WCP1936

Letter (WCP1936.1826)

[1]

Down.

Beckenham Bromley

Kent. S.E.

Nov 22d [1870]1

My dear Wallace

I must ease myself by writing a few words to say how much I & all others in this house admire your article in Nature.2 You are certainly an unparalleled master in lucidly stating a case & in arguing. Nothing ever was better done than your argument about [the] [2] term "origin of species" & the consequences about much being gained, even if we know nothing about [the] precise cause of each variation.— By chance I have given a few words in my 1st. Vol. now some time printed off about mimetic butterflies & have touched on two of your points, viz on species already widely dissimilar [3] not being made to resemble each other, & about the variations in Lepidoptera being often well-pronounced.

How strange it is that th Mr Bennett3 or anyone else sh[oul]d. bring in the cause [?] action of the mind as a leading cause of variation seeing the beautiful & complex adaptations & modifications of structure in plants, which I do not suppose they w[oul]d say had minds.—

[4] I have finished [the] 1st Vol. & am half-way through [the] first proofs of [the] 2d vol. of my confounded book, which half-kills me by fatigue & which I much fear will quite kill me in your good estimation.4—

If you have leisure I sh[oul]d much like a little news of you & your doings & your family.—

Ever yours very sincerely | Ch Darwin [signature]

1
An annotation adds '1870' at the top right-hand corner of page 1. The year of 1870 has been established as the correct date by the Darwin Correspondence Project see DCP-LETT-7380.
2
In a pencil annotation beneath the text "article in nature" ARW adds '(my reply to A[lfred]. W[illiam]. Bennett — no[vember] 17th 1870) vol III p.49)'. See Wallace, A. R. 1870. Natural Selection. Mr. Wallace's Reply to Mr. Bennett. Nature 3: 49-50.
3
Bennett, Alfred William (1833-1902). British botanist and publisher.
4
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 (WCP1936.1826)]

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

Revision history

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

Published letter (WCP1936.6021)

[1] [p. 253]

Down, Beckenham, Kent, S.E. November 22, 1870.

My dear Wallace, — I must ease myself by writing a few words to say how much I and all others in this house admire your article1 in Nature.2 You are certainly an unparalleled master in lucidly stating a case and in arguing. Nothing ever was better done than your argument about the term [2] "origin of species", and the consequences about much being gained, even if we know nothing about precise cause of each variation. By chance I have given a few words in my first volume,2 now some time printed off, about mimetic butterflies, and have touched on two of your points, viz. on species already widely dissimilar not being made to resemble each other, and about the variations in Lepidoptera being often well pronounced. How strange it is that Mr. Bennett2 or anyone else should bring in the action of the mind as a leading cause of variation, seeing the beautiful and complex adaptations and modifications of structure in plants, which I do not suppose they would say had minds.

I have finished the first volume, and am half-way through the first proof of the second volume, of my confounded book, which half kills me by fatigue, and which I much fear will quite kill me in your good estimation.

If you have leisure I should much like a little news of you and your doings and your family.

Ever yours very sincerely, | CH. DARWIN.

1
'Nature' 10 November 1870
2
Probably Bennett, Alfred William (1833-1902). British botanist and publisher.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1936.6021)]

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

Revision history

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

Published letter (WCP1936.6930)

[1]

"Down,1 November 22. [1870]

"MY DEAR WALLACE,

"I must ease myself by writing a few words to say how much I and all in this house admire your article in Nature.2 You are certainly an unparalleled master in lucidly stating a case and in arguing. [2] [p. 230] Nothing ever was better done than your argument about the term Origin of Species, and about much being gained if we know nothing about precise cause of each variation."

At the end of the letter he says something about the progress of his great work, "The Descent of Man."3

"I have finished 1st vol. and am half-way through proofs of 2nd vol. of my confounded book, which half kills me by fatigue, and which I fear will quite kill me in your good estimation.

"If you have leisure, I should much like a little news of you and your doings and your family,

"Ever yours very sincerely | "CH. DARWIN."

1
Charles Darwin's home in Beckenham, Kent.
2
A British scientific journal first published in 1869.
3
Darwin, C.R. (1871) 'The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex' (London, UK: John Murray)

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1936.6930)]

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

Revision history

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

Please cite as “WCP1936,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 19 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1936