I abstracted the
manuscript begun on a much larger scale in 1856, and completed the
volume on the same reduced scale. It cost me thirteen months and ten
days' hard labor. It was published under the title of the _Origin of
Species_, in November, 1859. Though considerably added to and corrected
in the later editions, it has remained substantially the same book.
It is no doubt the chief work of my life. It was from the first highly
successful. The first small edition of twelve hundred fifty copies was
sold on the day of publication, and a second edition of three thousand
copies soon afterward. Sixteen thousand copies have now (1876) been sold
in England; and considering how stiff a book it is, this is a large
number. It has been translated into almost every European tongue, even
into such languages as Spanish, Bohemian, Polish, and Russian. It has
also, according to Miss Bird, been translated into Japanese, and is much
studied in that country. Even an essay on it has appeared in Hebrew,
showing that the theory is contained in the Old Testament! The reviews
were very numerous; for some time I collected all that appeared on the
_Origin_ and on my related books, and these amount (excluding newspaper
reviews) to two hundred sixty-five; but after a time I gave up the
attempt in despair.
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