In the late summer or early autumn of 1859, 1859年夏秋之交，

Whitwell Elwin, editor of the respected British journal the Quarterly Review, was sent an advance copy of a new book by the naturalist Charles Darwin. 英国一家很有名的杂志《季度评论》的编辑威特惠尔·艾尔文收到了博物学家查尔斯·达尔文一本新书的样本。

Elwin read the book with interest and agreed that it had merit, but feared that the subject matter was too narrow to attract a wide audience. 艾尔文饶有兴致地读完了这本书，认为它有一些价值，可是又担心它的主题过于狭窄，恐怕不足以吸引广大读者的目光。

He urged Darwin to write a book about pigeons instead. 他要求达尔文写一本有关鸽子的书，

"Everyone is interested in pigeons," he observed helpfully. “每个人都对鸽子感兴趣。”他热情地建议说。

Elwin's sage advice was ignored, 艾尔文的热情建议没有被采纳，

and On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life 1859年11月底，《物种起源由自然淘汰的作用而来，或优良的族类在生存竞争中保存》

was published in late November 1859, priced at fifteen shillings. 正式出版了，每本定价为15先令。

The first edition of 1,250 copies sold out on the first day. 第一版上市的第一天就卖出了l250本，

It has never been out of print, and scarcely out of controversy, in all the time since, 自那以后就一直未曾绝版过，而且由它所引发的争议，也一直从未停息过，

not bad going for a man whose principal other interest was earthworms and who, but for a single impetuous decision to sail around the world, 对于一个喜欢蚯蚓到了无以复加的程度，要不是出于一时冲动环游了世界，

would very probably have passed his life as an anonymous country parson known for, well, for an interest in earthworms. 终其一生很可能只是一个默默无闻的乡村牧师的人来说，这实在是一件非常了不起的事。

Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, 查尔斯·罗伯特·达尔文1809年2月12日出生

(An auspicious date in history: on the same day in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln was born.) （那是历史上一个吉利的日子：亚伯拉罕·林肯同一天出生在美国肯塔基州。）

in Shrewsbury, a sedate market town in the west Midlands of England. 在英格兰中部偏西一个宁静的小市镇什鲁斯伯里。

His father was a prosperous and well-regarded physician. 他的父亲是一位受人尊敬的内科医师，

His mother, who died when Charles was only eight, was the daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, of pottery fame. 母亲是著名的制陶世家乔西亚·韦兹伍德的女儿，她在达尔文年仅8岁的时候就去世了。