WCP1965

Letter (WCP1965.4103)

[1]

The Dell, Grays, Essex.

Novr. 7th. 1875

Dear Darwin

Many thanks for your beautiful little volume on Climbing plants, — which forms a most interesting companion to your Orchids & Insectivorous Plants. I am sorry to see that you have not this time given us the luxury of cut edges.

I am in the midst of printing and proofsheets, — which are wearisome in the extreme from the mass of names & statistics [2] I have been obliged to introduce, & which will I fear make my book insufferably dull to all but zoological specialists.

My trust is in my pictures & maps to catch the public.

Hoping yourself and all your family are quite well

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

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP1965.4103)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Lord, Annette [2012-09-24] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15]

Transcription (WCP1965.1855)

[1]1

To C.Darwin.) The Dell, Grays, Essex. Nov.7th. 1875

Dear Darwin many thanks for your beautiful little volume on Climbing plants,2 — which forms a most interesting companion to your Orchids3 & Insectivorous Plants.4 I am sorry to see that you have not this time given us the luxury of cut edges.

I am in the midst of printing and proof sheets proofsheets,5 — which are wearisome in the extreme from the mass of names & statistics I have been obliged to introduce, & which will fear make my book insufferably dull to all but zoological specialists.

My trust is in my pictures and maps to catch the public.

Hoping yourself and all your family are quite well

Believe me Yours very faithfully Alfred R. Wallace.

1
Page is numbered (1) top centre, and subsequently struck out in pencil.
2
Darwin, C.R. (1875) 'On the Movements and habits of climbing plants' London, UK: John Murray
3
Darwin, C.R. (1862) 'On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects' London, UK: John Murray.
4
Darwin, C.R. (1875) 'Insectivorous Plants' London, UK: John Murray
5
Probably a reference to: Wallace, A. R. (1876) 'The geographical distribution of animals; with a study of the relations of living and extinct faunas as elucidating the past changes of the Earth's surface' London, UK: Macmillan and Co.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP1965.1855)]

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

Revision history

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

Transcription (WCP1965.4481)

[1]

To C. Darwin.) The Dell, Grays Essex. Nov.7th. 1875

Dear Darwin

Many thanks for your beautiful little volume on Climbing plants1,- which forms a most interesting companion to your Orchids & Insectivorous Plants. I am sorry to see that you have not [at] this time given us the luxury of out edges.

I am in the midst of printing and proof sheets proofsheets2,- which are wearisome in the extreme from the mass of names & statistics I have been obliged to introduce, & which will I fear make my book insufferably dull to all but zoological specialists.

My trust is in my pictures and maps to catch the public.

Hoping yourself and all your family are quite well

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

1
On the Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants (second edition), written by Darwin and published in 1875, describes the development of climbing plants in an evolutionary context — most notably the spontaneous revolving habits of stems and tips to achieve more light and/or support.
2
Most likely for his book The Geographical Distribution of Animals (1876)

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP1965.4481)]

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

Revision history

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

Published letter (WCP1965.6063)

[1] [p. 285]

The Dell, Grays, Essex. November 7, 1875.

Dear Darwin, — Many thanks for your beautiful little volume on "Climbing Plants,"1 which forms a most interesting companion to your "Orchids"2 and "Insectivorous Plants."3 I am sorry to see that you have not this time given us the luxury of cut edges.

I am in the midst of printing and proof-sheets,4 which are wearisome in the extreme from the mass of names and statistics I have been obliged to introduce, and which will, I fear, make my book insufferably dull to all but zoological specialists.

My trust is in my pictures and maps to catch the public.

Hoping yourself and all your family are quite well, believe me yours very faithfully, | ALFRED R. WALLACE.

1
Darwin, C.R. (1875) 'On the Movements and habits of climbing plants' London, UK: John Murray
2
Darwin, C.R. (1862) 'On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects' London, UK: John Murray.
3
Darwin, C.R. (1875) 'Insectivorous Plants' London, UK: John Murray.
4
Probably a reference to: Wallace, A. R. (1876) 'The geographical distribution of animals; with a study of the relations of living and extinct faunas as elucidating the past changes of the Earth's surface' London, UK: Macmillan and Co.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1965.6063)]

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 “WCP1965,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 19 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1965