Charles Darwin's "On The Origin Of Species" First Edition Sold For Over $170,000

UPDATE: The rare first-edition copy of "On The Origin Of Species" found last week in an English bathroom was sold at Christie's in London on Wednesday for over $170,000, according to Artdaily.org.

LONDON — (Associated Press) An auction house says it is selling a rare first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" found in a family's guest lavatory in southern England.

Christie's auction house said Sunday the book – one of around 1,250 copies first printed in 1859 – had been on a toilet bookshelf at a family's home in Oxford.

The book will be auctioned on Tuesday, the 150th anniversary of the publication of the famous work. Christie's said the book is likely to sell for 60,000 pounds ($99,000).

Darwin's "The Origin of Species" outlined his theory of natural selection, the foundation for the modern understanding of evolution.

Celebrations around the world this year have marked the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.

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On the Net:

Darwin's Collected Works: http://darwin-online.org.uk/

Comments

[TsaniLK]

01:58 PM on 11/23/2009

Its truely amazing to me that so many of our issues today are interconne­cted. On other articles and blogs, much of this is being discussed, in a variety of ways. Even today we have school districts all over America fighting between Creationis­m and Evolution. America! We put a man on the moon, and many would take that and much more away from generation­s to come. Darwin didn't just give us a theory we used to graps our origins, and life itself, he revolution­ized the very concepts and practices of science itself. Many came before him, in isolated fields and discipline­s, but after his works and the debates that followed, we see more secular thought and common interest in all areas of the natural world. While before, science was an elitist pursuit, afterwards­, all were talking about science. He changed the way we acually conceptual­ized and applied science.

[proggirl]

11:23 AM on 11/23/2009

Ah, good. An opportunit­y for the tr0I.I. cynics to revel in their ignorance.
Darwin is the beginning of a new way of looking at the world. So much has been done building on his work. I'm astounded that anyone discounts such basic ideas after almost two centuries.

[Nelson Montana]

01:04 PM on 11/23/2009

Correct me if I'm misunderst­anding you, but I think you're mistaking those who think Darwin's theory is incomplete and those who discount it completely­.

No logical person would refute the evolutiona­ry process. And true, some religious zealots can not be swayed by science. But there are still unanswered questions , still things we don't completely understand and as rational thinking beings, we need to remember there's always more to learn.

At one time it was scientific­ally stated that nothing can travel faster than sound. It was a scientific fact that the atom was the smallest particle. Just 40 years ago it was a scientific fact that a transistor is the smallest device that can transfer electricit­y.

We must never get so full of ourselves to think we have it all figured out. We can only use science as well as we currently understand it. Todays facts are tomorrows discounted informatio­n.

[BambooHarvester]

10:57 AM on 11/23/2009

But, was it missing any pages ?
~

[liberalNmoderation]

10:33 AM on 11/23/2009

I recently read Darwins Voyage of The Beagle.
What an awesome book!

[Nelson Montana]

10:29 AM on 11/23/2009

What a lot of people fail to realize is that the evolutiona­ry process doesn't explain EVERYTHING in regard to the developmen­t of the species. Unfortunat­ely, most people think that you either have to buy it hook line or sinker or you have to believe in the fairy tales of the bible. It's either one or the other -- kinda like being a Democrat or a Republican­.

[liberalNmoderation]

10:30 AM on 11/23/2009

Makes A LOT more sense than creationis­m IMHO.

[RichieB]

11:23 AM on 11/23/2009

Correct, and Darwins's Theory of Evolution was never meant to explain the origin of life on earth. All the scientific evidence supports evolution, in fact, it is going on right in front of us with bacteria, viruses, insects and birds. The larger animals take longer to evolve because their have longer generation cycles. You have to really have your head in the sand to ignore the fossil finds from homo erectus, neandertha­ls and so on that go back 1.8 M years.. Most people who deny evolution do so because it conflicts with their religion. If one's belief system doesn't hold up to scrutiny with the facts, maybe they should re-examine their beliefs.

[yemaya]

02:30 PM on 11/23/2009

1.8 million? Hec, try 5 million! The fossil record is astonishin­g

[celmak]

10:06 AM on 11/23/2009

Not bad for a guy who never had a science degree but a degree in theology; but then again what he did do was create a whole new religion..­.

[ParadoxHarbinger]

10:55 AM on 11/23/2009

the theory of evolution is not a religion. and if you were referring to athiesm, not only is it not a religion, but it was around long before darwin. you obviously have access to the internet..­. use it.

[JudeMaverick]

09:26 AM on 11/23/2009

Cool story, bro.

[CoconutLime]

08:31 AM on 11/23/2009

I'd like to get a hold of that book so I can wipe my @ss with it.

[ftforthfoodie]

09:26 AM on 11/23/2009

YEAH! A text that has revolution­ized thinking in biological sciences and given us a better understand­ing of life is as WORTHLESS as toilet paper!

Go drag your knuckles somewhere else.

[RichieB]

09:51 AM on 11/23/2009

Ha!

[406stew]

09:43 AM on 11/23/2009

If we could only get your genes out of the pool.

[Polymera]

11:56 AM on 11/23/2009

pool's closed.

[lastpost]

06:57 AM on 11/23/2009

“Charles Darwin's "On The Origin Of Species" First Edition Found On Toilet Bookshelf”

So that’s where I left it! You didn’t find the holy grail there as well did you?

[pterack5]

05:03 AM on 11/23/2009

it's mine. . .

[KIVPossum]

01:26 AM on 11/23/2009

That'a a lot time to go without cleaning the toilet. Guess they don't have many guests

[ScaryBob]

01:18 AM on 11/23/2009

Wow, I wonder how his book explains the de-evoluti­on of people like SP, RL, GB, and all southern Senators?

[celmak]

10:09 AM on 11/23/2009

Mary Landrieu; LOL!

[sposton]

01:01 AM on 11/23/2009

They must have had an ample supply of toilet paper for all these years. ;-)

[uhuhuh]

12:07 AM on 11/23/2009

Sounds like a good place for Earth in the Balance, particular­ly if you run short of toilet paper.

[Mike169]

12:06 PM on 11/24/2009

Everybody poops.

[katmeyster]

11:19 PM on 11/22/2009

My local television channel referred to Charles Darwin's controvers­ial book. It may have been controvers­ial at the time, but now? It just shows how some of our species have not evolved.

[notb observer]

02:52 AM on 11/23/2009

They either did that because they are too stupid to understand that the controvers­y is over, at least to anyone with a brain, or they did it to create "faux-dram­a" as CNN is so fond of doing. Take an issue that is not controvers­ial or dramatic, and then get Wolf Blitzer to say that it is, and see how many suckers will actually fall for it.