The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals and the Evolution of Mind – Early Writings of Charles Darwin" (1980). Development of the Text 1866 - 1872: Very little of Darwin's turmoil surfaced in "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, although Chapter 7 contains a mildly expressed argument on instinctive behaviour. In the public management of his evolutionary theory, Darwin understood that its relevance to human emotional life could draw a hostile response. Nevertheless, while preparing the text of "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication" in 1866, Darwin took the decision to publish a book on "human" ancestry, sexual selection and emotional life. After his
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals shows how human emotions link mental states with bodily movement, and are genetically determined, deriving from purposeful animal actions. He comments on the implications of the book: a single origin for the entire human species, with universal human expressions; and he stresses the social value of expression, citing the emotional communication between mother and child. This was one of the first books to be illustrated with photographs – with seven heliotype plates – and the publisher John Murray warned that this "would poke a [terrible] hole in the profits". The published book assembled illustrations rather like a Victorian family album,