Ɛpsilon

WCP4006

Letter (WCP4006.3949)

[1]

5, Westbourne Grove Terrace W.

Feb. 19th. 1865

Dear Newton1

Many thanks for your kind note,2 & for the first of the new brood of Ibises,3 which I think first rate. I detect a little of the Newtonian humour cropping out here & there, & expect the "Ibis" to be now quite a jolly bird, less dignified & stately than during the Sclaterian Epoch, but equally instructive as the ornithologists literary organ.

I shall be most happy to contribute my mite to its support & will promise you that the first time I work at birds again [2] it shall be with the Ibis in my eye! The fact is however I have done nothing for the last six months, — having met with that "tide" Shakespear [sic] speaks of, which I had thought to have taken at the flood & been carried on, not to fortune but to happiness, — when a wave came & left me high & dry, — & here I am like a fish out of water.

To descend from metaphor I have been considerably cut up. I was to have been married in December, — everything appeared serene, — invitations were [3] sent out, wedding dresses ordered & all the programme settled, when almost at the last moment without the slightest warning the whole affair was broken off.4

I am now getting over it a little, but am not very bright, & cannot tell when I shall go at birds again. I am now working a little at insects, & am also preparing for moving, as I leave here in March & do not yet [4]5 know where I am going.

I will let you know my new address as soon as I have one.

In the mean time | Believe me | Dear Newton | yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

A. Newton Esq.

1
Newton, Alfred (1829-1907). British zoologist and ornithologist. Founding member of the British Ornithologists' Union.
2
The letter has not been found
3
Newton was an editor of the journal Ibis from 1865 to 1870.
4
ARW's engagement to marry was abruptly broken by his fiancé Marion Leslie in the autumn of 1864. See Raby, P. 2001. Alfred Russel Wallace: A Life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 180-1.
5
In Newton’s handwriting, "A. R. Wallace, London, Feb.19 -21/65. Answered Feb. 21/65".The letter has not been found.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP4006.3949)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Szentgyorgyi, Katherine [2012-09-17] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Costa, Leslie [2020-08-20] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP4006,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4006