WCP4572

Wallace rented Holly House, Tanner Street, Barking from 22 March 1870 to 25 March 1872.

McLachlan, Robert (1837-1904). British entomologist.

Dunning, Joseph William (1833-1897). British entomologist.

Probably either the Royal Geographical Society or Royal Entomological Society.

Hampden, John (1819-1891). British promoter of the Flat Earth theory.

In 1870, ARW accepted a monetary challenge to scientific men from the Flat Earth promoter John Hampden to show that the Earth’s surface was indeed curved. He designed an experiment to demonstrate this curvature, and was deemed successful by an agreed-upon umpire. Hampden refused to accept the result, sued ARW, and launched a years-long abusive campaign to discredit ARW as a thief in the public press and within societies ARW was a member. ARW eventually successfully had Hampden prosecuted for libel, but the stain of accepting this challenge continued, and he was financial burdened for it. See Raby, P. 2001. Alfred Russel Wallace: A Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press. [pp. 206-207]; and Wallace, A. R. 1905. My Life: A Record of Events and Opinions, 2 vols. London, UK: Chapman & Hall, Ltd. [Vol. 2, pp. 365-376]. In the same month as this letter, ARW published an eight-page pamphlet: Wallace, A. R. 1871. Reply to Mr. Hampden’s Charges Against Mr. Wallace. London: J. J. Tiver.

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