Canary in the Coal Mine - Day

1:36AM

2009 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. Only 1,250 copies of the book were printed, of which 1,170 were for sale. Such was the interest in the work that it is believed that all available copies sold on the day of publication. Copies of the first edition are therefore very rare and very expensive.

You can now search and read the full text of this classic book online. On the Origin of Species is one of many hundreds of thousands of Oxford University books now available through Google Book Search, and we look forward to bringing even more volumes online for scholars and enthusiasts alike.

9:27PM