Manuscript containing Charles Darwin autograph up for auction for around $793,000

Charles Darwin is one of the most well-known scientists in the history of the field of evolution and his book - On the Origin of Species – is considered to be a pioneering text.

Over the years, the book has gained popularity around the world and according to a poll in 2015, it was voted the “most influential academic book ever written”.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

A rare manuscript of the well-known book is going up for auction in November this year and according to The Guardian, it will attract a price of somewhere between $601,000 and $793,000.

The manuscript was mistaken as a leaf, and it was finally recovered by the well-known auction house Sotheby’s. The manuscript, which is part of the third edition of the book, also features a signature from the author himself and as a result, it is quite rare considering his habit of constant revisions.

Hermann Kindt, the editor of the Autographic Mirror, confirmed back in the 1900s that the signature was completely authentic, and the certificate was accessed by Sotheby’s, the auction house said.

“Charles Darwin’s revolutionary text On the Origin of Species succeeded in creating a Book of Genesis for the modern age and it would be difficult to overstate the seismic impact it had not only on 19th-century science and culture but also on subsequent thinkers and generations,” said Richard Austin, of Sotheby’s.

“We are proud to offer the most significant autograph manuscript by Darwin to come to auction, continuing Sotheby’s longstanding track record of offering the most important documents and artefacts in the history of thought.”