The Structure of Evolutionary Theory

Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2002. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. A synthesis of three decades of study and writing about evolutionary theory. Gould, ever the historian of science, traces the development of evolution in order to make his case that biologists put too much emphasis on the "design" embodied in natural selection and too little on random chance.

Gould, fighting cancer for a second time, pushed to finish this book, and it seems likely that it would have been shorter if he had had more time. The book is written for a general audience, providing Gould's unequaled clear explanations of complex theories while pushing the boundaries of contemporary science on the strength of his ideas. This book is one of Gould's most widely cited works.

The Structure of Evolutionary Theory was published two months before Gould died, on May 20, 2002. It is now in its fifth or sixth printing and has been cited some 6000 times in the scientific literature, making it one of Gould's most cited of his nearly 500 published works.

1433 pages. First edition (first printing). Near fine in a near fine dust jacket (spine illustration slightly faded). A large, heavy book.

This is one of Gould's personal copies, from his Harvard office library (acquired from his estate), with a tipped-in posthumous bookplate indicating the provenance. Like most authors, he received some copies of the book from the publisher. We placed the copy he marked changes in for a future edition with Harvard's library. In all, Gould had about a dozen of his original copies left when he passed away.

In "A Seahorse for All Races" Gould writes about one of his prized possessions, a book from Charles Dickens' library: "Dickens made no annotations, but a bookplate on the cover, presumably inserted as a come-on for a sale after Dickens' death in 1870, does prove that [he] kept and shelved the book." We offer our Gould bookplates, printed letterpress in two colors, in the same spirit.