Name/Title
"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection"Entry/Object ID
1997.136.1Description
Book with red-brown embossed cover. The front contains an embossed scroll-design, and the title "The Origin of Species" appears on the spine in gold along with the author's name. An inscription on a front page is recorded in pencil: "C. F. Hampton 'Linden' March 1860".Context
With the publication of Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species" in 1859, debates intensified over the relationship between science and religion. The author, Charles Darwin (1809–1882), a naturalist most well known for his exploration of the phrase "survival of the fittest," wrote the book to attract to a widespread audience to support naturalism and evolution. While Darwin began writing the book in the late 1830s, the first edition was not published until November of 1859. There were only 1,250 copies printed that year, of which 1,170 were available for sale. This particular copy was published in New York by D. Appleton and Co. in 1860.
The name inscribed on one of the first pages, C. F. Hampton, refers to Christopher "Kit" Fitzsimons Hampton (1821–1886). Kit was one of three surviving sons of Wade Hampton II (1791–1858) and Ann Fitzsimons Hampton (1794–1833). His wife, Mary Elizabeth "Bet" McCord (1821–1848) died just two years after the birth of their only child, Ann Fitzsimons Hampton (1844–1878). At that time, Ann inherited the people enslaved by her mother. Kit's sisters—primarily Catharine "Kate" Pritchard Hampton (1824–1916)—cared for Ann at Millwood, a Hampton family plantation in Columbia.
During the Civil War, Kit did not serve in order to care for his surviving sisters (Catherine, Anne, Caroline, and Mary), his daughter, and the family plantations in Mississippi, including Linden, and South Carolina. Following the war, Kit and Ann returned to Linden, a family planation in Mississippi, where Ann would die unmarried at the age of thirty-four. Her possessions—land, objects, and enslaved people—were left to her father. Kit died almost a decade later in 1886 and is buried next to his wife and daughter at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbia. Both his and Ann's possessions, including this and several others of Kit's books, were then left to his surviving sisters.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
InscriptionLocation
FrontispieceTranscription
C. F. Hampton 'Linden' March 1860Material/Technique
PencilBook Details
Author
Charles DarwinPublisher
D. Appleton And CompanyDate Published
1860Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Christopher Fitzsimons Hampton
