Books

First edition, first issue. Published the year before his death, it was a remarkable success and sold 6,000 copies within a year, with initial sales faster than those for Origin of Species. Formation of Vegetable Mould was the culmination of ten years of intensive research and close observation by Darwin. It was his "leitmotif, explaining vast changes by minute incremental events: mountain uplift, evolving life, and now worms transforming the soil" (ODNB). The first impression of 2,000 copies was apparently split between two equal issues, the first without a "thousand" statement, as here, and the second with "second thousand" on the title; all issues thereafter had such a statement. Provenance: with the armorial bookplate of the Morkill family on the front pastedown. Originally from Yorkshire, many members of the Morkill family emigrated to Canada in the 19th century. A prominent member of the family - and potential owner of the present copy - was John William Morkill (1861-1932). A justice of the peace and councillor by occupation, Morkill was a natural and local history enthusiast in his spare time. Octavo. Original green cloth, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, covers panelled in blind, brown coated endpapers. Woodcut and engraved figures in the text. Publisher's advertisement leaf at rear. Gilt bright, spine ends and corners rubbed, foxing to endleaves and title page else contents clean: a very good copy. Freeman 1357; Norman 603.

This book by Charles Darwin, published in 1881, investigates the role of earthworms in the process of soil formation and the decomposition of organic material, presenting detailed research on their behavior and effects on plant growth.