OCHOROWICZ - KAROL DARWIN AND HIS PREDECESSORS. STUDY OF THE THEORIES OF TRANSFORMATION 1873

OCHOROWICZ Julian

KAROL DARWIN AND HIS PREDECESSORS

A STUDY OF THE THEORIES OF TRANSFORMATION

The work of Adolphe Quatrefages de Bréau Jean Louis Armand de

Translated and supplemented by...

[Quatrefages de Bréau Jean Louis Armand de]

Warsaw 1873, published by Gebethner & Wolff Bookstore, pp.XV, XXIV, 325; format 13x18.5 cm

"A few words from the translator:
Quatrefages is an opponent of Darwin - but one of those few opponents who derive the objections to his theory solely from the pure source of science. The work which I present to Polish readers in translation has a double value: for science and for the general public. For science - because it summarizes in itself all the objections that only from the standpoint of positive knowledge of Darwin's theory can be made; for the general public - because it gives a clear and accurate idea of the entire scope of the subject dismantled, namely, presenting Darwin's theory in the most accessible and faithful summary.
Here is what Mrs. Clementine Royer says on the subject in her preface to the French translation of Darwin's first work: "We readily admit that Mr. Quatrefages, in spite of the fact that his mind has for so long been accustomed to directly opposing theories of transformed views, knew how to do all. justice to the opponent with whom he is fighting. The summary of Darwin's theory which he has presented is so impartial, so clear, so accurate, that it will undoubtedly facilitate the understanding of its principles for a considerable number of minds accustomed to the colloquial eloquence of literary language rather than to the dry scientific lecture, and the strict deductions of the work On the Origin of Species. Some of the most important laws discovered by Charles Darwin, Mr. Quatrefages presented more clearly and ornately than the author himself. And however excellent an anthropologist, he may not have always accurately grasped all their momentousness, all the conclusions flowing from them, all their interrelationships; however he may not have always perceived that they abrogate his own objections; however he may have somewhat neglected some of them - with all this occupying his study of general natural history, it is an exquisite dissection of the theory of transformations, which may serve as an introduction to the work On the Origin of Species (Charles Darwin. De l'origine des éspeces, trad. de M-e Clémence Royer, 3-e édition, Paris 1870, XI-XII.).
I should also add a few words about the complements that went into the present work. The very title of the original (Charles Darwin et ses précurseurs français) indicates that there was mention of Darwin's French predecessors only. Such one-sidedness subtracted from the work the character of an exhaustive study of the historical development of the theory of transformation. For this I decided, summarizing the views of the French naturalists, to supplement the views of the German and English. In this way the number of eight predecessors of Darwin given in Quatrefages increased to forty-one - and I think that by such a supplement the picture of the development of the whole theory, became more complete and accurate. I have summarized the German theories according to Haeckel - the English theories according to Darwin himself."

HARDCOVER HALF LEATHER BINDING OF THE PERIOD. SPINE WITH EMBOSSING AND GILT TITLING. CARD EDGES CREASED.

Warsaw 1873, Nakładem Ksiegarni Gebethnera i Wolffa, pp. 325,[3], format 12x17.5cm

HARDCOVER IN HALF LEATHER FROM THE EPOCH

Condition DB spine damaged [significant cracks], minor inscription onl, period stamps, paper yellowed