Together, 3 volumes, 8vo.

The first part: Half-title, 3 folding engraved maps by J. & C. Walker (2 partly hand-colored), numerous illustrations in text, terminal ad leaf for Parts II and III of "Geological Observations," 16pp. publisher's catalogue at end, dated May 1842. Original blind-stamped blue-green cloth, gilt-lettered spine, uncut, by Westleys & Clark with their ticket (spine toned). Provenance: E.A. Broughton (early ownership signature on front free endpaper).

The second part: Folding frontispiece map, a few illustrations in text, initial ad leaf for "Part the First of the Geology of the Voyage of the Beagle ... Coral Reefs." Original blind-stamped purple cloth, gilt-lettered spine (spine and extremities sunned, a spot of discoloration to upper cover near lower corner). Provenance: W.H. Smith & Son (bookseller's embossed stamp); H.W. Carlye (ownership signature on front free endpaper).

The third part: Engraved folding map, 6 folding plates (one hand-colored), a few illustrations in text, last page printed with an ad for all three parts of "The Geology," as well as for "The Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle." (Plate III partially sprung and with some marginal chipping, erasure on title-page). Original blind-stamped brown cloth (rebacked, preserving original endpapers, blanks renewed, covers unevenly sunned, fore-corners bumped). Provenance: Dr. A.E. Foote (book label); Naturalists Book Shop of Philadelphia (book label). Freeman variant a, with an extra folding plate, with manuscript notation in the margin: "Sowerby's Fossils of British Strata. Crag, by S.V Wood Esq. F.G.S. 5/ each part, 4 plates, 100 figures, with descriptions" and an address in the same hand at the bottom of the plate "50 Great Russell St., Bloomsbury."

FIRST EDITIONS OF THE THREE PARTS OF DARWIN’S GEOLOGY OF THE BEAGLE. Published separately over five years, the three volumes were conceived as a single work and described as such on their title-pages. All were published by Smith, Elder & Co., with financial support from the Treasury grant made toward publication of the scientific results of the Beagle voyage. Freeman treats the three parts as a single work.

The first volume, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, contains Darwin’s most important contribution to geology. The study of coral reefs had formed a specific part of the Beagle’s scientific instructions, and Darwin developed his theory during the voyage, proposing that the characteristic progression from fringing reefs to barrier reefs and ultimately atolls could be explained by the gradual subsidence of the underlying land. Norman describes it as “Darwin’s most important geological work.” It remained particularly important to Darwin, who substantially revised it for the second edition of 1874.

The succeeding volumes, Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands (1844) and Geological Observations on South America (1846), completed Darwin’s account of the geological observations made during the voyage. The third part is considerably scarcer than its predecessors, a circumstance anticipated by Darwin himself. Discussing its print run with Smith, Elder and Co. on 6 June 1846, he wrote: “With respect to the number of copies to be struck off, though I know, if more than 250, I must pay for 500, yet seeing that hitherto, only 216 copies of Coral Reefs & 143 of Volcanic Islands have been sold, I really doubt whether it be worth printing off more than 350 copies...” Complete sets of all three parts are consequently seldom encountered.

Freeman 271, 272, 273; Norman 587; Ferguson 3387 (First Part); Palau 68542 (Third Part); Sabin 18646 (Third Part); cf. Herbert, Charles Darwin, Geologist (Cornell University Press, 2005)