Ɛpsilon

WCP4457

Letter (WCP4457.4764)

[1]

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Dorset.

June 3rd. 1913

My dear Poulton1

I am very glad you have changed your view about the "Sleeper"2 Lectures being a "fake". The writer was too earnest & too clear a thinker to descend to any such trick. And for what? "Agnostic" is not in Shakespeare, but it may well have been used by some one before Huxley.3 The parts of your "Address" of which you send [2] me slips are excellent & I am sure will be of great interest to your audience. I quite agree with your proposal that the "Lectures" shall be given to the Linn. Society.

I return the proofs, but can suggest nothing.

Yours very truly| Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

[3] P.S. Thanks for the copy of "Bedrock" with your article, & its most beautiful photo. illustrations though they want colour to show all their beauty & suggestiveness.

A.RW.

P.S.2 I must apologise for not writing sooner but have been unwell & much bothered with lots of things & only noticed now that your "Address" will be now given, & that you want the proofs returned.

A.R.W.

1
Poulton, Edward Bagnall (1856-1943). British entomologist. Hope Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Jesus College.
2
A pamphlet by George Washington Sleeper which anticipated the idea of evolution through natural selection and also the germ theory of disease. Poulton later reported in his presidential address to the Linnean Society of 25 May 1914 that the Sleeper document was a hoax.
3
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895). British biologist and author, known as "Darwin's Bulldog".

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4457.4764)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Lord, Annette [2012-07-19] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Published letter (WCP4457.6470)

[1] [p. 100]

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. June 3, 1913.

My dear Poulton,—I am very glad you have changed your view about the "Sleeper"1 lectures being a "fake." The writer was too earnest, and too clear a thinker, to descent to any such trick. And for what? "Agnostic" is not in Shakespeare, but it may well have been used by someone before Huxley. The parts of your Address of which you send me slips are excellent, and I am sure will be of great interest to your audience. I quite agree with your proposal that the "Lectures" shall be given to the Linnean Society.—Yours very truly,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP4457.6470)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Sherwood, Danni [2020-07-28] Transcription checked by Lo, Yen [2020-10-30] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP4457,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4457