La descendance de l'homme et la sélection sexuelle

First French edition, translated from English by Moulinié. Preface by Carl Vogt. 76 woodcuts in-text. In fine in volume I, 24 pages of catalogue of the Reinwald bookshop.
Publisher's green grained percaline boards, signed at the back by Lenègre. Smooth spine with roulette at head and tail. Cold framing on the boards. Rubbing on the headpieces and on the spines, as well as on the boards and corners. In volume II, the spine between the two inside endpapers with paper torn off, but not significant for the general condition of the book, even if there is some play between the body of the book and the binding. Paper untrimmed, quite white, with some foxing in the first volume. A good copy in its original binding.
"The Descent of Man" is a major turning point in 19th century biology, building a solid bridge between biology, social sciences and humanities. It is one of the first works on the theory of evolution, overturning the conceptions on the origin of man. It was only 13 years after "On the Origin of Species" that he demonstrated in this seminal work the descendance of pre-existing species, by developing the theory of sexual selection, a factor in the evolution of species and their differentiation.