The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Including a Biographical Chapter (2-Volume Set)

Offering this complete and matching two-volume set of "The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Including a Biographical Chapter" by Charles Darwin, edited by his son Francis Darwin. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1899, Authorized Edition. Red unbordered cloth hardcover with gilt top edge, gilt spine lettering, and the distinctive "Appletons" plural stamp at the bottom of the spine matching the publisher branding of their premier late-Victorian scientific set (this is a single 2-volume title of a set). The first volume opens with a deeply personal, introspective autobiography written by Charles Darwin for his children in 1876. The bulk of the volumes consists of Darwin’s heavily annotated letters to contemporary scientific giants, including Thomas Henry Huxley, Sir Charles Lyell, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Asa Gray. Overall condition is Very Good. Bindings are square and secure. Cover cloth shows fading and light bumping at edges and corners, gilt remains bright. Text blocks are mildly age toned. Interior joints are intact. The endpapers are gently age-toned, and the text pages are clean and free of any marks, creases or tears. A nice early 2v copy of this important scientific work! [D3].…