WCP316

Letter (WCP316.316)

[1]

Parkstone, Dorset.

Octr. 13th. 1898

My dear Violet

I send two letters that have come for you. I also sent you 3 insides of papers to see about DeRougemont1. Now we shall expect a full description of the new Rektorial abode, and of Possneck itself and of the surrounding country. Also of the interesting neighbours which may take the place of the never-to-be-forgotten mad-houses and slaughterhouses of Blankenheim. Will’s2 last letter gave us a journal of his sporting excursion. Nothing very exciting. No bears, or painters, or other monsters, Got some fair deer-shooting each of them getting a stag with good [2] horns, so, apparently they enjoyed themselves and came galumphing back. I hope he will get some work soon at Denver or elsewhere. I asked Mrs. W. of Stockton to get me a copy of the Californian edition of Omar Khayam3[sic], and it came by same post as Will’s letter, showing that they have reached home safely. It is a charming little Edition, pub[lishe]d by William Doxey, At the sign of the Lark, San Francisco, with a preface and Life of Omar. It is beautifully printed on fine paper, just the thing to take out and read on the grass, the price is 1/2 dollar 2d/- and the postage is only 1d — so you can write & order a copy if you like sending a P[ostal]. order [3] for the amount. I have read a good deal of it, and it is really charming. It is an exquisitely poetical philosophy of life from a purely materialistic point of view. The first edition of my "Wonderful Century" is nearly sold out (2000) and they are going to print another 1000, which is not so bad for such a heretical book. I forget whether I told you of the new convert to Antivaccination — Lord Grimthorpe4 — a rich man who has repaired and restored St. Albans Abbey. He wrote me a long letter saying he had been converted by my book and that I might print his letter. He is [4] a clever man, was formerly a barrister, and an authority on bells & chimes & church clocks. Miss Chant5 has been taking some rather good photos of me lately, & has sold the negative of one to a London firm, who want it for illustrations in an American magazine.

That is all the news I can think of at present

Your affectionate Pa | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Rougemont, Louis De (1847-1921). Swiss hoaxer, born Henri Louis Grin, who claimed to have had adventures in Australia.
Wallace, William Greenell (1871-1951). Son of ARW.
Khayyam, Omar (Arabic in full "Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm al-Nīsābūrī al-Khayyāmī") (1048-1131). Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet, known for The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1859), translated by the English writer Edward FitzGerald.
Beckett (formerly Beckett-Denison), Edmund (1816-1905). British lawyer, mechanician and controversialist. First Baron Grimthorpe.
Chant, Florence (1857-1930). British photographer.

Please cite as “WCP316,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP316