Ɛpsilon

From A. R. Wallace   30 September 1862

5, Westbourne Grove Terrace, W.

Septr. 30th. 1862

My dear Mr. Darwin

Many thanks for the third Ed. of the “Origin” which I found here on my return from Devonshire on Saturday.1

I have not had time yet to read more than the “Historical Sketch” which is very interesting & shews that the time had quite come for your book.2

I am now reading Herbert Spencer’s First Principles, which seems to me a truly great work, which goes to the root of everything.3

I hope you will be well enough to come to Cambridge.4

I remain | My dear Mr. Darwin | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace

2
The third English edition of Origin, published in 1861, was the first to include the historical preface that CD had appended to the first American and German editions; the preface was entitled ‘An historical sketch of the recent progress of opinion on the origin of species’ (Origin 3d ed., pp. xiii–xix).
3
Spencer 1860–2. There is a partly uncut copy of this work in the Darwin Library–CUL (Marginalia 1: 769).
4
In 1862, the British Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting in Cambridge during the first week of October. See also letter to W. D. Fox, 20 [September 1862], and letter to J. D. Hooker, 21 [September 1862].

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3742,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3742