Zoology of the Voyage
The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, under the Command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., During the Years 1832 to 1836. Pub. with the Approval of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1839-43.
Described as the most important colored zoological book of the nineteenth century, this series was issued in 5 parts between 1838 and 1843, containing 166 lithographed plates, 82 of which are hand-colored. It contains the following:
-pt.I. Fossil Mammalia, by Richard Owen (1804-1892) [with a geological introduction, by Darwin] 1840.
-pt.II._Mammalia, by George Robert Waterhouse (1810-1888) [with a notice of their habits and ranges, by Darwin] 1839. -pt.III. Birds, by John Gould (1804-1881) [with a notice of their habits and ranges by C. Darwin, and with an anatomical appendix by Thomas Campbell Eyton (1809-1880). 1841. -pt.IV. Fish, by L. Jenyns. 1842.—
-pt.V. Reptiles, by Thomas Bell (1792-1880). 1843.
Darwin compiled and edited the work of a number of experts in their respective fields to publish the Zoology. The findings published here provide a foundation for the theories presented in The Origin of Species. It was said to be John Gould who recognized the finches Darwin collected on the Galapagos Islands were not a single species, but a number of different ones. It was Darwin, however, who drew the conclusion that the finches were derived from a common ancestor.
Elizabeth Gould, wife of ornithologist John Gould whose works are represented in Lehigh's collections, participated in this project, executing fifty hand-colored plates from sketches by her husband.
Gift of Robert B. Honeyman, 1920.