WCP1624

Letter (WCP1624.4235)

[1]

Broadstone, Wimborne

Decr 17th. 1905

Dear Mr. Cockerell1

Many thanks for your very kind present of Kropotikin's2Life.3I have begun reading it with very great pleasure. His early life — its childhood I mean — allowing for immense difference of rank, wealth & country — was, in essentials (education play &c.) not unlike my own, & affords another indication of how wonderfully alike human nature under [2] all external changes.

I am also reading with great delight that wonderfully clever entertaining & deeply instructive book — No. 5 John Street,4 by Whiteing.5

Never have I seen the contrasts of wealth & poverty in London portrayed with such insight & integrity. Perhaps you know the author.

Yours very sincerely | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

1
Cockerell, Sydney Carlyle (1867-1962). British bibliophile and collector of medieval manuscripts. Celebrated Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge 1909-1937.
2
Kropotkin, Peter Alekseyevich (1842-1921). Russian revolutionary and geographer.
3
Kropotkin, P. 1899. Memoirs of a Revolutionist. Boston & New York: Houghton Mififlin.
4
Whiteing, R. 1902. No. 5 John Street. London: J. M. Dent & Sons.
5
Whiteing, Richard (1840-1928). British author and journalist.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP1624.4235)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Cooper, Rod [2014-02-26] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2014-02-26] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2025-03-03]

Transcription (WCP1624.1403)

[1]

Broadstone,

Wimborne.

Dec. 17th 1905

Dear Mr. Cockerell,1

Many thanks for your very kind present of Kropotkin's2 Life.3 I have begun reading it with very great pleasure. His early life — its childhood I mean — allowing for immense difference of rank, wealth and country — was, in essentials (education, play, etc) not unlike my own, and affords another indication of how wonderfully alike is human nature under all external changes.

I am also reading with great delight that wonderfully clever, entertaining and deeply instructive book No. 5 John Street4 by Whiteing.5 Never have I seen the contrasts of wealth and poverty [2] COPY in London portrayed with such insight and intensity. you know the author.

Yours very sincerely | signed Alfred R. Wallace

1
Cockerell, Sydney Carlyle (1867-1962). British bibliophile and collector of medieval manuscripts. Celebrated Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge 1909-1937.
2
Kropotkin, Peter Alekseyevich (1842-1921). Russian revolutionary and geographer.
3
Kropotkin, P. 1899. Memoirs of a Revolutionist. Boston & New York: Houghton Mififlin.
4
Whiteing, R. 1902. No. 5 John Street. London: J. M. Dent & Sons.
5
Whiteing, Richard (1840-1928). British author and journalist.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP1624.1403)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Paterson, Gavin [2019-12-17]

Transcription (WCP1624.4236)

[1]1

Broadstone, Wimborne

Dec 17th 1905

Many thanks for your kind present of Kropotkin's2 life. I have begun reading it with very great pleasure. His early life, its childhood I mean, allowing for immense difference of rank, wealth and country —[2] was in essentials (education, play etc.) not unlike my own and afford another indication of how wonderfully alike is human nature under all external changes.3

I am also reading with great delight that wonderfully clever entertaining and deeply instructive book No.5 John Street4 by Whiteing.5Never have I seen the contrasts of wealth and poverty in London portrayed with such insight and intensity. Perhaps you know the author.6

1
This note is an annotated copy of the text of a letter from ARW to: Cockerell, Sydney Carlyle (1867-1962), the Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. See Meynell, V. (1940) Friends of a Lifetime; Letters to Sydney Carlyle Cockerell London: Jonathan Cape [P.211]
2
Kropotkin, Peter Alekseyevich (1842-1921). Russian revolutionary and geographer.
3
Margin note 1: " 'Memoirs of a Revolutionist' by Prince Peter Kropotkin". Full citation: Kropotkin, P. (1899) Memoirs of a Revolutionist. Boston & New York: Houghton Mififlin.
4
Whiteing, R. (1902) No.5 John Street London: J.M. Dent & Sons
5
Whiteing, Richard (1840-1928). British author and journalist.
6
Margin note 2: "I sent a copy of this passage to Richard Whiteing who expressed himself as much encouraged by Dr. Wallace's appreciation of his work".

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP1624.4236)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Paterson, Gavin [2018-09-11] Transcription checked by Paterson, Gavin [2018-09-11] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10]

Published letter (WCP1624.5478)

[1]1 [p. 211]

Broadstone, Wimborne

Dec. 17th, 1905

Dear Mr. Cockerell

Many thanks for your very kind present of Kropotkin's Life. I have begun reading it with very great pleasure. His early life—its childhood I mean—allowing for immense difference of rank, wealth and country—was, in essentials (education, play, &c) not unlike my own, and affords another indication of how wonderfully alike is human nature under all external changes.

I am also reading with great delight that wonderfully clever, entertaining and deeply instructive book No 5 John Street by Whiteing. Never have I seen the contrasts of wealth and poverty in London portrayed with such insight and intensity. Perhaps you know the author.

Yours very sincerely

Alfred R. Wallace

Note Appearing in the Original Work

1. Prince Peter Alexeivitch Kropotkin. Memoirs of a Revolutionist, 1900. [on p. 211]

1
Editor Charles H. Smith's Note: Third of four letters from the period 1904-1906, printed in Cockerell's Friends of a Lifetime; Letters to Sydney Carlyle Cockerell, edited by Viola Meynell and published in 1940.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1624.5478)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Smith, Charles Hyde [2013-02-06] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-02-08]

Please cite as “WCP1624,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1624