TEILHARD DE CHARDIN (Pierre). — The Question of Fossil Man: - Lot 244

TEILHARD DE CHARDIN (Pierre). — The Question of Fossil Man: Recent Discoveries and Current Issues. Paris, Éditions Psyché, 1948. In-8, paperback, printed cover, 34 pp., illustrations in the text. The bibliographic identification is confirmed by the catalog of the Tournai Seminary Library: Paris, Psyché, 1948, 34 pages, size 25.6 cm. First edition in book form of this important paleoanthropological study by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. The text was written in 1943, then published in the journal *Psyché* in February, March, and April 1947, before being reprinted as a booklet by Éditions Psyché in 1948. The bibliography of Teilhard’s publications prior to his death confirms this chronology precisely. In it, Teilhard de Chardin provides an overview of the discoveries regarding the origins of humankind and the major fossil human groups known at the time. The study focuses in particular on Sinanthropus (or Peking Man), pre-hominins, Neanderthals, and the evolution of the human group. It is illustrated with scientific figures, including a cross-section of the Sinanthropus site at Zhoukoudian and a Neanderthal skull. The text represents a particularly interesting milestone in Teilhard’s scientific work: as much a paleontologist as a thinker on evolution, he concludes the study by broadening the question of biological evolution to encompass that of collective organization and the socialization of humanity—essential themes of his later thought. The study was later included in Volume II of his collected works, *The Emergence of Man*. Its bibliographic structure is divided into four parts: Sinanthropus and Prehominids; Middle Pleistocene; Upper Pleistocene; and the nature and significance of human evolution. A very worn but complete copy. The cover is heavily foxed, stained, and dusty, with significant wear and tears along the edges. The front cover is detached from the book block. The spine is very brittle with missing sections; the stitching is loose. Several leaves have tears and small marginal losses, with no significant damage to the text. The paper is uniformly yellowed and brittle in places. A small number written in pencil on the front cover.

Stima:€30

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