Ɛpsilon

WCP2422

Letter (WCP2422.2312)

[1]

MOUNT HOUSE,

ALDERLEY,

WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE.

23d. April [1890]1

Dear Mr. Wallace,

Thank you much for the Amazon2 book, I have the original edition3 which I shall now be able to give away, as your gift with my name written in it is much more valuable to me – I think I have a few plants you & Dr. Allman4 may both like to have, the Canary island Erishiam & the Chilean Puya for instance both of which we raised from seed – but I hope you may find your way home this way [2] way from Scotland & find some other things. I am certainly a degree better & was out for the first time as far as my arbour yesterday afternoon – The anenomies & common fritillaries are a failure this tear but I fancy a good deal owing to mismanagement – I hope things may be better cared for in future my man owns to having neglected everything – General Hale5 told me yesterday that he finds quantities of dead rooks everywhere, he believes they eat the corn which is soaked in some poison (arsenik I believe) before it is put into the ground to kill the grub in it. Give my love to Mrs. Wallace6 & the Allmans.

Believe me | yours vy truly | Marianne North7 [signature]

1
We can ascertain that this is from 1890, because Wallace mentions this letter having arrived that morning in note sent to William Mitten (ARW to William Mitten, 26 April 1890 (WCP3721) which is sent from Parkstone. Wallace did not move to Parkstone until June 1889. And as North dies by August 1890 the April date can only possibly be in 1890.
2
Wallace, A. R. 1853. Narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, with an account of the native tribes, and observations on the climate, geology, and natural history of the Amazon valley. London: Reeve & Co.
3
Wallace, A. R. 1890. Narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, with an account of the native tribes, and observations on the climate, geology, and natural history of the Amazon valley. Third edition. Ward, Lock and Co., London, New York, and Melbourne.
4
Allman, George James (1812-1898). Irish zoologist and botanist.
5
Hale, Robert (1834-1907). Major general in the British military. Marianne North’s landlord.
6
Wallace (née Mitten), Annie (1846-1914). British. Wife of ARW; daughter of William Mitten.
7
North, Marianne (1830-1890). British biologist and botanical artist.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP2422.2312)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Lester, Ahren [2014-10-27] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2014-10-27] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP2422,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2422