The Life, Letters And Labours Of Francis Galton.

Three volumes in four. First edition. Sm.4to., orig. blue cloth (volume 1 in dark blue, the remainder in lighter blue), gilt stamped bust of Galton on the upper boards, (xxiv), 246, (2)pp.ads; (xii), (426); xii, 438, (2); (6), (441-673, (3), (8)pp.ads. With five folding tables in a pocket at the rear of volume one; two charts in a pocket in volume two, and numerous portraits and plates. Some light wear to the spine ends of volume one, which also has some rubbing but is very good, the other three volumes are near fine. "A relative of famed naturalist Charles Darwin, Francis Galton spent much of his life dedicated to research and critical inquiries into several different subject areas, from exploration to eugenics to weather to fingerprints.Strongly influenced by Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species (1859), Galton developed his own theories on inherited traits. He studied identical twins, and worked on the first intelligence test in his exploration of the roles of "nature and nurture"ùa phrase created by Galtonùin human attributes. According to some sources, Galton also coined the term "eugenics," a controversial field of study about selective breeding in humans to produce preferred traits. Galton spent much of his life studying heredity and eugenics, and he later thought that a person's fingerprints might be a part of human genetic puzzle. He thought that these prints might provide information on differences between people, from race to moral character to intelligence. While he never made any discoveries in this area, Galton established a fingerprint classification system that is still in use today." (University College, London).…