Her expenses; her brother William [sailing for America]; Century (magazine); whale on beach at Boscombe; ARW review of book on instinct by Lloyd Morgan for Natural Science; Grandpa's (William Mitten) purchase of land.
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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
Her expenses; her brother William [sailing for America]; Century (magazine); whale on beach at Boscombe; ARW review of book on instinct by Lloyd Morgan for Natural Science; Grandpa's (William Mitten) purchase of land.
Sending her birthday greetings; and re. her brother William and Mac sailing [for America] from Liverpool on March 3rd.
Suffering from influenza; Arena (magazine); play "Henry VIII", actors Macready and Irving; Hawker Garland's writing; letter from her brother William; gardeners Monk and Wareham; chess by correspondence.
The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter (diagram enclosed -see WP1/2/84); death of (Henry Walter) Bates; chess games with Miss West, Mr Pocock and Mr Linton; visit by the Sharpes and Mrs Besant; Mrs Besant's lectures; Miss Webb; plays Hamlet and Henry VIII.
Letters from her brother William; coughs and colds; Stevenson's New Arabian Nights.
Letter from her brother William in Boston; sending Brotherhood [magazine] containing work by Peter Halkett and "interview" with Christ (Jesus); actions of the Admiral in Crete.
The Brotherhood; news from her brother William in New York; poem relevant to situation in Crete and Greece sent to The Clarion by ARW; book going slowly; Mrs Fisher; the Sharpes, Madame Greck.
His article for the kindergarten magazine; news from her brother William in America; Sunshine (a medium) and Madame Greck's involvement in Mr Sharpe's business affairs.
Manuscript of her article on playgrounds for poor children, possibly suitable for Contemporary Review; Olive Schreiner in the Fortnightly; ARW's article on "Gorge of the Aar" in the Fortnightly; chapter on Phrenology for book finished.
Violet's expenses; Lake District walks and accommodation; ARW and Violet's mother going to Lynton (Devon) for a fortnight; Violet's bicycle; Switzerland; visits from young naturalists from Liverpool, Mr Birch, Russell Smart, and Dr Hollander the German phrenologist; regards to Eleanor.
Visit to Lynton and Ilfracombe; her brother William's letters; visits from naturalists, socialists, a phrenologist and Mr Stead; Stead's book of photographic portraits.
Violet's trip to Paris; ARW's trips to Paris in the past; visits from Mr Osborne and Mr Carter re lecture by Mr Casson on "the labour church and the latent goodness of humanity"; Fred Birch; her brother William's letters.
Book on educational reformers including Rousseau; Brotherhood; Nunquam and Cartwel in The Clarion; news from her brother William in America; her salary and career, possibility of [renting] Walker's house for use as a kindergarten; Corfe View house; holidays in Switzerland.
News from her brother William in America; her possible career and salary at Limpsfield; grandpa (William Mitten) finding a rare grass near Wareham, Dorset, Mr. Mansell-Playdell pleased; orchids; Violet's dress; Annie's desire to visit America. Addendum by Annie Wallace.
Bird behaviour; Violet's expenses and dental treatment; news from her brother William in America; books; The Arena, ARW, Dr Brett and General Dunn buying orchids; anti-vaccination chapter finished, considering publishing as a separate paper.
Clarion article on the Pantheon; the Marshall's; ARW drawing diagrams for engravings on anti-vaccination; Annie learning to ride tricycle; bicycles; books, author Ian Maclaren, Poole Library; news of Violet's brother William in America; family cats; new neighbours including Mr Oakley; interview for Bookman; ARW's head read by a phrenologist who also read the photographs of William, Mac, Nunquam (Robert Blatchford), and Mr Swinton; orchids from Burrell; new Argand candle; regards to Eleanor.
Sending moss and flowers; finishing vaccination paper and diagrams; Eleanor's plans for Christmas.
Acorns and a hedgehog; bill for flannelette; Florence; orchids wanted from A. H. Grimsditch, Liverpool; no news from her brother William.
Trains and route to Parkstone from Waterloo; her brother William and the Clarion Cycling Club at Bakewell.
Letter from her brother William; Mrs Greck, fraud and spiritualism (See letter dated 18 Apr 1897:WP1/2/88); "American Fabian" on children's parks; water-worn gorge.