WCP1380

Letter (WCP1380.1159)

[1]

British Museum (Natural History),

Cromwell Road,

London: S.W.

November 23rd, 1905

Sir,

I have had the honour of laying before the Trustees of the British Museum the present which you have been so good as to make to the Natural History Museum of a very interesting series of pencil drawings of fishes of the Rio Negro1 made by yourself during your travels in South America about fifty years ago.

Some of the drawings are representative of species as yet undescribed, and serve to show the incompleteness of our knowledge of the fishes of the Amazon and its tributaries; and the whole series will not only be of much scientific value to the Museum, but

Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, F.R.S2

[2] but also of historic interest from the association of the drawings with your name.

The Trustees directed me to convey to you the Expression of their special thanks for your important donation.

I have the honour to be, Sir, │Your obedient Servant,

E. Ray Lankester3 [signature]

[3] Thanks of B. Mus. Nat. Hist. for present of my Rio Negro Fishes. 4

1
Rio Negro — largest left tributary of the Amazon, largest blackwater river in the world, and one of the world's ten largest rivers in average discharge.
2
This line is not part of main body of letter, located bottom left corner of first page.
3
Lankester, Edwin Ray ("Ray") (1847 — 1929). British zoologist and evolutionary biologist, third Director of the Natural History Museum.
4
Text is written vertically on the side of this last page, appears to be a note written by ARW on the contents of this letter.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP1380.1159)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Bertalan, Mia Solana [2014-08-21] Transcription checked by Munro, Rosemary [2014-08-21] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10]

Please cite as “WCP1380,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1380