WCP3892

Letter (WCP3892.3812)

[1]

King St. Leicester

april 30 1862

My Dear Sir1

I forewarned Mr Wallace that you might not expect us last Friday as you had not heard from us since the previous Monday; we had a delightful stroll in the gardens, so there was no great harm done. I hope we shall be more successful next time but I daresay you will meet Mr Wallace frequently.

Have I done right in setting the artist2 to work on the two plates3 for the Linnean trans.? I understand [2] from what you have said that the strict rule is for the author to deliver his paper with drawings complete. I could have delivered it with drawings incomplete; but this would have been extremely inconvenient, for the drawings have to be made from two collections & the way I have arranged will save many crossing journeys & communications & [illeg.] much trouble. You were so kind as to say the Soc. wd. waive etiquette in this case. I am glad of it, the plates were an afterthought suggested by friends & necessitate much alteration in the paper4 which was [3] written with the view to a very humble place in the "Proceedings by the side of Walker's5 & Smith's6 articles on insects. The artist will now the plates insects on stone— (I do know whether he had yet communicated with the secretary7) & I will finish the paper when the drawings are complete. I will let you know what the artist intends to charge & ask your opinion as to the proportion to be charged the Soc. for more engraving.

Yours sincerely | H. W. Bates8 [signature]

Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1817-1911). British botanist and explorer. Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 1865-85. President of the Royal Society 1873-78.
Robinson, Edward William (1824-1883). British artist and illustrator of natural history books, notably ARW's The Malay Archipelago and Henry Walter Bates' The Naturalist on the River Amazons.
Bates, H. W. 1862. Contributions to an insect fauna of the Amazon valley (Lepidoptera: Heliconidae). Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, 23: 495-566.
Bates. H. W. 1862. Contributions to an insect fauna of the Amazon valley. Lepidoptera: Heliconidae. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society (Zoology): 6: 73-77.
Walker. F. 1862. Catalogue of the Heterocerous Lepidopterous Insects collected at Sarawak, in Borneo, by Mr. A. R. Wallace, with Descriptions of New Species. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society (Zoology), 6: 82-145, 171-198.
Smith, F. 1862. Catalogue of Hymenopterous Insects collected by Mr. A. R. Wallace in the Islands of Cerman, Celebes, Ternate, and Gilolo. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society (Zoology), 6: 36-66.
Busk, George (1807-1886). British naval surgeon, zoologist and palaeontologist. Secretary of the Linnean Society 1857-68.
Bates, Henry Walter (1825-1892). British naturalist, explorer and close friend of ARW.

Please cite as “WCP3892,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3892