WCP1949

Letter (WCP1949.4094)

[1]

Holly House, Barking, E.

July 16th. 1871

Dear Darwin

I am very sorry you are so unwell, & that you allow criticisms to worry you so. Remember the noble army of converts you have made!, & the hosts of the most talented men living who support you wholly. What do you think of putting C[hauncey]. Wright’s1 article as an Appendix to new Ed[ition]. of Origin?2 That would get it read, & obviate my chief objection, that the people who read [2] Mivart3 & the Origin, will very few of them buy a separate pamphlet to read. Pamphlets are such nuisances. I don’t think Mivart4 could have written the "Quarterly" article,5 — but I will look at it & shall I think be able to tell.

Pray keep your spirits up. I am so distracted by Building troubles that I can write nothing, & shall not, till I get settled [3] in my new house some time next spring I hope.

With best wishes | Believe me | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Charles Darwin Esq.

1
Wright, Chauncey (1830-1875). American philosopher and mathematician; defender of Charles Darwin’s works.
2
ARW refers to Chauncey Wright's critical review of St George Jackson Mivart’s 'On the Genesis of Species' in The North American Review. Darwin eventually republished Wright's review as a pamphlet with an added appendix. (Wright, C. 1871. Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection by Alfred Russel Wallace; On the Genesis of Species by St. George Mivart; The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex by Charles Darwin; On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin. The North American Review. Vol. 113. No. 232. (July 1871). 63-103).
3
Mivart, St. G. J. 1871. On the Genesis of Species. London: Macmillan and Co.
4
Mivart, St. George Jackson (1827-1900). British physician, zoologist and Roman Catholic polemicist.
5
The Quarterly Review article was authored by Mivart and published anonymously. See [Mivart, St. G. J.] 1871. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. Quarterly Review 131 (July): 47-90.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1949.4094)]

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 (WCP1949.1839)

[1]1

To C.Darwin.) Holly House, Barking, E. July 18th. 1871

Dear Darwin I am very sorry you are so unwell, & that you allow criticisms to worry you so. Remember the noble army of converts you have made ! & the host of the most talented men living who support you wholly. What do you think of putting C.Wright's article as an appendix to new Ed. of Origin ? That would get it read, & obviate my chief objection that the people who read Mivart & the Origin, will very few of them buy a sepparate pamphlet to read. Pamphlets are such nuiceances [sic]. I dont think Mivart could have written the "Quarterly" article,— but I will look at it & shall I think be able to tell. Pray keep your spirits up. I am so distracted by building troubles that I can write nothing, & shall not, till I get settled in my new house some time next Spring I hope.

With best wishes Believe me Yours very faithfully | Alfred R.Wallace.

1
Page is numbered (1) at top centre, and subsequently struck out in pencil.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP1949.1839)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Wallace, Natalie [2019-12-17]

Transcription (WCP1949.4490)

[1]

To C.Darwin.) Holly House, Barking, E. July 16th. 1871

Dear Darwin

I am very sorry you are so unwell, & that you allow criticisms to worry you so. Remember the noble army of converts you have made![?]1 & the host of the most talented men living who support you wholly. What do you think of putting C. Wright’s2 article3 as an appendix to new Ed[ition]. Of Origin [of Species]? That would get it read, & obviate my chief objection that the people who read Mivart4 & the Origin, will very few of them buy a sepparate[sic] pamphlet to read. Pamphlets are such nuiceances[sic] [nuisances]. I dont[sic] think Mivart could have written the "Quarterly" article5,— but I will look at it & shall I think be able to tell.

Pray keep your spirits up. I am so distracted by building troubles that I can write nothing, & I shall not, till I get settled in my new house some time next Spring I hope.

With best wishes | Believe me | Yours very faithfully | 6 Alfred R. Wallace.7 [signature]

1
Possibly a colon, though it is difficult to distinguish in the typed transcript.
2
Chauncey Wright (1830 — 1875), Harvard-educated American philosopher and mathematician.
3
Refers to a pamphlet entitled "Darwinism" published by Wright in America. In it, Wright critiques St. George Mivart’s On the Genesis of Species and defends Darwin’s theory of natural selection against Mivart’s attacks (see also endnote 3). Darwin arranged for Wright’s pamphlet to be reprinted in England.
4
St. George Jackson Mivart, PhD, MD, FRS (1827 — 1900); English Biologist, author of On the Genesis of Species, Roman Catholic, and critic of Darwin and natural selection.
5
Refers to a hostile review of The Descent of Man published anonymously by Mivart in the "Quarterly Review" in July 1871.
6
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.
7
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. In the typed transcript used, there is no indication of whether this was ARW’s actual signature.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP1949.4490)]

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 (WCP1949.6046)

[1] [p. 269]

Holly House, Barking, E. July 16, 1871.

Dear Darwin, — I am very sorry you are so unwell, and that you allow criticisms to worry you so. Remember the noble army of converts you have made! and the host of the most talented men living who support you wholly. What do you think of putting C. Wright's1 article as an appendix to the new edition of the "Origin"?2 That would get it read, and obviate my chief objection, that the people who read Mivart3 and the "Origin" will very few of them buy a separate pamphlet to read. Pamphlets are such nuisances. I don't think Mivart could have written the Quarterly article,4 but I will look at it and shall, I think, be able to tell. Pray keep your spirits up. I am so distracted by building troubles that I can write nothing, [2] and I shall not, till I get settled in my new house,5 some time next spring, I hope. — With best wishes, believe me yours very faithfully, | ALFRED R. WALLACE.

1
Wright, Chauncey (1830-1875). American philosopher and mathematician; defender of Charles Darwin’s works.
2
Darwin, C.R. (1859) 'The Origin of Species' London, UK: John Murray. Darwin was working on the sixth edition at this time.
3
Mivart, St. George Jackson (1827-1900). British physician, zoologist and Roman Catholic polemicist.
4
The Quarterly Review was a British literary and political periodical that published 1809-1967.
5
ARW was having a house built in Grays, Essex.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1949.6046)]

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 “WCP1949,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1949