# Is "Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by H.M.S. Beagle (The Voyage of the Beagle)" by Charles Darwin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by H.M.S. Beagle (The Voyage of the Beagle) by Charles Darwin (Henry Colburn, 1839) is identified by: Darwin's account first appeared in May 1839 as Volume III ('Journal and Remarks') of the composite four-volume Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.S. The composite Narrative, with Darwin's text as Volume III ('Journal and Remarks'), was issued as a set by May 1839; the separately-titled Journal of Researches, with new preliminary leaves and advertisements dated August 1839, reissues the same first-edition sheets under Darwin's own title and is technically the second issue rather than a new edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Darwin's account first appeared in May 1839 as Volume III ('Journal and Remarks') of the composite four-volume Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle
- Colburn then reissued the same setting of type under Darwin's own title, Journal of Researches, adding a new half-title and title leaf and sixteen pages of Colburn's publisher's advertisements dated August 1839 at the rear
- The sheets are bound in dark blue, blind-stamped cloth prone to fading, with the author's name and Colburn's imprint lettered on the spine, and include two engraved folding maps -- one of the southern portion of South America and one of the Keeling Islands, both signed by the engravers J. Dower and J. & C. Walker -- plus four woodcut illustrations in the text
- This was Darwin's first book
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Colburn
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Darwin |
| Publisher | Henry Colburn |
| Year | 1839 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Darwin's account first appeared in May 1839 as Volume III ('Journal and Remarks') of the composite four-volume Narrative of the Surveying… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Darwin's account first appeared in May 1839 as Volume III ('Journal and Remarks') of the composite four-volume Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle; Colburn then reissued the same setting of type under Darwin's own title, Journal of Researches, adding a new half-title and title leaf and sixteen pages of Colburn's publisher's advertisements dated August 1839 at the rear. The sheets are bound in dark blue, blind-stamped cloth prone to fading, with the author's name and Colburn's imprint lettered on the spine, and include two engraved folding maps -- one of the southern portion of South America and one of the Keeling Islands, both signed by the engravers J. Dower and J. & C. Walker -- plus four woodcut illustrations in the text. This was Darwin's first book.

## Is this the true first?
The composite Narrative, with Darwin's text as Volume III ('Journal and Remarks'), was issued as a set by May 1839; the separately-titled Journal of Researches, with new preliminary leaves and advertisements dated August 1839, reissues the same first-edition sheets under Darwin's own title and is technically the second issue rather than a new edition. A third issue, with the half-title and title leaf reprinted and dated 1840, followed and is the scarcest of the three; all three issues share the same text setting.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The heavily revised second edition (John Murray, 1845, issued in three parts as volume 12 of the Colonial and Home Library) reverses the title's word order to 'Natural History and Geology' rather than the first edition's 'Geology and Natural History,' omits both folding maps (which did not return until 1890), and cuts the text from about 224,000 to roughly 213,000 words; any copy with the reversed title wording or lacking the two folding maps is a later Murray edition, not the 1839 Colburn first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by H.M.S. Beagle (The Voyage of the Beagle)* by Charles Darwin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/journal-of-researches-into-the-geology-and-natural-history-o
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.