Ɛpsilon

WCP4186

Letter (WCP4186.4208)

[1]

Broadstone, Dorset.

July 29th. 1903

Ernest Hartert1 Esq.

Dear Sir

My friend Prof. Poulton2 of Oxford suggested to me that I should ask you whether the Hon. Mr. Rothschild3 wishes to have another collector, as I am interested in an enthusiastic young naturalist4 who wants to go to the Tropics but has not the means. I feel quite sure that he would be a thoroughly good collector & perfectly trustworthy in every way.

From enquiries I have made I find that collections are required by the Brit. Mus. from British Guiana [2] Cuba, & Hayti; and he is, therefore, trying to get some employment on a sugar, or Cocoa estate, or mine, on the former country. But that is rather difficult & uncertain, & I would much rather he went out to collect only. He can not only skin, but mount birds very well, and has collected all orders of insects for many years. He is 26 years old, very strong & healthy, an abstainer from drink, and I feel sure in every way calculates to make a first-rate collector in every department of Natural [3] History. He is known to Mr. Forbes5 of the Liverpool Museum, and to many local naturalists in that district & can have the highest testimonials.

Will you kindly let me know whether there is any chance of Mr Rothschild giving him employment of the kind suggested.

Believe me | Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]6

1
Hartert, Ernst Johann Otto (1859-1933). Tring Museum curator, ornithologist and oologist.
2
Poulton, Edward Bagnall (1856-1943). British entomologist. Hope Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Jesus College.
3
Rothschild, Lionel Walter (1868-1937). British banker, politician and zoologist.
4
Birch, Frederick ("Fred") (1876-1952). British naturalist and natural history collector. Honorary Secretary of the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society.
5
Forbes, Henry Ogg (1851-1932). British explorer, ornithologist and botanist. Forbes coordinated and led the Liverpool and British Museums joint expedition to Socotra and Abd al Kuri in 1898–1899.
6
In left margin in Hartert’s handwriting, “(R. cannot send the collector out. Cuba & Haiti best localities, take birds and Lepidoptera, all specimens should be sent to Tring, duplicates to go to an agent).”

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4186.4208)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Cooper, Rosie [2012-10-10] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP4186,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4186