Ɛpsilon

WCP3591

Postcard (WCP3591.3490)

[1]

[3 Oxford Terrace, Chippenham]

[30 October 1871]1

Gentlemen,

In last week’s English Mechanic your member Mr A. R. Wallace, is publicly challenged to repeat the Bedford Level experiment,2 for which he swindled me out of £1000. If you are not all conscious of his guilt, you will compel him to accept it. We shall see. J H3

[2]4

1 Savill[e] Row W

To The President & Co

Royal Geographical Soc.

15, Whitehall Place

S.W. London

1
Date is derived from the postcard’s postmark, “Chippenham D OC 30 71”.
2
On 15 January 1870 ARW agreed to a £500 challege by the flat earth advocate John Hampden to prove the convexity of the surface of the earth. The demonstration took place on the 5 March 1870 in a spot between Old Beford Canal and Old Bedford bridge with ARW's proof being published in the Field magazine on 26 March 1870. In the 27 October 1871 issue of English Mechanic, 'Parallax' (Samuel Birley Rowbotham) and John Hampden both wrote letters to the editor disputing the results of the Bedford level experiment. (See [Rowbothan, S. B. The Shape of the Earth Controversy. English Mechanic and World of Science. No 344. (27 October 1871) [p.143]; Hampden, J. 1871. The Shape of the Earth. English Mechanic and World of Science. No 344. (27 October 1871) [p.160]).
3
Hampden, John (1819-1891). British promoter of the Flat Earth theory.
4
In unknown handwriting in the left-hand margin of the postcard, “HAMPDEN, John. 1871 Oct. 30”.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Postcard (WCP3591.3490)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by O'Dell, Sandra [2015-06-10] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2020-03-19] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP3591,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3591