WCP1565

Transcription (WCP1565.1344)

[1]]1

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Dorset.

Dec[ember]: 24th 1911.

My dear Miss Macdonald2

Many thanks for your kind present of G. K. Chesterton’s little book which I see, from the "Contents" that I shall read with the greatest pleasure. Taking it up this evening although somewhat tired & not very well, & with a great deal to do, [2] I began at the beginning & could not put it down till I had read "Charlotte Brontë". I have since I read "Jane Eyre" the second or third time come to rank her as the first (or almost the first) of the novel-writers of the 19th century: — & I was delighted to see that Chesterton seems to agree with me, but for such deep & fantastic reasons of his own that I should never have imagined. [3] I shall read all the others now with equal interest, as 7 of them are my chief favourites & G.C.K. [sic] will probably tell me why?

With best wishes for the festive season | Believe me | Yours very Sincerely & affectionately | Alfred R. Wallace.

P.T.O. [4] The book was a collection of Essays by Chesterton but I forget the title.3 E. M.[?]. 4

1
In the upper left hand corner opposite the address "copy" is written in square brackets and in the lower left hand corner "old ref WP2/21/6" is written in square brackets, both annotationsin lead pencil in the same hand, which is not that of the transcriber.
2
The transcript is in ink, apparently in the hand of Miss Macdonald who in January 1914 sent Violet Wallace copies of some of Wallace's letters to her. See catalogue of The Natural History Museum General Library, Manscripts Section, Alfred Russel Wallace papers ref WP2/6/3/2.
3
Probably Chesterton, Gilbert Keith (1902) Twelve Types. Arthur L. Humphreys, London, or a later edition of this collection of essays reprinted from The Daily News and The Speaker.
4
Below "I forget the title..."the MS is annotated WP2/6/3/2/7" in pencil in a third unknown hand.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP1565.1344)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Ulguim, Priscilla Ferreira [2014-02-11] Transcription checked by Lucas, Paula J. [2014-03-24] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10]

Please cite as “WCP1565,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 30 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1565