Books

First edition. Darwin's research on fertilization in plants was an offshoot of his work on evolution and natural selection. To demonstrate that genetic variation gave organisms an advantage in the struggle for survival, he created weaker plants than those that had been cross-fertilized. Despite its technical nature, the book proved popular; published on 10 November, all 1,500 copies had sold by the end of the year. Provenance: with the ownership inscription of William Glynn Burton (1916-1989) and Marie Rosenberg Burton (1907-1982) to the front free endpaper verso. The couple were both botanists; William was a prominent scholar of the potato whilst Marie specialized in freshwater algae. Octavo. Original green cloth, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, covers panelled in blind, brown coated endpapers. With 3-line errata slip facing p. viii. Diagram and 109 letterpress tables in the text. Extremities rubbed resulting in a little wear to corners, spine ends bruised, cloth clean and bright, endpapers toned, foxing to contents, majority of gatherings partially unopened: a very good copy. Freeman 1249.