Free Republic

LONDON – An auction house says it is selling a rare first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" found in a family's guest lavatory in southern England. Christie's auction house said Sunday the book — one of around 1,250 copies first printed in 1859 — had been on a toilet bookshelf at a family's home in Oxford. The book will be auctioned on Tuesday, the 150th anniversary of the publication of the famous work. Christie's said the book is likely to sell for 60,000 pounds ($99,000).

Often derided as disease-ridden “rats with wings,” pigeons are little loved by many urban dwellers. Sakura Adachi, a furniture designer in Milan, is not among the haters; she admires pigeons for their ability to create private nooks in public spaces. That avian talent inspired her to create a bookshelf called the Cave, which allows readers to curl up in a form-fitting seat, surrounded by their beloved books. The Cave features a blob-shaped, human-size recess at its base. Sitting in this upholstered niche is supposed to make a reader feel secluded — akin to being lost among a college library’s dusty...