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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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ARW will be glad to see Mr Ridley; mentions CR's trip to S W Ireland; Mr Mitten was at Brandon Mountain a few years ago and found most of the rare mosses, but flowering plants were very scarce. Thanks CR for the I. Naturalist, CR's notes on the Megaceros is interesting, also American sponges.
ARW thanks CR for the map of Bournemouth and for the ?spiranthus which he has planted in the dampest part of his Alpine bed. ARW is sorry not to have the excursion; his daughter and the friend are returning to Liverpool and his wife has a badly inflamed eye. Regarding Poole Harbour, the Poole Corporation and Harbour Board fear the sand banks will be washed away and the harbour ruined and are spending thousands of pounds on sea walls; mentions sand banks and hopes CR might be able to give an opinion on the subject.
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Travelling bags for herself and brother William, enclosing postal order; William at Inverkeithing, Scotland, working on lighting for a paper mill; hard frost and snow at Parkstone, Violet's skates; ARW has given Mrs Maclachlan, who studied Sanskrit and other languages at Girton, his paper on language to read.
Winter weather; (travel) bags for Violet and her brother William; William going to Glasgow on another job; ARW's "Evolution" article part-published this month, his article on language due out in three months or more; the Evans's business failing; Violet's final exams and career prospects as a kindergarten teacher; planned chess match, Poole and Parkstone against Bournemouth; sending copy of the "R of R" with interesting articles on "Merry England" and Mr Blatchford; Mrs Maclachlan and Hamish returning to Hindhead; ARW's answer to Mr Mott's enigma; death of Dr Fisher.
Nervous illness of her mother (Annie Wallace), attended by Dr Philpotts; fifth very cold winter in Dorset; no water in house due to frozen water pipes; reports that winter the coldest since 1854; hard frosts in Norfolk, deep snow in Rome, Germany and America, warning Violet not to skate on thin ice; news of Mrs Fisher and Mrs Maclachlan.
Sending crocus (bulbs) and a lily, with instructions for planting and care; will send snakes soon; arrangements for Violet's final exams, suggesting Miss MacDonald might substitute for her at the Kindergarten for six weeks; cost of a glass prism; purchase of book Portraits & Autographs (of 100 men).
Invitation to Eleanor; a book ordered from America; sending flowers from garden and some orchids; proposed visit to Mr Evans to get plants; exam meetings; accumulation of letters, reviews to write, and chess games; problems with greenhouse blinds; news of the death of ARW's brother (John).
Examination meetings and reports, choosing orchids at Witley; gift of Barmah [Burma] orchids; gardening; her brother William's plans and Violet's proposed walking tour; possibility of Aunt Bessie (Bessie Mitten) and Ma (Annie Wallace) taking a Polytechnic tour to Switzerland; sending a copy of his address on the unemployed; sending £5 towards cost of Violet's fees and lodgings; proposed excursion near Blandford with the Bournemouth Botanic Club; remembrances to Eleanor.
Her exam expenses and fees, sending £10 towards them; Silk [George Silk] has come to spend a week; news from Ma (Annie Wallace ) and Aunt Rose (Rose Mitten) in Lucerne; costs of Switzerland excursion, ARW and Grandpa's (William Mitten) plans to visit Switzerland; sending tickets [to the Zoo] for July; roses sent to Violet's brother William.
Bills from Violet's dressmaker and dentist; instructions for obtaining a copy of the County History of Lancashire; death of Crumpet, a family cat, and the fate of her kittens; ARW's article on language published, leading article on it in the Daily Chronicle; regards to Eleanor; Ma's (Annie Mitten) health; Violet's brother William still at Govan.
Improvements to the orchid house; chess; correspondence; local gossip about Mrs Travers; details from a book on diet and life-style by an "inspired crank"; returning photos; returning coral named by Dr Allman.
Thanks Mills for sending him an account of the English Lake District along with detailed maps.
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