A first edition of Charles Darwin’s seminal On the Origin of Species found in a family’s toilet in southern Britain sold for more than £100,000, Christie’s auction house said.
The book, which was first printed in 1859, was bought for just a few shillings in a shop about 40 years ago, and kept in a bookcase in the guest toilet at the family’s home in the Oxford area.
At an auction timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the publication, the book sold for £103,250 (US$170,000) — well over its upper estimate of £60,000, Christie’s said.
The first print run of the book described by Christie’s as “one of the most important and influential scientific books ever written” was for 1,250 copies.
“It is a very fitting occasion to have sold this rediscovered copy of Darwin’s Origin of Species 150 years to the day after it was first published,” said Margaret Ford, director and head of books and manuscripts at Christie’s.
She added: “We are thrilled to have seen so much interest for the book leading up to the auction where clients competed in the room and by telephone, with an anonymous telephone bidder winning the battle and acquiring it for £103,250.”
Christie’s said the son-in-law of the book’s previous owners was at an exhibition on Darwin and spotted a picture of the spine of the work.
He realized the book in the toilet was something special, matching the binding of the work in the picture.
Darwin’s On the Origin of Species set out his theory of evolution, by which species develop from generation to generation by a process of natural selection.
(AFP)
佳士得拍賣會表示，在英國南部一戶人家廁所裡發現的查爾斯．達爾文曠世鉅作《物種起源》初版書，以逾十萬英鎊售出。
這本書是一八五九年的首刷版，住在牛津地區的物主約四十年前在一間小店花了幾先令買下它後，就把它放在家中客廁的書架上。
佳士得拍賣會表示，在配合《物種起源》出版一百五十周年紀念而辦的拍賣會上，這本書以十萬三千兩百五十英鎊（十七萬美元）賣出──遠遠超過預估的六萬英鎊。
《物種起源》初版共印製了一千兩百五十本，佳士得形容它是「史上最重要且影響最為深遠的科學著作之一」。
佳士得書籍與手稿部門負責人瑪格麗特．福特說：「在達爾文的《物種起源》出版一百五十週年當天，售出這本重見天日的著作，真是再適合不過了。」
她還說：「我們很高興看到大家對這本書這麼感興趣，拍賣會上投標者或在現場、或透過電話熱烈競標，最後由一位匿名電話投標者以十萬零三千兩百五十英鎊得標。」
佳士得表示，原書主的女婿在一場達爾文特展上看到《物種起源》初版書書脊的照片。
他發現放在廁所裡的書和照片中書本的封皮一樣，才知道這本書很特別。
達爾文的《物種起源》是進化論的起源，書中闡述物種在世世代代的演化過程中，會透過物競天擇，適者生存、不適者淘汰。
（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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