1859年11月24日，《物种起源》正式出版。在该书中，达尔文首次提出进化论的观点，并试图证明物种的演化是通过自然选择和人工选择的方式实现的。国人知晓进化论多从严复翻译的《天演论》开始，其所宣扬的“物竞天择、适者生存”等口号激起了当时国人爱国热情。关于达尔文的《物种起源》（On the Origin of Species）的出版时间，大多资料都说是1859年11月24日。
最近看资料，发现有的研究者认为第一版的"The Origin was published on 22 November 1859"，并且这些学者来自于达尔文曾经当过副会长（1838年）的英国皇家昆虫学会（Royal Entomological Society, RES）。
于是进一步去查了资料，darwin-online上记载了下面一段话：“It was offered to the trade at Murray's autumn sale a week later, on 22nd; most sources say that 1,500 were taken up, others 1,493. Only 1,250 had however been printed of which 1,192 were available for sale, the rest being twelve for the author, forty-one for review and five for Stationers' Hall copyright. As Darwin took at least another twenty for presentation, the final number available for the trade was about 1,170. These facts are at variance with the often-printed statement that all the 1,250 copies were sold to the public on publication day, Thursday 24th; indeed once copies had reached the bookshops, up and down the country, how could anyone know whether they were sold or not.”关于11月22日的记载，大都是说在那天The Origin交给了John Murray III负责发行。
如果做一个推测的话，有可能11月22日那天Murray已经将书印刷出来，也就是有些学者认为的“was published on 22 November”。但实际上，在后续The Origin的后续版本中，注明了：the first edition，24 November 1859。
并且，在2009年John Murray VII关于The Origin出版的纪念声明中写到：“We decided we should have a special reception in the historic rooms in Albemarle Street from where the book was published on 24th November 1859. ” 可见，出版商自己认为The Origin的出版时间应该是1859年11月24日。