WCP5025

Letter (WCP5025.5574)

[1]

Parkstone, Dorset, England.

Jan'. 29th. 1890

51151

Mr Edward Westermarck

Dear Sir

I thank you very much for sending me your excellent essay on "The Origin of Human Marriage". — I have not studied the question myself, but I have long felt and believed that the theory of primitive promiscuity of McLennan2, Lubbock3, Tylor4+ others was untrue, and I am very much pleased at the admirable and thorough [2] way in which you have explored its fallacy. Your facts and your argument seem to me quite conclusive, and must, I am sure, carry conviction to most persons who have not committed themselves to the opposite view.

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

1
Handwritten text added after the letter was written by someone other than the author.
2
McLennan, John Ferguson (1827-1881). Anthropologist.
3
Lubbock, Sir John (1834-1913). Naturalist and financier.
4
Tylor, Edward Burnett (1832-1917). Anthropologist.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP5025.5574)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Ball, Nicola [2014-07-28]

Published letter (WCP5025.5480)

[1]1[p. 13]

Parkstone, Dorset, England

Jany. 29th. 1890.

Mr. Edward Westermarck.

Dear Sir

I thank you very much for sending me your excellent Essay on »The Origin of Human Marriage».—I have not studied the question myself, but I have long felt and believed that the theory of primitive promiscuity of McLennan, Lubbock, Tylor and others was untrue, and I am [2] [p. 14] very much pleased at the admirable and thorough way in which you have exposed its fallacy.

Yours facts and your arguments seem to me quite conclusive and must, I am sure, carry conviction to most persons who have not committed themselves to the opposite view.

Believe me

Yours very sincerely

Alfred R. Wallace.

1
Editor Charles H. Smith's Note: First of fourteen letters from Wallace to Edward Westermarck, concerning the writing of the latter's The History of Human Marriage. These were included in the article "Letters From Edward B. Tylor and Alfred Russel Wallace to Edward Westermarck; Ed. With Introductory Remarks Concerning the Publication of The History of Human Marriage" by K. Rob. V. Wikman that appeared in 1940 as Acta Academiae Aboensis Humaniora XIII.7. The Wallace letters make up the second half of the work. Note that there are several apparent minor editing errors in the source material that I have not bothered to correct.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP5025.5480)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Smith, Charles Hyde [2013-02-06] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-02-08]

Please cite as “WCP5025,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 25 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP5025