Ɛpsilon

WCP1331

Letter (WCP1331.1110)

[1]

[in ARW’s hand] Answd

Haaf Cottage,

Yelverton,

R. S. O.

S. Devon

Dec 15. 1903

Dear Sir

Yours [sic] letter received this morning was quite an unexpected pleasure; as I had nearly given up hopes of from Hasan1 receiving any attention.

I tried him with six or seven magazines; but without success: and I fear least you also should find your labour thrown away upon him. The reason is, I think, that the subject is rather an incongruous one. [2] An audience who would be interested in the "Arabian Nights" as a rule not caring about Licence and vice versa. At any rate you are quite at liberty to make what use you like of my paper.Thoug I gave the substance of it from rough notes, viva voce at a meeting of the Plymouth Lit. Inst. so that it is not perfectly unpublished.

I am quite sure I may leave it to you to give me a fair share in the credit of the discovery such as it is: But what I should like best would [3] be, what you first proposed "to incorporate the greater part of your (my) paper, and print it in our joint names". But as you might find that this was impracticable I will leave the matter entirely at your discretion. There is one other point which I have not alluded to in my paper because the evidence was too slight; but which might or might not have some relation to our Hassan [sic], In the introduction to "Sales"2 Koran, mention is made of a "Hosein el Basrah" who was a great man among the Mutazalite Moslems.3 Now our tale is remarkable for the very high [4] state in which women are placed. The sentiment of the relation between the sexes, almost, reaching to the best Christian sentiment on the subject. The idea did suggest itself to me, but no more, that if this Hosein of Basra [sic] had ever travelled to the East and come in contact with the high civilization of the Buddhists in Celebes; it might account for his views in this respect and have formed a base for the story.

If you do get a paper on Hasan published, I should like to know; so as not to miss it

I am | yours very truly | F H Balkwill4 [signature]

Dr. A. R. Wallace

1
Hasan (Hassan, Hosein) of Basrah, the story of whose travels overland from Baghdad, through Central Asia to China, then to Malaya, and thence to the Aru Islands is given in Edward William Lane's translation of the Arabian Nights.
2
Sale, George (1697-1736). English Orientalist and practising solicitor, best known for his 1734 translation of the Qur'an (Koran) into English.
3
Mu'tazilite is a school of Islamic theology based on reason and rational thought, founded by some pupils of Hasan el Basri (see Endnote 3), who had seceded from him. It flourished in the cities of Basra and Baghdad in present-day Iraq, during the 8th-10th centuries.
4
Balkwill, Francis Hancock. (1837-1921). British dentist and writer.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP1331.1110)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by O'Dell, Sandra [2015-04-23] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2015-04-23] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2024-12-24]

Please cite as “WCP1331,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1331