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CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN (1809-1882)
Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries visited during the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle ... new edition. London: John Murray, 1852. 8° (178 x 112mm). 14 woodcuts in text. Original red cloth, covers embossed 'Murray's Colonial and Home Library', spine gilt-lettered 'Darwin's Naturalist's Voyage' and 'Murray' (spine restored, inner hinges repaired). Provenance: presentation copy to William Bernhardt Tegetmeier (1816-1912, inscribed in Darwin's hand: 'W.B. Tegetmeier Esq. with the author's Best Regards' on inserted blank facing title, cut out signature, 'from C. Darwin', tipped in on same leaf; bookplate of W.B. Tegetmeier) -- Quentin Keynes (1921-2003, gift to his doctor).
PRESENTATON COPY COMMEMORATING THE IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN DARWIN AND W.B. TEGETMEIER. This is a reissue of the second edition which appeared in 1845, the change of place between natural history and geology in the title indicating 'the progressive orientation of Darwin's mind toward the problem of evolution' (DSB III, p. 569). The presentation inscription to Tegetmeier, a leading authority on the breeding of poultry and pigeons, and a founder member of the Savage Club, is on an inserted leaf which was probably folded originally and preserved loose in the book. J.A. Secord in ODNB records that 'In 1855 Tegetmeier came to the attention of Charles Darwin, who was studying pigeons and other domestic birds as part of the research which led to the Origin of Species (1859) ... Tegetmeier introduced Darwin to the institutions of the fancy, took him to shows, and answered numerous queries in correspondence'. His delightful bookplate is a reminder of the fact that he was also a keen apiarist. 'His most significant finding, announced at the 1858 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, involved the much debated question of how bees built their cells in the form of perfect hexagons. Tegetmeier showed that bees actually constructed cylindrical cells; only when raised up in contact with one another did these cells gain their characteristic mathematical regularity. Darwin extended these experiments and cited them in the Origin, recognising that Tegetmeier had given a physical, material explanation to a phenomenon which many naturalists had seen as evidencing divine design. For his part, Tegetmeier became a convinced evolutionist, and always prided himself on his connection with the celebrated naturalist'. The voluminous recorded correspondence between the two begins on 31 August 1855, with a letter from Darwin thanking Tegetmeier for his offer to supply carcasses, and ends on 3 November 1881 when Darwin thanked him for his review of Earthworms. Although this presentation copy is undated, it seems probable that it was sent to Tegetmeier no earlier than 1855 but before 1860 when the final definitive text of the Journal appeared. Passages scored in pencil on pp. 384 and 462-64 describe the Galapagos tortoise and a Keeling island crab living on cocoa-nuts. Freeman 17.
Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries visited during the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle ... new edition. London: John Murray, 1852. 8° (178 x 112mm). 14 woodcuts in text. Original red cloth, covers embossed 'Murray's Colonial and Home Library', spine gilt-lettered 'Darwin's Naturalist's Voyage' and 'Murray' (spine restored, inner hinges repaired). Provenance: presentation copy to William Bernhardt Tegetmeier (1816-1912, inscribed in Darwin's hand: 'W.B. Tegetmeier Esq. with the author's Best Regards' on inserted blank facing title, cut out signature, 'from C. Darwin', tipped in on same leaf; bookplate of W.B. Tegetmeier) -- Quentin Keynes (1921-2003, gift to his doctor).
PRESENTATON COPY COMMEMORATING THE IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN DARWIN AND W.B. TEGETMEIER. This is a reissue of the second edition which appeared in 1845, the change of place between natural history and geology in the title indicating 'the progressive orientation of Darwin's mind toward the problem of evolution' (DSB III, p. 569). The presentation inscription to Tegetmeier, a leading authority on the breeding of poultry and pigeons, and a founder member of the Savage Club, is on an inserted leaf which was probably folded originally and preserved loose in the book. J.A. Secord in ODNB records that 'In 1855 Tegetmeier came to the attention of Charles Darwin, who was studying pigeons and other domestic birds as part of the research which led to the Origin of Species (1859) ... Tegetmeier introduced Darwin to the institutions of the fancy, took him to shows, and answered numerous queries in correspondence'. His delightful bookplate is a reminder of the fact that he was also a keen apiarist. 'His most significant finding, announced at the 1858 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, involved the much debated question of how bees built their cells in the form of perfect hexagons. Tegetmeier showed that bees actually constructed cylindrical cells; only when raised up in contact with one another did these cells gain their characteristic mathematical regularity. Darwin extended these experiments and cited them in the Origin, recognising that Tegetmeier had given a physical, material explanation to a phenomenon which many naturalists had seen as evidencing divine design. For his part, Tegetmeier became a convinced evolutionist, and always prided himself on his connection with the celebrated naturalist'. The voluminous recorded correspondence between the two begins on 31 August 1855, with a letter from Darwin thanking Tegetmeier for his offer to supply carcasses, and ends on 3 November 1881 when Darwin thanked him for his review of Earthworms. Although this presentation copy is undated, it seems probable that it was sent to Tegetmeier no earlier than 1855 but before 1860 when the final definitive text of the Journal appeared. Passages scored in pencil on pp. 384 and 462-64 describe the Galapagos tortoise and a Keeling island crab living on cocoa-nuts. Freeman 17.
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