I have now recapitulated the chief facts and considerations which have thoroughly convinced me that species have changed, and are still slowly changing by the preservation and accumulation of successive slight favourable variations.
Sotheby's Age of Wonder online auction aims to amaze thanks to an important document written and signed by Charles Darwin. It could sell for more than $1 million (est. $600,000-800,000) and set a record price for a manuscript by the well-known scientist.
Since Darwin was not in the habit of archiving his papers, little original material has survived; when it exists and is signed, it is therefore of enormous value. For some experts, including science historian Prof. John van Wyhe, this manuscript is one of Darwin's most significant and is particularly special because of what the great man chose to include on the page along with his signature. "He includes a passage that appears in the third edition of On the Origin of Species," the professor explained to the BBC. "It's a really favourite passage, because he's trying to make the point that people might find his theory unbelievable and outlandish, but they said the same about Newton and gravity, and nobody doubted the existence of gravity anymore."
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Another expert, Dr Kalika Sands, Associate Specialist at Sotheby's New York, said, “What’s different about this leaf is that Darwin was choosing the passage that he wanted to be associated with himself and his legacy. He wrote it out on an oversized sheet. It’s done incredibly clearly, and he’s very boldly signed his name. In this passage he mentions natural selection, he mentions Newton, and he discusses the room for higher powers, but at the same time he says nothing [that] explains away these theories. It really serves as his definitive, or authorized, statement on his work."
Darwin wrote the paper four years after the publication of the third edition of On the Origin of Species in 1865 in response to a request from Hermann Kindt, editor of the Autographic Mirror. On the Origin of Species is, according to a recent poll, the most influential academic book ever written. This text of global importance, combined with the name of Charles Darwin, promises to have an incredible resonance on the auction market. The sheet for sale at Sotheby's is in excellent condition and the auction house expects to easily beat the previous world record for a Darwin manuscript of £400,000.
Online bidding for the auction is open until December 9. A pre-sale exhibit will be on display at Sotheby's New York from November 30 to December 8.
