Darwin, Erasmus, Zoonomia: Or, the Laws of Organic Life, complete in 4 volumes, 1801, Third edition, J. Johnson, London, hardcover, 8vos., recently rebacked and recornered, title labels, 516, 565, 512, 493 pp., illustrated with a few interesting color plates, mostly showing concentric circles, plus a few engraved ones too. Directions to the binder in rear of volume 2. Signature of the former owner, William Beatty, and date 1802 on all title pages. According to an old bookseller's note this was the Irish doctor William Beatty (1773-1842), who is best known for serving as the "surgeon on the HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar, at which he witnessed the death of Admiral Horatio Nelson, and for authoring an account of that battle – The Death of Lord Nelson." A comparison of Beatty's known signatures to those in this set is quite conclusive. "The first consistent all-embracing hypothesis of evolution." The author was the grandfather of Charles Darwin.