Saturday, February 21, 2009

My favorite evolution stuff 1. 1900 Darwin Post Card

Just starting a new thread here --- my favorite evolution stuff.  And here is one.  It is a post card that I found inside a 1880s version of Origin of Species that I bought at a used book store.  The book was part of a collection from Ellison A. Smith which was being sold at a used book store in Georgetown many years ago.  I bought a bunch of old evolution books and inside many of them were post cards advertising portraits of some of the authors.  Here is one -- advertising a portrait of Darwin.  Wish I had the portrait ...

3 comments:

  1. Nice portrait, but the price! $3.50 in 1900 was almost $90 today, according to this. And only 10x15 inches! I guess cheap reproduction of prints is something we have to thank modern technology for...

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  2. Cool. I like to look up the names on old postcards and books, etc.

    Here is some info on Ellison Smith:

    "Mr. Ellison A. Smith, professor
    of biology at the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, Blacks-
    burg, Va., consulted the collection in connection with the identification
    of exotic butterflies, and Prof. J. B. Smith, of New Brunswick, N. J.,
    visited the Museum for the purpose of examining material in connec-
    tion with his monographic work on the Noctuids."

    From "ANNUAL REPORT or THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, SHOWING THE OPERATIONS, EXPENDITURES, AND CONDITION OF THE INSTITUTION FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1895."

    http://tinyurl.com/clmv24

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, btw, if you really want a copy of this portrait, you can either search for "collier darwin portrait" and print out the picture yourself, or you can get an 18x24 inch version for $49.99

    ReplyDelete

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