Ɛpsilon

WCP2952

Letter (WCP2952.2842)

[1]1

THE FERNS,

WHITCOMBE,

GLOUCESTER

25. vi. 09

Dear Dr Wallace

It is difficult for me to tell you how gratified I am by your extraordinarily kind letter.2 I can never judge myself of the merit, if any, of anything I write. I am therefore immensely encouraged by what you are so very good as to say. Sir Joseph Hooker3 was kind enough to read the essay4 in print and likes it. Your approval in addition makes me a proud man.

The truth is that success was too [2] easy. It has been my immense good fortune to know most of those who played a part in the drama. The story simply wanted a straight forward amanuensis to tell itself. But it is a real pleasure to me to know that I have met with some measure of success.

There are many essays in the book that you will not like any more than I do. The secret of this lies in the fact, which [3] you pointed out in your memorable speech5 at the Linnean celebration, that no one but a naturalist can really understand Darwin.6

I did not go to Cambridge.7 I had my hands full here. I was not sorry for the excuse. There seemed to me a note of insincerity about the whole business. I am short-tempered. I cannot stand being told that Darwin’s mantle has fallen on Bateson,8the ‘origin of species’ has still to be discovered, & that specific differences have no ‘reality’ (Bateson’s Essay,9 p. 89) [4] People are of course at liberty to hold such opinions. But decency might have prescribed another occasion for ventilating them[.]

I may be permitted, I hope, to congratulate you on the sustained intellectual vigour and keen interest displayed in your letter. The only parallel I know is that of my father-in-law,10 now 92, who wrote my wife11 a wonderful account of the Cambridge proceedings. I shall treasure your letter with his[.]

Yours sincerely | W. T. Thiselton-Dyer12 [signature]

1
In ARW’s handwriting, “Ans”. The letter has not been found.
3
Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1817-1911). British botanist and explorer. Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 1865-85. President of the Royal Society 1873-78.
4
Thiselton-Dyer, William Turner. 1909. Geographical Distribution of plants. In Seward’s Darwin and modern Sicence: Essays in commemoration of the centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The origin of species. Cambridge University Press.
5
Wallace’s remarks on receiving the Darwin-Wallace celebration held on 1st July, 1908 by the Linnean society of London. Published by the Linnean Society of London in 1909. <https://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/wallace/S656.htm>)
6
Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882). British naturalist, geologist and author, notably of On the Origin of Species (1859).
7
On 22-24 June 1909, over 400 scientists and dignitaries from 167 different countries gathered at Cambridge to celebrate the centenary of Darwin's birth and the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species.
8
Bateson, William (1861-1926). Pioneering British geneticist and supporter of the work of Gregor Mendel. One of the key figures behind the modern synthesis in evolutionary biology.
9
Bateson W. 1909. Heredity and variation in modern lights. In Seward’s Darwin and modern Sicence: Essays in commemoration of the centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The origin of species. Cambridge University Press.
10
See note 3.
11
Thiselton-Dyer (née Hooker), Harriet Anne (1854-1946). Botanist and explorer. Daughter of Joseph Dalton Hooker.
12
Thiselton-Dyer, William Turner (1843-1928). Leading British botanist, and the third director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP2952.2842)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by O'Dell, Sandra [2015-05-14] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2015-05-14] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Published letter (WCP2952.6462)

[1] [p. 91]

SIR W. T. THISELTON-DYER TO A. R. WALLACE

The Ferns, Witcombe, Gloucester. June 25, 1909.

Dear Dr. Wallace, — It is difficult for me to tell you how gratified I am by your extraordinarily kind letter.

...The truth is that success was easy. It has been my immense good fortune to know most of those who played in the drama. The story simply wanted a straightforward amanuensis to tell itself. But it is a real pleasure to me to know that I have met with some measure of success.

There are many essays in the book that you will not like any more than I do. The secret of this lies in the fact, which you pointed out in your memorable speech at the Linnean Celebration, that no one but a naturalist can really understand Darwin.

I did not go to Cambridge — I had my hands full here. I was not sorry for the excuse. There seemed to me a note of insincerity about the whole business. I am short- tempered. I cannot stand being told that the origin of species has still to be discovered, and that specific differences have no "reality" (Bateson's Essay, p. 89). People are of course at liberty to hold such opinions, but decency might have presented another occasion for ventilating them. — Yours sincerely, | W. T. THISELTON-DYER.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP2952.6462)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Paterson, Gavin [2020-03-23] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP2952,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2952