Darwin Rarities Head to Auction at Freeman’s

First appearance in print of natural selection theory offered at November auction

Courtesy of Freeman’s

On the Origin of Species title page.

Before On the Origin of Species, there was “On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties…,” where Charles Darwin first debuted the theory of natural selection. Darwin’s landmark scientific article was published in 1858 in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9. Freeman’s will be offering a copy in original wrappers at its November 5, 2026, sale in Chicago. The pamphlet is expected to fetch between $100,000 and $150,000.

“On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties…,” will be offered as part of a larger Darwin collection at the auction, which also includes a first edition of Darwin’s scientific breakthrough, On the Origin of Species, estimated at $80,000–$120,000. The copy of On the Origin of Species was previously owned by William Barton Rogers, founder of MIT and a prominent American geologist who became an early and outspoken American supporter of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.

“Darwin changed the way we understand life and our place in the natural world, and it was through these books that his ideas reached the world and reshaped modern thought,” said Christopher Brink, Associate Vice President, Head of Sale, Senior Specialist, Books & Manuscripts.

“The collection traces the development of Darwin’s ideas and their dissemination through print, culminating in arguably the single most important work in the history of science, On the Origin of Species, alongside his rarest title, which announces the theory of natural selection,” continued Brink.

“On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties…,” resulted from the joint presentation of two scientific papers to the Linnean Society of London on July 1, 1858, namely “On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type,” by Alfred Russel Wallace and “Extract from an unpublished Work on Species” from Charles Darwin. The article also includes an “Abstract of a Letter” from Darwin to Asa Gray, and an introductory letter by Joseph Dalton Hooker and Charles Lyell.

The entire theory of evolution through natural selection was first presented in the article, when it first appeared in print on August 20, 1858. The presentation of the papers, and subsequent publication of “On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties…” spurred Darwin to write a condensed “abstract” of the major volume he was working on, Natural Selection. That so-called “abstract” became the world classic On the Origin of Species.

With both “On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties,” and On the Origin of Species on offer at the same auction, history of science collectors have a rare opportunity to capture the heady, history-altering moment in the middle nineteenth century when the theory of evolution debuted.

The November 5 sale “Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana” will be held at Freeman’s in Chicago, with bids accepted online, in-person, and over the phone.