WCP4029

Letter (WCP4029.3973)

[1]

Holly House, Barking.

E[ssex].

Dec[embe]r. 28th. 1870

Dear Newton

Many thanks for your list & information.1I have thought of such a book this two years & have even begun it and written several chapters, but got stopped by finding that it would be a work a work [sic] of years to do it at all thoroughly.2 I had just thought of a comparatively short manual such as you suggest, but Darwin3 was horrified at my thinking of writing a small book on such a vast subject,— & that put me off. However I shall think of [2] it again.

Maps are a difficulty. There must be plenty of them for such a work, & they must not be coloured, to be moderate in price. In a small book too, they must be very small unless folded which for many maps would I think be most objectionable.

I shall be glad of any hints from you. I will try and attend the next Zool[ogical]. [Society] Meeting.4

With Compliments of the Season | Believe me | Yours | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Prof A[lfred].Newton

[3]

P.S. I think such a Book should include all Zoology. But in the invertebrata it must be necessarily very brief

.

A.W. [signature]

[4]5

1
Newton's MS list is presumed missing.
2
ARW probably refers to Wallace, A. R. 1876. The Geographical Distribution of Animals With a Study of the Relations of Living and Extinct Faunas as Elucidating the Past Changes of the Earth's Surface. London, Macmillan & Co.
3
Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882). British naturalist, geologist and author, notably of On the Origin of Species (1859).
4
ARW refers to the Zoological Society of London meeting held on January 3, 1871.
5
An annotation is written in Newton's hand in the upper left-hand corner of page 4, "A. R. Wallace, Dec. 28/29 /[18]70. | Answered Dec. 29/[18]70."

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP4029.3973)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Bourne, Fiona [2013-05-23] Transcription checked by Lucas, Paula J. [2014-05-06] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2020-06-10] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10]

Please cite as “WCP4029,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4029