The Botanic Garden. A Poem in Two Parts. Part I. Containing the Economy of Vegetation. Part II. The Loves of Plants. With Philosophical Notes
New York: T. & J. Swords, 1798. 1st American Edition. 8vo. Fine. Item #18671
A gorgeous 1st American Edition of one of Darwin's defining works, which attempts to "enlist Imagination under the banner of Science . . . to induce the ingenious to cultivate the knowledge of botany...", speculates on the Big Bang Theory as the origin of the Universe, and discusses the Theory of Evolution long before his more famous grandson.
"Erasmus Darwin offered the first glimpse of his theory of evolution, obliquely, in a question at the end of a long footnote to his popular poem The Loves of the Plants (1789), which was republished throughout the 1790s in several editions as The Botanic Garden. His poetic concept was to anthropomorphise the stamen (male) and pistil (female) sexual organs, as bride and groom." - wiki
Three quarter leather over marbled, paper-covered boards. Raised bands to spine. Burgundy title label with titling in gilt. 256pp + 146pp, plus ads and errata. Square tight binding. Clean interior, save for front pastedown with two previous owner bookplates, and two front flyleaves with previous owner signatures, dating to 1827 and 1887. 16 plates, including one double page.
Overall an exceptional example of this influential 18th-century scientific literary work.
Price: $600.00