WCP4146

Letter (WCP4146.4164)

[1]

The Dell, Grays, Essex.

May 22nd. 1874

Dear Mr. Galton

It is too bad that the ordnance maps are not made accessible & popular after the enormous cost to the public.1 It seems to me a very proper thing for the Geog[raphical] Soc[iety] to move in. Could you not get some members of parliament to take up the question?

Living out of Town I know little of the best mediums now. The best place to get information is at Burns'2 [2] 15, Southampton Row. W.C3.

He knows all the mediums & all about them. If you can give me your friend's name & address I can send her a card introducing her to Mrs. Guppy4 (1 Moreland village, Highbury Hill Park, Holloway) and if she likes to call on Mrs. G. she will I have no doubt, if invited, go to her house, — as a friend, — [3] but she must not offer her anything.

When my whole article is out5I should be glad to hear from you, what is said about it in scientific circles, — that is by men who will take the trouble really to read it — few I am afraid.

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

F. Galton Esq.

1
The national mapping agency of Great Britain, the Ordnance Survey, began producing detailed maps of each county in 1841. Wikipedia. Ordnance Survey. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordnance_Survey#Origins> [accessed 22 Nov 2019].
2
Burns, James (1835-1894) British spiritualist, bookseller and publisher.
3
The address of Burns' Progressive Literature Agency, and of the Spiritualist Institution, which he founded in 1862.
4
Guppy-Volckman (née Nicholl), Agnes Elisabeth (1838-1917). British spiritualist medium.
5
Possibly Wallace, A. R. 1874. A Defence of Modern Spiritualism. Fortnightly Review (new series)15 (89): 630-657, and A Defence of Modern Spiritualism. Part II. Spirit Photographs. Fortnightly Review (new series) 15 (90): 785-807. Reprinted as a pamphlet, A Defence of Modern Spiritualism Boston: Colby & Rich, July 1874.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP4146.4164)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Campbell, John [2012-08-15] Transcription checked by Lucas, Paula [2019-12-20]

Please cite as “WCP4146,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4146