Ɛpsilon

WCP4015

Letter (WCP4015.3958)

[1]

9, St Mark's Crescent,

Regent's Park.

Novr 20th. 1865

Dear Newton1

I met Bernstein2 once in Ternate, I think in 1859.3 I believe he died4 there after his return from New Guinea. There is sure to be some short account of his death published in Holland. & it would be as well to get it from Schlegel.5 I thought the paper6 I sent you contained a complete sketch of his travels up to the time of his death.

Blyth7 is so wild & uncertain that I think you ought not [2]8to publish any thing of his in the "Ibis" till you have it complete. After the "Cat. of the Birds of India" in Ibis in 1863,9 it would be absurd to publish an another paper of his, also to stop at the Accipitres. He told me he had completed the whole, but would only send part, as it was too long for one paper.

Very truly yours│ Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

A. Newton Esq.

1
Newton, Alfred (1829-1907). British zoologist and ornithologist. Founding member of the British Ornithologists' Union.
2
Bernstein, Heinrich Agathon (1828-1865). German naturalist who collected specimens in Indonesia for the Leiden Museum.
3
ARW met Bernstein in Ternate in 1860. See Beccaloni, G. W. 2019. Wallace's rival Bernstein was buried on Ternate, not Batanta. The Alfred Russel Wallace Website. <http://wallacefund.info/content/wallaces-rival-bernstein-was-buried-ternate-not-batanta> [accessed 24 August 2020].
4
Bernstein died 19 April 1865 on Batanta Island. See Beccaloni, G. W. 2019. Wallace's rival Bernstein was buried on Ternate, not Batanta. The Alfred Russel Wallace Website. <http://wallacefund.info/content/wallaces-rival-bernstein-was-buried-ternate-not-batanta> [accessed 24 August 2020].
5
Schlegel, Hermann (1804-1884). German ornithologist, herpetologist and Director of the Leiden Museum of Natural History 1854-84.
6
ARW sent Newton a paper that included a memoir for Bernstein. The paper has not been identified. See WCP4014.3957, 16 November 1865.
7
Blyth, Edward (1810-1873). British zoologist; Curator of the Museum of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal 1841-62.
8
In Newton’s handwriting, "A. R. Wallace, London. Nov. 20/21 /65. Answered Nov. 21/65." The letter has not been found.
9
Blyth, E. 1863. Catalogue of the birds of India, with remarks on their geographical distributions. Ibis, 5(17): 1-31.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP4015.3958)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Royce, Isobel [2012-11-27] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Costa, Leslie [2020-08-31] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP4015,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4015