WCP1923

Letter (WCP1923.1813)

[1]

Caerdeon, Barmouth

N. Wales

25 June [1869]1

My dear Wallace

We have been here a fortnight & shall remain here till beginning of August.— I can say nothing good about my health, & I am so weak that I can hardly crawl half a mile from the House; but I hope I may improve & anyhow the magnificent view of Cader [Cadair Idris] is enjoyable.—

I do not know that I have anything to ask Mr. Geach2: nor do I suppose I shall be [2] in London till late in the Autumn, but I sh[oul]d. be particularly obliged, if you have any communication with Mr. Geach, if you w[oul]d. express for me my sincere thanks for his kindness in sending me the very Valuable answers on Expression.— I wrote some [one word illeg. crossed out] months ago to him in answer to his last letter. I w[oul]d. ask him to Down, but the fatigue to me of [3] receiving a stranger is something which to you w[oul]d be utterly unintteligible [sic].

I think I have heard of the scales on Butterflies; but there are lots of sexual characters, which quite baffle all powers of even conjecture.

You are quite correct, that I felt forced to make all additions to Origin as short as possible.—

I am indeed pleased [4] to hear & fully expected that your Malay work3 w[oul]d. be known throughout Europe.—

Oh dear what w[oul]d. I not give for a little more strength to get on with my work.—

Ever yours | C. Darwin [signature]

I Wish that you c[oul]d. have told me that th your place in the new Museum was all settled.4

[5]5 P.S. Hooker6 writes to me "Miquel7 has been telling me that the Flora of Sumatra & Borneo are identical, & that of Java quite different."8 —

1
ARW adds '1870?' as a red crayon annotation at the upper left-hand corner of page 1. A later pencil annotation crosses out the date '1870' and adds '1869 F[rancis] D[arwin]'. The Darwin Correspondence Project have established 1869 as the correct date for this letter. See DCP-LETT-6802.
2
Geach, Frederick F. (1835-1890). English mining engineer and friend of ARW.
3
Wallace, A. R. 1869. The Malay Archipelago; the Land of the Orang-utan and the Bird of Paradise, 2 vols. London, UK: Macmillan.
4
Darwin refers to ARW's application for the position of director of Bethnal Green Musuem. Henry Cole later informed Charles Lyell, who inquired on ARW's behalf, that the funds allowed by the Treasury for the Bethnal Green Musuem Managment were insufficient to pay for any director position. See Henry Cole to Charles Lyell, 3 July [18]72 (WCP2286.2176) and Raby, P. 2002. Alfred Russel Wallace: A Life. London: Chatto & Windus. pp.206-22.
5
ARW adds a horizontal pen line and an annotation at the bottom of page 5. 'From a letter from Charles Darwin in 1880 about my "Island Life". A. R. Wallace [Signature].' The Darwin Correspondence Project have attributed this postscript to Darwin's letter of 25 June 1869 on the basis of his quotation of Joseph Hooker's letter sent to Darwin on 24 June 1869 (DCP-LETT-6802). Darwin's reference to ARW's 'Malay work' is evidently not to his Island Life (1880) but rather to the first edition of the Malay Archipelago (1869).
6
Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1817-1911). British botanist and explorer.
7
Miquel, Friedrich Anton Wilhelm (1811-1871). Dutch botanist, Professor of Botany at the University of Utrecht 1846-1859 and director of Rijksherbarium at Leiden from 1862.
8
ARW adds red crayon underlining on page 5 below the text 'identical' and 'different'.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1923.1813)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Darwin Correspondence Project [2012-11-19] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2019-12-20]

Published letter (WCP1923.6010)

[1] [p. 245]

Caerleon, Barmouth, N. Wales. June 25, 1869.

My dear Wallace, — We have been here a fortnight, and shall remain here till the beginning of August. I can say nothing good about my health, and I am so weak that I can hardly crawl half a mile from the house; but I hope I may improve, and anyhow the magnificent view of Cader is enjoyable.

I do not know that I have anything to ask Mr. Geach, nor do I suppose I shall be in London till late in the autumn, but I should be particularly obliged, it you have any communication with Mr. Geach, if you would express for me my sincere thanks for his kindness in sending me the very valuable answers on Expression. I wrote some months ago to him in answer to his last letter.

I would ask him to Down, but the fatigue to me of receiving a stranger is something which to you would be utterly unintelligible.

I think I have heard of the scales on butterflies; but [2] there are lots of sexual characters which quite baffle all powers of even conjecture.

You are quite correct, that I felt forced to make all additions to the "Origin" as short as possible.

I am indeed pleased to hear, and fully expected, that your Malay work would be known throughout Europe.

Oh dear! what would I not give for a little more strength to get on with my work. — Ever yours, C. DARWIN.

I wish that you could have told me that your place in the new Museum was all settled.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1923.6010)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Congerton, John [2019-12-17]

Please cite as “WCP1923,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 24 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1923