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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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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.
Detailed description of a séance in Boston at which spirits including those of an American Indian and a baby apparently materialised; another séance at which spirits of ARW's Australian cousin Algernon Wilson and a woman who had met ARW at Kate Cook's apparently materialised; floral decorations at a dinner in Boston hosted by John M Forbes with guests including Asa Gray, O W Holmes and James Russell Lowell, sending Violet a menu; sending a poem suitable for reciting cut from a magazine; beauty of the city of Washington; lack of lecture engagements, may go to Canada; letter to be forwarded to Violet's aunt Fanny (Sims).
Newspaper reports of snow in England; snow in Washington, sleighs on the streets; stone artefacts from grave mounds displayed in American museums (ink sketch of five of these on p. 2 of letter); museum's orang-utan display; encloses some amusing cuttings (not present) from American papers; urges William to apply himself to carpentry lessons at school. "William Greenell Wallace" is written on the back of the letter in ARW's hand.
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.
Thanks Poulton for the papers. Comments on their differences on colour theory.
Thanks for paper on pupae.
Enclosing press cuttings (not present) apparently reporting a social occasion hosted by spiritualist Mrs Hooker, sister of Henry Ward Beecher and Mrs Beecher Stowe, at which ARW was introduced to about 50 people; lectures to local Anthropological societies; lack of paying lectures, if none booked in California will not be able to afford to go there as fare is £50; only two forthcoming engagements in Canada; spending time visiting Museums and libraries and writing for American newspapers and for Harris; expense of hotel; changeable weather; detailed description of the "most beautiful" Capitol building and comparison with British House of Commons; instructions to send letters via agent Williams; hopes Violet is reading and studying well.
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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From Niagara Falls (Canada), describing the partly frozen falls and surrounding area; ferns entirely absent, probably taken by tourists, every rock and stump covered with (carved) names.