[MAUPERTUIS, Pierre Louis Moreau de (1698-1759)]. Dissertation physique l'occasion du ngre blanc. Leiden: n.p., 1744. 8o (165 x 105 mm). Contemporary polished calf, spine gilt (a little wear to joints and corners). Provenance: Pierre Lambert (bookplate). FIRST EDITION of Maupertuis' research into the mechanics of human genetics. "Stimulated by the much talked about appearance of an albino negro in Paris, Maupertuis expressed theories of biparental heredity and epigenesis which substantially anticipated those of Darwin, Mendel, and De Vries nearly a century and a half later" (Garrison-Morton 215.1). Norman 1459.