-plants
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.