Ɛpsilon

WCP2620

Letter (WCP2620.2510)

[1]1

Loch Lomond

Sandown

I. of W.

8th May 1901

Dear Dr. Wallace

I met your son2 at our Bakewell meet3 and he told me you said I might call upon you sometime. I have been wishing for a talk with you for years, and I am the more anxious to meet you now because I have been reading your book on Darwinism4 and your defence of Spiritualism.5

Moreover I have been [2] looking up the subject of heredity of late, and should be glad of your advice.

Your defence of Spiritualism was a surprise to me and I said as much in the Clarion. Of course I am not a spiritualist, but I want to look into the case for myself, and I should very much value a few hints from you.

I leave here for London on Saturday and I shall be glad to run down to Parkstone some day during this month or June, if [3] it will not be too much trouble to you. The inquiry into Spiritualism seems to me important, and of deep interest: indeed if there is another life there is no subject of such importance to us all. The whole race has been trying for ages to peep behind the veil we call death. If spiritualists can show us that there is anything behind that veil they will have done more than any other discovers [sic] ever did yet.

I shall be glad if you can find time to draft [4] me a line saying whether you can spare me an hour some day.

My address after Saturday will be

42 Deronda Rd.

Herne Hill

London S.E

With best wishes and many thanks for the pleasure and profit of your books

I remain | yours Sincerely | R. Blatchford6 [signature]

1
In ARW’s handwriting, "Answd". The letter has not been found.
2
Wallace, William Greenell (1871-1951). Son of ARW. Married Elizabeth Carr Whittle (1888-1976) on 29 September 1919 and had three children: Elizabeth Anne (25 December 1920 - 3 January 1921), Alfred John Russel Wallace (6 March 1922 - 9 February 2017).
3
Bakewell meet of the Clarion Cycling Club. The club was formed in 1895 by a group of like-minded individuals in Birmingham, taking its name from Robert Blatchford's socialist newspaper, Clarion.
4
Wallace, A. R. 1889. Darwinism: an exposition of the theory of natural selection with some of its applications. London & New York: Macmillan & Co.
5
Wallace, A. R. 1896. Miracles and modern spiritualism. Revised edition, with chapters on apparitions and phantasms. London: George Redway.
6
Blatchford, Robert Peel Glanville (1851-1943). British author and journalist. Wrote for the Sunday Chronicle under "Nunquam". Editor of the Clarion.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP2620.2510)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by O'Dell, Sandra [2015-04-15] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2015-04-15] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP2620,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2620