The Origin of Species: A Variorum Text

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION I. OCCASION AND PURPOSE OF THIS EDITION "Much the greatest event that ever happened and much the best," Charles James Fox said of the French Revolution-to me, a remark even more pertinent to the publication of On the Origin of Species. Its greatness would justify the preparation of a variorum text, but there are sounder reasons. The scale on which Darwin carried out five revisions makes it impossible, without such a text, to comprehend the development of his book. Of the 3,878 sentences in the first edition, nearly 3,000, about 75 per cent, were rewritten from one to five times each. Over 1,500 sentences were added, and of the original sentences plus these, nearly 325 were dropped. Of the original and added sentences there are nearly 7,5°0 variants of all kinds." In terms of net added sentences, the sixth edition is nearly a third as long again as the first. But I have not undertaken this task because of the greatness of the book or even the scale of the revisions; I hope, rather, that the text will be a contribution to the history of biology, of ideas, and of modern culture. As a student of Victorian literature and its background , I became increasingly tantalized some years ago by the unsatisfactory discussion of the reception of the book, by confusing interpretations, by inadequate sketches of the development of Darwinism and the very different matter of evolutionary thought and its relation to the Origin. The larger outlines were fuzzily visible, but the illuminating detail was absent. Turning to the work itself, I quickly found part of the answer. Darwin complained often enough that few really understood the theory of Natural Selection, and were he to examine various cultural histories and even certain respected histories of science published since his death, he would still complain, perhaps quite bitterly. Yet the real reason for the fuzziness was not apparent. Modern editions, since 18g8, have not included his tables of corrections, first introduced in the third edition , nor have any American editions I have examined, including the authorized Appleton edition of 1872.2 By accident I came upon a passage taken from the 1859 edition. I was familiar with the passage , the heavily revised opening of the last chapter. At once I began to seek out, to examine, and to collect the earlier editions. The tables of changes surprised me. I was amazed at the extent and variety of the variations. Nothing I had read prepared me for such a situation , not even the Life and Letters. Nor did the lists of changes prepare me for what I was to discover when I did a little collation. The cause of the unsatisfactory quality of such discussions as I had encountered now became apparent. Without a variorum text it is impossible to speak with accuracy on what Darwin said in the Origin at any given time. How could one know that a statement in the 1859 edition was not modified in 1860, 1861, 1866, 1869, and 9 1872? How many libraries even have a run of all authentic editions? In this country I know of none, though they may very well exist. Further, how could one relate to the Origin any reference in any scientific or non-scientific work of the time and know that the relation was valid for all editions? For example, part of the theological outcry can be traced to the fact that in the first edition there was much theological language which Darwin later excised. Without a variorum text, such a fact-and there are dozens of equal and greater importance-cannot even be known. It appeared to me unquestionable that it was impossible to write the early history of the development of Darwinian and evolutionary thought as affected by the Origin unless the student had a variorum text. And so, since biologists and even historians of science have more important things to do, and because the task seemed to call for the efforts of just such a harmless drudge as a student of literature, I undertook to create a variorum text. Such a text will be useful, I hope, for some of the following purposes. To begin with, since Darwin in the Origin wrote, as he often said, an .,abstract of an abstract," he gave no references or authorities, except in the "Historical Sketch," which first appeared in the third edition, 1861. I have prepared a variorum text. The next step is a...