# Is "The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex" by Charles Darwin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex by Charles Darwin (John Murray, 1871) is identified by: First edition, first issue (Freeman 937), of which 2,500 copies were published in two volumes on 24 February 1871. London (Murray, 24 February 1871) precedes the New York (D.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first issue (Freeman 937), of which 2,500 copies were published in two volumes on 24 February 1871
- First-issue text has 'transmitted' as the first word on page 297 of volume 1 (reset to 'When' in the second issue), errata for both volumes printed on the verso of the volume 2 title leaf, and a tipped-in 'Postscript' leaf at pages [ix]-x of volume 2 in which Darwin acknowledges 'a serious and unfortunate error' affecting pages 297-299 of volume 1 and pages 161 and 237 of volume 2
- Volume 1 carries a 16-page Murray catalogue of 'Popular Works' and volume 2 a separate 16-page catalogue of 'Standard Works,' both dated January 1871, bound in at the rear
- This is the first appearance of the word 'evolution' in any of Darwin's books, on page 2 of volume 1
- Original binding is green cloth stamped in blind, spines lettered in gilt, with blue-coated endpapers
- Publisher imprint reads John Murray
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Darwin |
| Publisher | John Murray |
| Year | 1871 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first issue (Freeman 937), of which 2,500 copies were published in two volumes on 24 February 1871 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first issue (Freeman 937), of which 2,500 copies were published in two volumes on 24 February 1871. First-issue text has 'transmitted' as the first word on page 297 of volume 1 (reset to 'When' in the second issue), errata for both volumes printed on the verso of the volume 2 title leaf, and a tipped-in 'Postscript' leaf at pages [ix]-x of volume 2 in which Darwin acknowledges 'a serious and unfortunate error' affecting pages 297-299 of volume 1 and pages 161 and 237 of volume 2. Volume 1 carries a 16-page Murray catalogue of 'Popular Works' and volume 2 a separate 16-page catalogue of 'Standard Works,' both dated January 1871, bound in at the rear. This is the first appearance of the word 'evolution' in any of Darwin's books, on page 2 of volume 1. Original binding is green cloth stamped in blind, spines lettered in gilt, with blue-coated endpapers.

## Is this the true first?
London (Murray, 24 February 1871) precedes the New York (D. Appleton) edition, which followed later the same year.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Murray's revised 'Second Edition' (1874) resets the text as a single volume in three parts and drops the errata leaf and Postscript leaf specific to the 1871 text; cheaper reprints from the 1880s-the printed price onward are in plainer cloth without the January 1871 catalogues.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex* by Charles Darwin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-descent-of-man-and-selection-in-relation-to-sex
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.