WCP3561

Letter (WCP3561.3460)

[1]

Macassar,

August 1857.

My dear Dr. Shaw

You will receive from Mr. Stevens1 a paper of mine containing some account of the "Arru Islands",2 where I have spent six months, going & returning in a native trading prow. I went principally to shoot Birds of Paradise, & had capital sport. Of them I have sent an account to the "Annals of Nat[ural]. History".3 If you are too full to read my paper perhaps Sir R[oderick]. Murchison4would like it for the "Geological" [Society]5 as it contains an account of some very curious & I think6 [2] quite unique phenomena of Physical Geography.

This is a horrid country, very bare & most difficult to get about. I leave as soon as I can "en route" for N. Guinea, about which I got much information at Arru. Having just got seven months letters & news I have plenty to do, besides extensive collections of birds & insects to sort & pack. Trusting you are quite well.

I remain | My dear Dr. Shaw | Yours sincerely | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

[3]7

1
Stevens, Samuel (1817-1899). British entomologist and dealer in natural history specimens; agent of ARW.
2
The account was communicated to the Royal Geographical Society meeting on 22 February 1858 and published as Wallace, A. R. 1858. On the Arru Islands Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London 2 (1857-58), no. 3: 163-170.
3
Wallace, A. R. 1857. On the Natural History of the Aru Islands. Annals & Magazine of Natural History. 20: 473-485.
4
Murchison, Roderick Impey (1792-1871). British geologist; served four times as President of the Royal Geographical Society.
5
The Geological Society of London was founded on 13 October 1807. Shortly after its founding the society began to accumulate a library and a collection of rocks, minerals and fossils. In 1825 the Society received a Royal Charter from George IV allowing for the bestowal of Fellowships. The Society quarters were based in 20 Bedford Street until 1828 when it relocated to Somerset House, Strand and finally in 1878 the Society shifted to its present location at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. (Lewis, C. L. E. & Knell, S. J. (Eds.) 2009. The Making of the Geological Society of London. London: The Geological Society London).
6
ARW adds "Dr. Norton Shaw" at the bottom left-hand corner of the page 1.
7
A later annotation is added to the right-hand corner of page 3: "1857 | A R Wallace | Rec[eived]: Nov 5."

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP3561.3460)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Szentgyorgyi, Katherine [2012-05-23] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2019-12-20]

Please cite as “WCP3561,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3561