WCP3997

Published letter (WCP3997.3940)

[1] [p. 296]

London,

January 18, 1870.

Dear Newton,

Can you inform me if there is any canal you know of in your part of the country with a straight piece (without locks) five or six miles long, or any piece of water of that extent? I have undertaken (for a heavy wager) to prove by measurement the rotundity of the earth, to one of those strange phenomena who [2] [p. 297] do not believe in it and who is willing to pay to be enlightened.1

Will you also give me your advice on another point? I am about to publish all my papers which bear upon Natural Selection, etc., in a volume.2 I should like an attractive title, but will not have a misleading one. I have at present fixed upon "Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection. A series of Essays," as exactly expressing what the book will be. Macmillan has a dislike to the word Contributions,, and wants me to call it "Essays on Natural Selection," or "On Natural Selection; a Series of Essays." But these indicate too much a complete work on a definite subject to please me.

Do you think my title will do, or can you suggest anything quite different?

Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

1
John Hampden issued a £500 wager in the journal of Scientific Opinion challenging scientific men to prove the convexity of the surface of any inland body of water. ARW accepted the wager and selected a six-mile stretch of the Old Beford River. John H. Walsh, the editor of 'The Field' was appointed as judge and decided unequivocally in ARW's favour but Hampden refused to accept the verdict. The wager ultimately resulted in several laws suits and the prosecution of Hamden by ARW for libel. (Raby, P. 2002. Alfred Russel Wallace: A Life. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. [pp.206-207])
2
ARW's forthcoming book was published by MacMillan & Co. in April 1870. (Wallace, A. R. 1870. Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection. London: Macmillan & Co).

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Published letter (WCP3997.3940)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Catchpole, Caroline [2012-02-29] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2020-12-31]

Please cite as “WCP3997,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 25 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3997