A sound copy of a very scarce Darwin title. Darwin was surprised at the time of publication that so few were sold (see below). This is almost certainly the scarcest title of Darwin's published by John Murray.

Erasmus Darwin (1731 –1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist inventor and poet. His poems included much natural history, including a statement of evolution and the relatedness of all forms of life. Darwin was a founding member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, a discussion group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers. He turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King.

His grandson Charles Darwin mentions the key role he played in the publication of this particular book in his autobiography:
"In 1879, I had a translation of Dr. Ernst Krause's Life of Erasmus Darwin published, and I added a sketch of his character and habits from materials in my possession. Many persons have been much interested by this little life, and I am surprised that only 800 or 900 copies were sold. Owing to my having accidentally omitted to mention that Dr. Krause had enlarged and corrected his article in German before it was translated, Mr Samuel Butler abused me with almost insane virulence..."