Venus physique

Sixth edition, after the first edition published without date in 1745. Edition consisting of two parts: Dissertation physique à l'occasion du nègre blanc and Variétés dans l'espèce humaine. The first text was initially published separately.
Contemporary full marbled blonde calf binding. Decorated smooth spine. Red morocco title label. All edges red. Cracks to joints. One restoration to lower joint at head. Good copy.
The arrival in Paris of an albino black man provided the author with the opportunity to present his theories on fortuitous variations that explain the birth of new varieties; these ideas prefigure and contain in embryo genetic theories. The second work is a refutation of current theories on embryonic preformation. Maupertuis demonstrates in these two works that he was a pioneer in the life sciences and an important milestone in the evolution of genetic and hereditary theories.
19th-century engraved bookplate: Bibliothèque de Villeneuve-Butel