A classic in the literature of evolutionary theory

LAMARCK, Jean Baptiste de.

Philosophie Zoologique, ou Exposition des Considérations Relatives à l'Histoire Naturelle des Animaux.

Paris: Dentu et l'Auteur, 1809.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #003484

Three parts in two volumes. 8vo (196 x 123 mm). [4], xxv [1], 428; [4], 475 [1] pp, including half-titles. Extra illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author in vol. I. Bound in contemporary uniform half sheepskin, spines with some gilt ruling and red morocco labels lettered in gilt, marbled edges (very little rubbing of extremities). Housed in modern custom-made slipcase. Text only little browned, some scattered spotting, a few ink smudges in vol. II. Copiously annotated in ink by a learned individual, possibly a colleague of Lamarck. Provenance: compte Amaury de la Chevalerie (bookplates to front pastedowns). ----

PMM 262; Sparrow 121; Evans 103; Norman 1267; DSB VII, pp.590-1; Wellcome III, p.435; Garrison-Morton 216; En français dans le texte 205. - S. Alcouffe, Lamarck J.B. "Philosophie zoologique". FIRST EDITION OF LAMARCK'S MOST COMPLETE PRESENTATION OF HIS THEORY OF EVOLUTION - "a classic in the literature of evolutionary theory" (PMM). The first two parts of Philosophie zoologique restate and elaborate upon Lamarck's theory of evolution (originally posited in his Recherches sur l'organisation des corps vivans, Paris, 1802), which attributes evolution to two factors: the tendency of species toward increasing complexity, and the influence of the environment, which he considered responsible for these variations from the norm. "The third part contains the most important additions to the earlier theories. In this section Lamarck deals in great detail with the problem of a physical explanation for the emergence of higher mental facilities ... Lamarck's breakthrough was tying a progressive development of higher mental facilities in a physical way to structural development of the nervous system ... Higher mental faculties could emerge precisely because they were a product of increased structural complexity ... For Lamarck one of the most important events in the evolutionary process was the development of the nervous system, particularly the brain, because at that point animals began to form ideas and control their movements" (DSB).
Although Darwin initially disparaged Lamarck's work, he later amended his opinion, stating in the "Historical Introduction" to the third edition of On the Origin of Species that Lamarck "first did the eminent service of arousing attention to the probability of all change in the organic as well as in the inorganic world being the result of law, and not of miraculous intervention" (London: 1861, p. xiii).
This work is the standard source for the study of Lamarck's theory of evolution and a classic in its field. "It is a theory of the evolution of animal life, depending upon variations brought about mainly through use and disuse of parts, and also by responses to external stimuli, and the direct inheritance of the same. His theory is comprehensive, so much so that he includes mankind in his general conclusions" (W.A. Locy, Biology and its Makers, 1930, pp.384-385). - Visit our website to see more images!

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