Hirst edition: why Damien selected Darwin

DAMIEN HIRST, the English artist known for his works dealing with death, most popularly those works involving cross-sections of dead animals preserved in formaldehyde, has illustrated the cover of the new editon of Darwin's On the Origin of Species. He's the first of a number of contemporary artists commissioned to design new book covers for their chosen Penguin Classics, with the works featured as printed images embossed on leather-covered hardbacks.

Hirst's oil-on-canvas cover painting for the new Penguin edition is called Human Skull in Space.

“Darwin’s idea, evolution through natural selection, actually explains the meaning of life,” says Hirst “It is the biggest single idea ever; its breadth and scope enormous, its means so perfectly economic. Its capacity to shock and excite persist to this day.

“Such emotion and passion over a search for essential truth are also the substance of art, such belief and relevance its goal. The myriad ways of understanding and expressing the beauty of life are a constant inspiration. There’s an infinite number of ways to get to the same point.”

Penguin's new anniversary edition of On the Origin of Species, with an introduction by William Bynum, is published today to mark Darwin's birth. It was first published in 1859, sold over 4,500 copies in its first month, and has been in print ever since.