Mostly older works which have helped to shape the field.

     Charles  Darwin (1859), "The Origin of Species", London: John Murray.
     (Penguin  Classics,  London,  1985;  New  American  Library,   Mentor
     Paperback)

     Box,  G.E.P.  (1957)  "Evolutionary operation: a method of increasing
     industrial productivity", Applied Statistics, 6, 81-101.

     Fraser, A.S. (1957)  "Simulation  of  genetic  systems  by  automatic
     digital  computers",  Australian  Journal of Biological Sciences, 10,
     484-491.
     Friedman,  G.J.  (1959)  "Digital  simulation  of   an   evolutionary
     process", General Systems Yearbook, 4:171-184.

     Bremermann,   H.J.   (1962)   "Optimization   through  evolution  and
     recombination". In M.C. Yovits, et al, (eds) Self-Organizing Systems.
     Washington, DC: Spartan Books.

     Holland,  J.H.  (1962)  "Outline  for  a  logical  theory of adaptive
     systems", JACM, 3, 297-314.

     Samuel, A.L. (1963) "Some Studies in Machine Learning using the  Game
     of  Checkers",  in  Computers  and  Thought,  E.A.  Feigenbaum and J.
     Feldman (eds), New York: McGraw-Hill.

     Walter, W.G. (1963) "The Living Brain", New York: W.W. Norton.

     Fogel,  L.J.,  Owens,  A.J.  &   Walsh,   M.J.   (1966)   "Artificial
     Intelligence   through   Simulated   Evolution",   New  York:  Wiley.
     [Fogel66]:

     Rosen,  R.  (1967)  "Optimality  Principles  in   Biology",   London:
     Butterworths.

     Rechenberg, I. (1973, 1993 2nd edn) "Evolutionsstrategie: Optimierung
     technischer Systeme  nach  Prinzipien  der  biologischen  Evolution",
     Stuttgart:  Fromman-Holzboog.  (Evolution  Strategy:  Optimization of
     technical systems by means of biological evolution)

     Holland, J.H. (1975) "Adaptation in natural and artificial  systems",
     Ann  Arbor,  MI:  The  University of Michigan Press. [HOLLAND75]: 2nd
     edn. (1992) [HOLLAND92]:

     De Jong, K.A. (1975) "An analysis of  the  behavior  of  a  class  of
     genetic  adaptive  systems",  Doctoral  thesis, Dept. of Computer and
     Communication Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

     Schwefel, H.-P. (1977) "Numerische Optimierung von  Computer-Modellen
     mittels der Evolutionsstrategie", Basel: Birkhaeuser.

     Schwefel,  H.-P.  (1981) "Numerical Optimization of Computer Models",
     Chichester: Wiley. [eds note: English  translation  of  the  previous
     entry; a reworked edition is currently in preparation for 1994]

     Axelrod, R. (1984) "The evolution of cooperation", NY: Basic Books.

     Cramer,  N.L. (1985) "A Representation for the Adaptive Generation of
     Simple Sequential Programs" [ICGA85], 183-187.

     Baeck, T., Hoffmeister, F. & Schwefel,  H.-P.  (1991)  "A  Survey  of
     Evolution Strategies" [ICGA91], 2-9.