Ɛpsilon

WCP2101

Letter (WCP2101.1991)

[1]

73. Harley Street — London

Jan: 19: 1868 —

My dear Sir

Since I received your letter1 I have been inquiring in different directions to try & find out how the land lies— I was apprehensive that a certain Manager of the South Kensington Art and Science Department2 might even before the scheme of our East London Museum3 got sound have a staff cut & dried — & this I am told was actually the case [2] at least so far as the Chief Officer4 is concerned & that he is to have a salary of £500 a year & has Court influence so that whatever party is in power he is likely to prevail.

I am assured that he has no knowledge of Natural History & I have therefore some hopes that the Government would hardly stultify themselves so much as not to have a Keepership of the Natural History objects[.]

.

I have asked a [3] friend5 to try & learn from the moving spirit at South Kensington whether there is to be such a place as we should like to see you obtain. We must try & bring the influence of scientific men to bear on the greatest Government Officials.

As I handed over to Huxley6 your list of papers you would oblige me by writing for me a short abstract of them, stating that these are a certain number, mentioning about [4] how many on zoology in the Transactions & Proceedings of [the Linnean Society]. & [the Zoological Society].7 [and] others on Ethnology, Geography etc — & Philosophical Essays on the Origin of Species, etc[.]

I am rather driven just now by having to get ready the concluding chapters of my book for the press,8 but shall have more time soon. Meanwhile I will not forget the museum affair[.]

There was only a vote of £5,000 towards £20,000 [5]9 & even this was lost — for the Session in the House of Lords owing to a slight legal informality printed out by Lord Redesdale10 & which the House was ready to override if the Duke of Marlborough11 had had the spirit to press the measure. But all Educational & Scientific affairs are in great hands[.]

Most of my friends belonged to the late Government, but I am told Lord Robert [6] Montague [sic]12wishes to do the right thing & is at any rate not under South Kensington control[.]

The loss of six weeks at least, owing to the Index in Darwin’s case is truly vexatious.13 Murray14 says he will get it out next week, but I hardly expect it—

Darwin’s brother15 says that the largest edition of the "Origin" yet printed is in the Russian language [7] which is very strange & makes one respectful of the Muscovites[.]16

I hope that Huxley will be our next President of the Geological Society.17

believe me | ever very truly yours | Cha Lyell [signature]

A. Wallace Esq

1
ARW's letter to Lyell is presumed lost.
2
The Science and Art Department was established as a British government body in 1853 as a subdivision of the Board of Trade. Its first Superintendent, Henry Cole, supported both science and practical arts such as technology and design. (Butterworth, H. 1968. The Science and Art Department, 1853-1900. University of Sheffield: Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation).
3
ARW campaigned to obtain the directorship of the proposed musuem in Bethnal Green Museum, London with the support of Lyell, Darwin, Hooker, and Huxley. In 1872 Lyell was informed by Henry Cole that the funds allowed by the Treasury for the Bethnal Green Museum Management were insufficient to provide for a director position and the museum would instead serve as a repository for art rather than natural history specimens. (Slotten, R. A. 2004.The Heretic in Darwin's Court: The Life of Alfred Russel Wallace. New York: Columbia University Press, p.229).
4
Cole, Henry (1808-1882). British civil servant and inventor. Director of the South Kensington Museum 1857-73.
5
Unidentified person.
6
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895). British biologist known as "Darwin's Bulldog".
7
A word-length blank space appears in the manuscript preceding and following "&".
8
Lyell refers to the second volume of his tenth edition of Principles of Geology which was announced on 1 April 1868 and published between 16 and 31 March 1868. (Lyell, C. 1867-1868. Principles of Geology. 2 Vols. 10th Edition. London, UK: John Murray).
9
ARW adds a circled annotation, 'Jan. 19. 1868' in the upper left-hand corner of page 5.
10
Mitford, John Thomas Freeman (1805-1886). First Earl of Redesdale; British politician and chairman of committees in the House of Lords 1851-86.
11
Churchill, John Winston Spencer (1822-1883). Seventh Duke of Marlborough. British Conservative cabinet minister. Earl of Sunderland 1822-40 and Marquess of Blandford 1840-57.
12
Montagu, Lord Robert (1825-1902). British Conservative politician and Vice-President of the Committee on Education 1867-8.
13
The printing of the second issue of Darwin's The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868) was delayed on account of the index being prepared by William Sweetland Dallas. (See: The Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5678,” accessed on 29 October 2019, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-5678.xml).
14
Murray, John (1851-1928). British publisher.
15
Darwin, Erasmus Alvey (“Ras or “Eras”) (1804-1881). British socialite and older brother of Charles Robert Darwin.
16
Darwin. C. R. 1864. (trans. Rachinskii, Sergei A). Proiskhozhdenie vidov putem estestvennogo podbora. St Petersburg: A. I. Glazunov.
17
The Geological Society of London was founded on 13 October 1807. Shortly after its founding the society began to accumulate a library and a collection of rocks, minerals and fossils. In 1825 the Society received a Royal Charter from George IV allowing for the bestowal of Fellowships. The Society quarters were based in 20 Bedford Street until 1828 when the society shifted to Somerset House, The Strand and finally in 1878 the Society relocated to its present location at Burlington House, Piccadilly. Huxley was elected as president of the Geological Society in 1868. (Lewis, C. L. E. & Knell, S. J. (Eds.) 2009. The Making of the Geological Society of London. London: The Geological Society London).

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP2101.1991)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Cooper, Rod [2013-04-04] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-04-10] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2020-09-15]

Please cite as “WCP2101,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2101