Ɛpsilon

WCP2772

Letter (WCP2772.2662)

[1]

ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY

RUTHVEN DEANE, PRESIDENT,

30 Michigan Avenue, Chicago

Miss MARY DRUMMOND, Sec’y and Treas,

Wheaton, Illinois

10, June 1899

Prof. Alfred Russell [sic] Wallace.

My dear Sir

It was with a sense of unusual pleasure when I received your kind letter1 of May 28th, and the two likenesses of yourself. I thank you most sincerely for your courtesy in complying with my request and I shall value them more than I can now express.

[2]

I have always taken so much pleasure in reading your many delightful books and always learning something new on almost every page, that it is a great pleasure to now receive a letter from their author.

While I had read your "Tropical Nature"2 I had never succeeded in finding the first Edition until somewhat recently, when attending a book auction in Boston, Mass, and I now am [3] very glad to secure it.

I have read and reread your interesting little vol. on your Amazon trip of 1848. I have never found the original Ed. of 18533 but a later one of some 36 years.4 Of course Henry Walter Bates’5 "Naturalist on the Amazon"6 stands next to yours on my shelf, and is likewise full of interest. I am taking great satisfaction in "dressing up" my books, that is, prefacing them with a likeness, and if possible, an autograph letter [4] by the author. I wonder if you could find out where I might possibly secure an autograph letter of Bates and also Darwin,7 I hardly know where to search. I have most interesting letters of Audubon,8 kindly presented to me by his granddaughter also one of Thos. Nuttall,9 introducing Dr. Asa Gray,10 then 99 years of age, to a gentleman in the Southern states. This was in 1839, just on the eve of his journey across to the Pacific with Townsend.11 Please [5] pardon this long letter. When one is enthusiastic on his subject, he does not always know just when to stop. I am, dear sir

Respectfully Yrs, | Ruthven Deane12 [signature]

1
The letter has not been found.
2
Wallace, A. R. 1878. Tropical nature, and other essays. London & New York: Macmillan & Co.; Wallace, A. R. 1895. Natural selection and tropical nature: Essays on descriptive and theoretical biology. London: Macmillan.
3
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.
4
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. London: Ward, Lock and Co.
5
Bates, Henry Walter (1825-1892). British naturalist, explorer and close friend of ARW.
6
Bates, Henry Walter. 1863. The naturalist on the River Amazons. A record of adventures, habits of animals, sketches of Brazilian and Indian life, and aspects of nature under the equator, during eleven years of travel. 2 vols. London: John Murray.
7
Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882). British naturalist, geologist and author, notably of On the Origin of Species (1859).
8
Audubon, John James (1785-1851). American ornithologist and illustrator. Published illustrations The birds of America (1827-38).
9
Nuttall, Thomas (1786-1859). British Botanist. Emigrated to the United States in 1807. Curator of the Botanic Gardens and professor of natural history at Harvard University from 1825-34.
10
Gray, Asa (1810-1888). American botanist. Professor of natural history, Harvard University, 1842-73.
11
Townsend, John Kirk (1809-1851). American naturalist, ornithologist and collector. Invited by Thomas Nuttall to join him on Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth's second expedition across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.
12
Deane, Ruthven (1851-1934). American ornithologist. President of the Illinois Audubon Society.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP2772.2662)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Congerton, John [2018-11-27] Transcription checked by Congerton, John [2018-11-27] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP2772,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2772