Ɛpsilon

WCP3182

Letter (WCP3182.3150)

[1]1

THE CROFT,

HIND HEAD,

HASLEMERE.

TELEGRAMS,

ALLEN, CROFT, GRAYSHOTT.

Hotel Royal

Varenna,

Italy.

April 24 18992

Dear Dr. Wallace,

I despair in giving you in writing all the reason why your suggestion is for me an impossible one. There are eleven thousand: I will contend myself with two. The first is practical: [2] I have to write stories which Editors will accept — and the public will buy. Now no Editor will take a socialist story — I have tried and failed: and the public will not buy such stories to a sufficient extent to pay for the trouble. As a general rule the more in earnest I am [3] about a subject, the less I get for it. The second reason is artistic; a story grows out of a plot or situation and cannot be forced in the way you describe, or I at least do not know how to force it. Plots come: I could not invent a plot in order to sustain a particular thesis. Thank you so much [4] for the many kind expressions in you letter.3 Come and see us some day on Hind Head when you are passing up or down and we will thrash this matter out more fully.

With very kind regards | Cordially yours | Grant Allen3 [signature]

1
In ARW’s handwritng, "About a suggested Social Novel! died Oct 1899 — (age 51)".
2
In pencil by unknown handwriting.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP3182.3150)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Lo, Yen-Nyuk [2019-01-05] Transcription checked by Lo, Yen [2019-01-05] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP3182,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3182