1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910777074703321

Autore

Darwin Charles <1809-1882, >

Titolo

The life of Erasmus Darwin / / by Charles Darwin ; edited by Desmond King-Hele [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2003

ISBN

1-107-13398-X

1-280-43419-8

9786610434190

0-511-17793-3

0-511-02110-0

0-511-14844-5

0-511-33034-0

0-511-54144-9

0-511-04574-3

Edizione

[1st unabridged ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xx, 172 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

508/.092

Soggetti

Naturalists - England

Physicians - England

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 144-147) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Synopsis -- Charles Darwin's preface -- The Life of Erasmus Darwin by Charles Darwin -- Charles Darwin's references -- Notes on the text.

Sommario/riassunto

Charles Darwin's book about his grandfather, The Life of Erasmus Darwin, is curiously fascinating. Before publication in 1879, it was shortened by 16%, with several of the cuts directed at its most provocative parts. The cutter, with Charles's permission, was his daughter Henrietta - an example of the strong hidden hand of meek-seeming Victorian women. Originally published in 2003, this first unabridged edition, edited by Desmond King-Hele, includes all that Charles originally intended, the cuts being restored and printed in italics. Erasmus Darwin was one of the leading intellectuals of the eighteenth century. He was a respected physician, a well-known poet, a



keen mechanical inventor, and a founding member of the influential Lunar Society. He also possessed an amazing insight into the many branches of physical and biological science. Most notably, he adopted what we now call biological evolution as his theory of life, 65 years prior to Charles Darwin's Origin of Species.