WCP5296

Letter (WCP5296.5840)

[1]

Kew

May 14/[18]64

My dear Darwin

I have just received Wallace's anthropological paper1 & read 1/2 & am amazed at its excellence — it seems to me a very great move in advance & I am anxious to know what you think of it — Its never struck me to account for the fixity of man as Wallace has done, & apparently with good reason. I am struck too with his negation of all credit or share in the Natural Selection theory2— which makes me think him a very high-minded man. I am burning to know your opinion of the paper.

[2] We enjoyed ourselves vastly at Mr Wedgwood[']s3, they are extraordinarily kind & most agreeable. The little visit brought some roses back to my wife[']s4 wan cheeks. —We liked Clement5 Extremely [sic]. Of course I dabbled amongst the moulds to my heart[']s content. & selected some fine plaques &c which Mr W[edgwood]. has promised to have put in hand for me. My wife & Clement formed a common bond in german [sic] [3] music, & we had the happyness [sic] of hearing of your continued betterness.

The Lyells6 spent an evening with us last week, both looking very well indeed we thought.

In haste | Ever y[ou]rs affec[tionately] | JD Hooker [signature]

1
Wallace, A. R. 1864. The origin of human races and the antiquity of man deduced from the Theory of "Natural Selection". Journal of the Anthropological Society of London, 2: pp. clviii-clxx. [a paper read at the ASL meeting of 1 March 1864].
2
See Darwin, C. & Wallace, A. 1858. On the tendency of species to form varieties; and on the perpetuation of varieties and species by natural means of selection. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London (Zoology). 3(9): 45-62.
3
Wedgwood, Francis ("Frank") (1800-1888) British master potter; brother of Emma Darwin.
4
Hooker (née Henslow), Frances Harriet (1825-1874). British botanist, translator and first wife of J. D. Hooker.
5
Wedgwood, Clement Francis (1840-1889). British partner in the Wedgwood pottery business; son of Francis and Frances (née Mosley) Wedgwood.
6
Lyell, Charles (1797-1875). British geologist and author, notably of the influential Principles of Geology (1830–3). President of the Geological Society of London, 1835–1837 & 1849–1851. And, his wife, Mary Elizabeth (née Horner) (1808-1873); British geologist.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP5296.5840)]

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Revision history

Transcribed by Nguyen, Vincent Duong-Vi [2014-07-31] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2014-07-31] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10] Transcription checked by Costa, Leslie [2020-10-08]

Please cite as “WCP5296,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 29 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP5296