Ɛpsilon

WCP4067

Letter (WCP4067.4011)

[1]

Frith Hill, Godalming

Oct.r 10th. 1887

My dear Newton1

Thanks your very excellent & interesting Address which I had read in "Nature"; and I must thank you also for the kind way in which you have mentioned my name in connection with Mr. Darwin’s,2 an honour which I feel more & more I am quite unworthy of. I had a most interesting & not unprofitable tour in America,3 saw a great deal of the country & peoples, and have gained much fresh [2] information & I hope some fresh ideas both scientific & political. By the scientific men I was everywhere received with the greatest kindness & cordiality, — and with a respect & honour which was really oppressive to me, as I always feel dreadfully ignorant in the presence of men who are working all their lives while I am merely amusing myself!

With best wishes | Believe me | yours faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

[3]4

1
Newton, Alfred (1829-1907). British zoologist and ornithologist. Founding member of the British Ornithologists' Union.
2
Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882). British naturalist, geologist and author, notably of On the Origin of Species (1859).
3
ARW’s North American lecture tour spanned from October 1886 to August 1887.
4
In Newton’s handwriting, “A. R. Wallace. Oct. 10/11/87.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4067.4011)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Vanostran, Collin [2012-08-16] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP4067,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4067