Published by Open Court/Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Chicago/London, 1909
First Edition
Hard Cover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. First Edition. Early evolutionary theory: De Vries points out that selection alone does not cause evolution - there must be variation from which to select. Here he discusses Darwin's and Wallace's theories, selection, acquired characteristics, mutation; origin of species in the genus oenothera; in volume 2, he discusses the origin of varieties within a species in plants. De Vries was unaware of Mendel's work until the late 1890s, rediscovering his theories in his own work, but barely mentioning him in these volumes. Two volume set, complete. Hardcover, full red cloth, leather spine labels lost, replaced with paper labels, gilt titling. General wear to books, light staining, some mouse-nibbling to edges of rear boards, minor staining to page edges; spines faded; nice bookplate inside each front cover, different ink name & 'seal' on free endsheet, ink name scrawled across title page: the previous owners were zoologists at the University of Wisconsin. Text clean; 6 color plates, xv, [1], 582, [4]; 6 more color plates, viii, blank leaf, 683 pages; index, list of author's papers (mostly in Dutch) & figures in each volume. A surcharge for international shipping of this set of books will be required; please inquire for an accurate quote. Size: Large Octavo. Set.