# Is "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication" by Charles Darwin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication by Charles Darwin (John Murray, 1868) is identified by: First edition, first issue, of which 1,500 copies were published on 30 January 1868 in two octavo volumes.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first issue, of which 1,500 copies were published on 30 January 1868 in two octavo volumes
- Volume I is paginated [3], iv-viii, 411,
- volume II is paginated [3], iv-viii, 486,
- both are illustrated with 43 wood-engraved text figures
- First-issue points include a one-line publisher's imprint reading 'LONDON, JOHN MURRAY.' at the foot of each spine (two lines in the second issue); volume I carries five errata in six lines on page vi plus a 32-page Murray catalogue dated April 1867, and volume II carries nine errata in seven lines on page viii plus a 2-page advertisement leaf dated February 1868
- Bound in publisher's green cloth, gilt-lettered and decorated spines, with blind-panelled boards
- Publisher imprint reads John Murray

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Darwin |
| Publisher | John Murray |
| Year | 1868 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first issue, of which 1,500 copies were published on 30 January 1868 in two octavo volumes |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first issue, of which 1,500 copies were published on 30 January 1868 in two octavo volumes. Volume I is paginated [3], iv-viii, 411, (32); volume II is paginated [3], iv-viii, 486, (2); both are illustrated with 43 wood-engraved text figures. First-issue points include a one-line publisher's imprint reading 'LONDON, JOHN MURRAY.' at the foot of each spine (two lines in the second issue); volume I carries five errata in six lines on page vi plus a 32-page Murray catalogue dated April 1867, and volume II carries nine errata in seven lines on page viii plus a 2-page advertisement leaf dated February 1868. Bound in publisher's green cloth, gilt-lettered and decorated spines, with blind-panelled boards.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The revised second edition (1875) is reduced to crown octavo, extensively alters the text (including reworked chapters on bud-variation and pangenesis), and reads 'Second Edition, Revised' on the title page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication* by Charles Darwin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-variation-of-animals-and-plants-under-domestication
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.