Frith Hill, Godalming1
March 12th. 1889
Dear Mr. Macmillan2
Thanks for your letter. As to the cut edges I know Darwin3 insisted on it, and every edition of his books published during his life were cut, as he sent me them all. Even his large Animals & Plants4 are cut. Most of the scientific books published in America are so; all I have are. — Sir C. Lyell's5"Elements"6 are so — I think it a pure whim & imagination on the part of publisher that cut edges look common. When the edges of an uncut book get dusty it does look common! [2] "The useful is always the beautiful" — is a good maxim here or elsewhere. As showing the feeling of readers, only a few weeks ago in a review of a Scientific book in "Nature"7 one of the defects noticed was that it was issued with uncut edges! I therefore (if you allow me to do so) do insist on having the edges cut, as I know I shall thereby obtain the gratitude [3]8 of all the readers of my book even if you despise my bad taste.
Believe me | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]
Fred[eric]k Macmillan Esq.
Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP3377.3345)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP3377,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3377