The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals major revision which made Darwin "sick of the subject and myself, and the world". It quickly sold around 7,000 copies and was widely praised as a charming and accessible introduction to Darwin's evolutionary theories. A second edition was published by Darwin's son in 1890, without several revisions suggested by Darwin; these were not published until the third edition of 1999 (edited by Paul Ekman). Published as a sequel to "The Descent of Man", "The Expression" was assured of a wide readership in mid-Victorian England. However, the early death of George Romanes (1848 - 1894) robbed Darwin of a powerful advocate
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex to the forces of sexual selection. While debates on the subject continues, in January 1871 Darwin started on another book, using left over material on emotional expressions, which became "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals". In recent years controversy also involved the peacock tail, the most famous symbol of the principle of sexual selection. A seven-year Japanese study of free-ranging peafowl came to the conclusion that female peafowl do not select mates merely on the basis of their trains. Mariko Takahashi found no evidence that peahens expressed any preference for peacocks with more elaborate trains, such as