WCP4015

Letter (WCP4015.3958)

[1]

9, St Mark's Crescent,

Regent's Park.

Novr 20th. 18651

Dear Newton

I met Bernstein2 once in Ternate, I think in 18593. I believe he died there4 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 Schlegel5. 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[alogue]. of the Birds of India" in Ibis in 18639, it would be absurd to publish [one illeg. word struck through] 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[lfred]. Newton Esq.

1
The stationery has a pre-printed line for the date.
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
An annotation in the top left margin reads "A.R. Wallace, London. Nov. 20/21 /65." "Answered Nov. 21/65."
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]

Please cite as “WCP4015,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4015