Masterpieces of Science 



rected in the later editions, it has remained 

 substantially the same book. 



It is no doubt the chief work of my life. It 

 was from the first highly successful. The first 

 small edition of 1,250 copies was sold on the 

 day of publication, and a second edition of 

 3,000 copies soon afterwards. Sixteen thousand 

 copies have now (1876) been sold in England; 

 and considering how stiff a book it is, this is 

 a large sale. It has been translated into almost 

 every European tongue, even into such lan- 

 guages as Spanish, Bohemian, Polish and Rus- 

 sian. Even an essay in Hebrew has appeared 

 on it, showing that the theory is contained 

 in the Old Testament ! The reviews were very 

 numerous; for some time all that appeared on 

 the "Origin" and on my related books, and 

 these amount (excluding newspaper reviews) 

 to 265; but after a time I gave up the attempt 

 in despair. Many separate essays and books 

 on the subject have appeared; and in Germany 

 a catalogue or bibliography on " Darwinismus " 

 has appeared every year or two. 



The success of the "Origin" may, I think, 

 be attributed in large part to my having long 

 before written two condensed sketches and to 

 my having abstracted a much larger manu- 

 script, which was itself an abstract. By this 

 means 1 was enabled to select the more striking 

 facts and conclusions. I had also, during many 

 years followed a golden rule, namely, that 

 whenever a published fact, a new observation 

 40 



