WCP1885

Letter (WCP1885.4066)

[1]

10, Duchess St. W.

Feb. 7th. 1868

Dear Darwin

I have to thank you for signing the Memorial as to the East London Museum1,— and also for your kindness in sending me a copy of your great book,2 which I have only just received. I shall take it down in the country with me next week, and enjoy every line at my leisure.

Allow me also to congratulate you on the splendid position obtained [2] by your second son3 at Cambridge.

You will perhaps be glad to hear that I have been for some time hammering away at my travels,— but I fear I shall make a mess of it. I shall leave most of the Natural History generalizations &c for another work, as if I wait to incorporate all I may wait for years.

Hoping you are quite well[.] Believe me | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

ARW refers to the proposed museum of art and natural history in Bethnal Green, East London. The musuem would eventually opened on the the 24th of June 1872 and attempted to compete with the public house by offering specially arranged exhibits that provided "an excellent antidote" to the "peculiar temptations" of the bank holiday. (Black, B. J. 2000. On Exhibit: Victorians and Their Museums. Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. p.33).
Darwin, C.R. 1868. The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication. 2 vols. London: John Murrary.
Darwin, George Howard (1845-1912). Astronomer and mathematician and 2nd son of Charles Robert Darwin.

Transcription (WCP1885.1775)

[1]

To C.Darwin.) 10, Muchess St. W. Feb. 7th, 1868

Dear Darwin I have to thank you for signing the Memorial as to the East London Museum, — and also for your kindness in sending me a copy of your great book, which I have only just received. I shall take it down to the country with me next week, and enjoy every line of it at my leisure.

Allow me also to congratulate you on the splendid position obtained by your second son at Cambridge.

You will perhaps be glad to hear that I have been for some time hammering away at my travels, — but I fear I shall make a mess of it. I shall leave most of the Natural History generalization &c for another work, as if I wait to incorporate all I may wait for years.

Hoping you are quite well Believe me | Yours very faithfully Alfred R. Wallace.

Transcription (WCP1885.4517)

[1]

To C. Darwin.). 10 Muchess St. W. Feb.[ruary] 7th, 1868

Dear Darwin

I have to thank you for signing the Memorial as to the East London Museum,— and also for your kindness in sending me a copy of your great book, which I have only just received. I shall take it down in the country with me next week, and enjoy ever line at my leisure.

Allow me also to congratulate you on the splendid position obtained by your second son at Cambridge.

You will perhaps be glad to hear that I have been for some time hammering away at my travels,— but I fear I shall make a mess of it. I shall leave most of the Natural History generalization &c. for another work, as if I wait to incorperate[sic] all I may wait for years.

Hoping you are quite well | Believe me | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Published letter (WCP1885.5972)

[1] [p. 193]

10 Duchess Street, W. February 7, 1868.

Dear Darwin, — I have to thank you for signing the Memorial as to the East London Museum, and also for your kindness in sending me a copy of your great book, which I have only just received. I shall take it down in the country with me next week, and enjoy every line at my leisure.

Allow me also to congratulate you on the splendid position obtained by your second son at Cambridge.

You will perhaps be glad to hear that I have been for some time hammering away at my Travels, but I fear I shall make a mess of it. I shall leave most of the Natural [2] History generalisation, etc., for another work, as if I wait to incorporate all, I may wait for years. — Hoping you are quite well, believe me yours very faithfully, ALFRED R. WALLACE.

Please cite as “WCP1885,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 11 October 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1885