WCP1930

Letter (WCP1930.4086)

[1]

9, St Mark’s Crescent N.W.

Jan. 22nd. 1870

Dear Darwin

My paper on Geolog[ical] Time1 having been in type nearly two months, & not knowing when it will appear, I have asked for a proof to send you, Huxley2 & Lyell3. The latter part only, contains what I think is new, & I shall be anxious to hear if it at all helps to get over your difficulties.

[2] I have been lately envisaging & adding to my various papers bearing on the "Origin of Species" &c. and am going to print them in a volume immediately, under the title of — "Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection: A series of Essays."4

In the last, I put forth my heterodox opinions as to Man, & even venture to attack the Huxleyian philosophy!

[3] Hoping you are quite well & are getting on with your "Man" book5,

Believe me Dr. Darwin| Yours very faithfully| Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Charles Darwin Esq.

P.S. When you have read the proof & done with it, may I beg you to return it to me. | A.R.W. [signature]

1
Wallace, A. R. 1870. The Measurement of Geological Time. I. Nature 1: 399-401 (17 Feb. 1870) / II. Nanture 1: 452-455 (3 March 1870).
2
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895). British biologist known as "Darwin's Bulldog"
3
Lyell, Charles (1797-1875). British lawyer and geologist.
4
Wallace, A. R. 1870. Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection. London, UK: Macmillan & Co.
5
Darwin, C. R. 1871. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 2 vols. London, UK: John Murray.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1930.4086)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Lord, Annette [2012-09-21] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2019-12-20]

Transcription (WCP1930.1820)

[1]1

To C.Darwin.) 9, St.Mark's Crescent.N.W. Jan. 22nd.1870

Dear Darwin My paper on Geolog. Time having been in type nearly two months, & not knowing when it will appear, I have asked for a proof to send you, Huxley & Lyell. The latter part only, contains what I think is new, & I shall be anxious to hear if it at all helps to get over your difficulties.

I have been lately revising & adding to my various papers bearing on the "Origin of Species" &c. and am going to print them in a volume immediately, under the title of —"Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection: A series of Essays."

In the last, I put forth my heterodox opinions as to Man, & even venture to attack the Huxleyan philosophy!

Hoping you are quite well & are getting on with your "Man" book,

Believe me Dr.Darwin Yours very faithfully Alfred R.Wallace.

P.S. When you have read the proof & done with it, may I beg you to return it to me. A.R.W.

1
Pagenumber (1) is typed top centre of the page, and crossed out in pencil.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP1930.1820)]

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

Revision history

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

Transcription (WCP1930.4498)

[1]

To C.Darwin.) 9, St. Mark’s Crescent. N.W., Jan[uary] 22nd. 1870

Dear Darwin

My paper on Geolog[ical]. Time1 having been in type nearly two months, & not knowing when it will appear, I have asked for a p proof to send you, Huxley2 & Lyell.3 The latter part only, contains what I think is new, & I shall be anxious to hear if it at all helps to get over your difficulties.

I have been lately revising & adding to my various papers bearing on the "Origin of Species" &c. and am going to print them in a volume immediately, under the title of—"Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection: A series of Essays."4

In the last, I put forth my heterodox opinions as to Man,5 & even venture to attack the Huxleyan [sic?] philosophy!

Hoping you are quite well & are getting on with your "Man" book,6

Believe me | D[ea?]r.7 Darwin | Yours very faithfully |8 Alfred R. Wallace.9 [signature]

P.S. When you have read the proof & done with it, may I beg you to return it to me. A.R.W [signature]

1
"The Measurement of Geological Time" by ARW was printed in Nature in February and March of 1870.
2
Thomas Henry Huxley, PC, FRS (1825 — 1895) was an English biologist & anatomist and fierce supporter of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Huxley has consequently become known as "Darwin’s Bulldog".
3
Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, Kt, FRS (1791 — 1875), famed English lawyer and geologist. Lyell was a close friend of Darwin, and his geological ideas regarding continual, slow-moving forces shaping the earth influenced much of Darwin’s own work. Lyell, along with Joseph Hooker, played a vital role in the relatively peaceful co-publication of Darwin and Wallace’s papers on the theory of evolution by natural selection in 1858.
4
ARW did indeed publish a volume by this title in 1870.
5
The "heterodox opinions as to Man" which ARW references here refer to Wallace’s belief that certain features of the human species (especially human mind and spirituality) lie outside the scope of natural selection. This "heresy" was the root of many of the doubts to which Darwin would later respond in The Descent of Man, and which Darwin-defending contemporaries such as Édouard Claparède would attack in critiques of Wallace’s Contributions.
6
Here ARW likely refers to Darwin’s The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, which would be published early in 1871.
7
While the typed transcript from the A. R. Wallace Literary Estate contains the abbreviation "Dr." here, ARW often included the phrase "dear Darwin" among his valedictions in letters to Charles Darwin.
8
The letter used to create this transcript was itself a typed transcript of the original. While all the valedictions listed above are found on a single line, each separated by multiple spaces, at the end of the typed transcript used, it is believed that they would have been found on multiple lines in the original. For this reason, vertical bars are placed between them in this transcript as seen.
9
This was likely ARW’s signature in the original letter; however, the letter used to create this transcript was itself a typed transcript of the original.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP1930.4498)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Clerx, William [2012-08-17] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15]

Published letter (WCP1930.6015)

[1] [p. 249]

9 St. Mark's Crescent, N.W. January 22, 1870.

Dear Darwin, — My paper on Geological Time having been in type nearly two months, and not knowing when it will appear, I have asked for a proof to send you, Huxley1 and Lyell2. The latter part only contains what I think [2] is new, and I shall be anxious to hear if it at all helps to get over your difficulties.

I have been lately revising and adding to my various papers bearing on the "Origin of Species," etc., and am going to print them in a volume immediately, under the title of "Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection: A Series of Essays."

In the last, I put forth my heterodox opinions as to Man, and even venture to attack the Huxleyan philosophy!

Hoping you are quite well and are getting on with your Man book, believe me, dear Darwin, yours very faithfully, | ALFRED R. WALLACE.

P.S. — When you have read the proof and done with it, may I beg you to return it to me? — A. R. W.

1
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895). British biologist known as "Darwin's Bulldog".
2
Lyell, Charles (1797-1875). British lawyer and geologist.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1930.6015)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Lo, Yen-Nyuk [2019-12-17]

Please cite as “WCP1930,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 24 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1930