# Is "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" by Charles Darwin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin (John Murray, 1859) is identified by: First edition, John Murray, London, 24 November 1859: 1,250 copies printed (1,192 offered for sale). The true first is the 1859 London John Murray first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, John Murray, London, 24 November 1859: 1,250 copies printed (1,192 offered for sale)
- THE diagnostic point (Freeman) is the verso of the half-title leaf, which carries only two quotations -- from Whewell and Bacon; a third quotation, from Butler's 'Analogy,' was added only in the 1860 second edition
- Supporting first-edition readings that Darwin later altered include the misprint 'speceies' for 'species' at p.20, line 11, and the bear-swimming-'like a whale' passage given in full at p.184 (softened in the second edition) -- but Freeman states these are NOT necessary for identification and should not be relied on alone
- Bound in original green cloth, blocked in blind with the spine lettered gilt
- Copies frequently retain a 32-page inserted catalogue of Murray's general list dated June 1859, though its presence is not essential
- Title page dated 1859; it carries no printed price
- Correct publisher/imprint: John Murray

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Darwin |
| Publisher | John Murray |
| Year | 1859 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | First edition, John Murray, London, 24 November 1859: 1,250 copies printed (1,192 offered for sale) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, John Murray, London, 24 November 1859: 1,250 copies printed (1,192 offered for sale). THE diagnostic point (Freeman) is the verso of the half-title leaf, which carries only two quotations -- from Whewell and Bacon; a third quotation, from Butler's 'Analogy,' was added only in the 1860 second edition. Supporting first-edition readings that Darwin later altered include the misprint 'speceies' for 'species' at p.20, line 11, and the bear-swimming-'like a whale' passage given in full at p.184 (softened in the second edition) -- but Freeman states these are NOT necessary for identification and should not be relied on alone. Bound in original green cloth, blocked in blind with the spine lettered gilt. Copies frequently retain a 32-page inserted catalogue of Murray's general list dated June 1859, though its presence is not essential. Title page dated 1859; it carries no printed price.

## Is this the true first?
The true first is the 1859 London John Murray first edition. The 1860 New York (D. Appleton) printing is the first American edition, not the first overall. The point that separates the 1859 first from the 1860 second edition is the half-title verso: two quotations (Whewell, Bacon) in the first, three (the Butler quotation added) in the second. There is effectively a single issue of the 1859 first edition; the 'speceies' misprint is a first-edition reading, NOT -- as sometimes claimed -- the single decisive identification point.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Numerous later facsimiles and photo-reprints exist (e.g., the Harvard facsimile edition) and carry later imprints or explicit facsimile statements. A genuine 1859 first is identified by the 1859 title-page date together with the two-quotation half-title verso; the 'speceies' misprint and the June 1859 Murray ads are corroborating, not decisive, and neither the ads' presence nor the misprint alone proves a first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection* by Charles Darwin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/on-the-origin-of-species-by-means-of-natural-selection
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.