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The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 - 1913) was one of the world's most important scientists. His seminal contributions to biology rival those of his friend and colleague Charles Darwin, though he is far less well known. Together Wallace and Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection in 1858, and their prolific subsequent work laid the foundations of modern evolutionary biology, and much more besides.
Wallace made enduring scholarly contributions to subjects as diverse as glaciology, land reform, anthropology, ethnography, epidemiology, and astrobiology. His pioneering work on evolutionary biogeography (the science that seeks to explain the geographical distribution of organisms) led to him becoming recognised as that subject’s ‘father’. Beyond this Wallace is regarded as the pre-eminent collector and field biologist of tropical regions of the 19th century, and his book The Malay Archipelago (which was Joseph Conrad’s favourite bedside reading) is one of the most celebrated travel writings of that century and has never been out of print. Wallace was a man with an extraordinary breadth of interests who was actively engaged with many of the big questions and important issues of his day. He was anti-slavery, anti-eugenics, anti-vivisection, anti-militarism, anti-Imperialism, a conservationist and an advocate of woman's rights. He strongly believed in the rights of the ordinary person, was a socialist, an anti-vaccinationist (for rational reasons), and a believer in naturalistic, evolutionary spiritualism. He did not come from a privileged background and was largely self-taught. For a brief biography see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/mini-biography
The Wallace Correspondence Project (WCP) was founded by George Beccaloni in 2010. Its aims are to locate, digitise, catalogue, transcribe, interpret and publish Wallace's surviving correspondence and other manuscripts. About 5,700 letters to and from Wallace are currently known to survive, and they are held by c. 240 institutions and individuals worldwide. Wallace's letters are a biographical treasure trove, which provides a far better picture of the 'real' Wallace than his heavily edited and censored published writings (e.g. his autobiography My Life (1905) and his letters in Marchant's Letters and Reminiscences (1916)). For example, Wallace never even mentions his wife's name (Annie) in any of his published writings, including his autobiography. The letters are also key to gaining a deeper understanding of his scientific and other work: how and why his ideas arose, and how they evolved over time.
The WCP is unlocking this valuable resource by gathering all the letters together for the first time, and transcribing them so that they can be more easily read and information within them discovered using electronic searches for words and phrases. The vast amount of unpublished information which is coming to light will surely form the basis for numerous articles, scholarly papers, PhD theses and perhaps the first definitive biography.
Epsilon is being used by the WCP's as its online archive of Wallace's correspondence. It replaces our previous archive, Wallace Letters Online, which was last updated in 2015. The process of editing the transcripts and associated metadata is a work in progress which will take many years to complete. Our project’s policy is, however, to make the information we have available to users at the earliest possible opportunity, even if it is incomplete and/or imperfect. For a guide to our data, including the protocols we use for metadata and transcriptions, please see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
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Declining offer to visit Parkstone while she must remain in London and challenge the "growing materialism of the medical profession".
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Sea voyage from England, a week of rough weather and seasickness followed by five days of calm; ships food; passengers, one American an accomplished comic actor and singer; charades, concerts and deck quoits; chess with ships doctor and an American passenger; New York harbour, delay at customs, Mr Browne not there to meet him; hotel recommended by Mr Wood, hotel rooms and food; meeting with Mr Browne and transfer to his house; Mrs Browne; meeting with Mayoral candidate Mr George; visit to Central Park; plans to go to Boston on Thursday; Statue of Liberty very fine.
Lack of news from her; weather; good audiences at the four lectures so far given; portrait artist Mrs Noa; unexpected meeting with Mr and Mrs Mirlees visiting the site of their son's death with their daughter; Dr Holmes the "one-hoss-shay" man at dinner; meeting arranged with a lady spiritualist; any news of letting of house at Godlaming; requests Annie to send photos of ruined temples of Java given to ARW by Mr Woodbury, wants to compare with models and photos of similarly decorated Mexican temples at Cambridge (Massachusetts) museum; American museums the finest in the world; plans to go to Baltimore and Washington with a return to Boston in between; opinion of ARW's agent Mr Williams of earlier lecturer Mr Wood and his possible effect on ARW's potential audience; Harvard College celebration.
Receipt of her letter after a month without news; visit to Williamstown, sending plants of fern Polystichum acrostichoides growing near a waterfall there and some moth cocoons for son William, moths should emerge in spring, instructions for care; stay with Dr Carter, President of the (Williamstown) College, and his daughter, invitation to return to view spring flowers; orchids including Cypripedum spectabile common; has sent gentian seeds to her papa (William Mitten); fears for his voice as has a cold, will wear respirator whenever going out, to travel 100 miles to lecture tomorrow; people becoming "oppressively kind and respectful.".
Disappointment at lack of lecture engagements on return (from Baltimore), agent Williams not managing well, but some interest from Ohio, advertisements now in some scientific journals and new circulars sent out, sending copy of circular and some local bills of fare to Violet, hopes to get enough lecturing to cover costs of travel to California in spring or summer but journey more expensive than to London, thinks people bored with natural history and want more exciting subjects; will spend winter in Washington and live more cheaply; has been visiting American museums and will write an article on them for Harris; problem of continual packing of clothing and sundries, will leave some in storage, lifebelt and picnic basket useless but overshoes a boon; freezing weather, ribald reaction of people in the street to his fur coat; assumes Annie will spend new year at Hurst, receipt of her letter of Dec 1.
Arrival from Boston on December 31st in a snowstorm, stayed with Mr Riley the entomologist until a suitable room available, will stay at the Hamilton for next two or three months; instructions re. ARW's pension; Williams now has applications for many ARW lectures; meeting with Prof Coues; accounts from MacMillan can be signed by Annie.
Her letter about snow in England and damage to garden; Hampden (John Hampden of the Flat Earth Society) not a threat as few American papers would print anything by him; flattery becoming "quite painful", quotes remarks by dinner host, Mr Nordhoff, Washington representative of New York Herald, describes dinner in detail including settings (guests names in gold on rose leaves), dining etiquette; J A Allen, father of Grant Allen staying nearby with his family; magnificence of Washington, street layout and houses; details of city's tram system; approval of American methods of warming houses and trains; superiority of American railway system; details of hotel room including heater and gas lamp; amazing experiences of spiritualist General Lippitt, materialisations and slate-writing; séances attended; visit to millionaire spiritualist Senator Stanford and his wife, Stanford to spend 20 million dollars to found a university in memory of his son; sending press cuttings on weather and on Garibaldi; no lectures recently but two arranged in Canada in March; has sent an article to Harris and written reviews for some American papers.
Walk in the woods with botanist professor Ward, sending a collection of plants including ferns packed in moss in a biscuit tin, instructions for potting, Spotted Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata) and Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) to be given to Miss Jekyll and a sedge, Carex platyphylla, to Annie's father William Mitten, plants listed by botanical and common names; description of trees and other plants seen; curious appearance of fields without hedgerows; Paulownia imperialis, a tree with flowers like fox-gloves, grows to great height in Washington gardens; would like to stay and see woods in summer if finances permitted but there seems to be no demand for scientific lectures as too many scientists on the circuit; hopes Annie has succeeded in letting house or getting a boarder.
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Describing the countryside around Cincinnati and the spring flowers in the woods, with botanical and common names; flower roots sent to Miss Jekyll; instructions to let the house (in England) for up to six months if possible; money earned from lectures, lectures scheduled in Bloomington Indiana, Sioux City Iowa and Kansas but no others so far; possibility of travelling to California if a lecture can be given in San Francisco; Diphtheria; enclosing press cuttings with instructions to keep any sent together as they may be useful material for a book; enclosing a Canadian stamp and a hunting story [press cutting] for Willie (neither present). Press cutting headlined "Colors in animals. Their uses clearly explained" reporting on ARW's lecture at Smith & Nixon's Hall, Cincinnati; annotated in ARW's hand "Cincinnati Enquirer Ap 23/87 A bad lamp! Which went out in the mid of the lecture!!!"; Press cutting from The Post undated (c. Apr 1887) headlined "Dr. Wallace. A scientist of world-wide reputation in Cincinnati" with brief details of ARW, motioning his opinion of Henry George in relation to land monopoly and his forthcoming lecture at Smith & Nixon's Hall.
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Instructs Annie how to complete ARW's tax return in his absence. ARW also chastises Annie for not dating her previous two letters to him and states that their daughter has picked up this bad habit, but their son Willie, "shows the hereditary business instinct of the male animal by duly dating"! ARW bemoans the US government postal weight restrictions affecting his posting of plants back to England. ARW concludes his letter by stating how miserable California is and that "nowhere in America yet have I seen a place I should like to live in".