WCP5678

Letter (WCP5678.6531)

[1]

The Dell, Grays, Essex.

Dec[embe]r. 19th. 1874

Dear Sharpe

I hope the B[ritish.]M[useum]. Trustees will give you what you want. I enclose a few lines which are I hope suitable.

Thanks for the Madagascar List. I shall make it out.

Can you refer to a bird of mine which I have noted as Dendrophila flavipes1 Sw. (Two [1 word illeg.] & a [1 word illeg.]2 p. 323)[.] It is from W[est] Java. no. 131. I want to know if it is Dendrophila flavipes, and also if you have specimens from any other locality. In the "Hand List"3 it is down as from "Central Asia".

[2] I hope you won't have to go to America.

I congratulate you on Mrs. Sharpes' being all right (as you don't say otherwise) — Perhaps you had rather not be congratulated on the 6th. daughter.

Believe me | Yours faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Compliments of the season to you all. Seasonable weather!

1
Dendrophila flavipes. Now unused name for a subspecies of the Blue Nuthatch bird. The genus has been renamed to Sitta. The subspecies is now known as S. a. nigriventer.
2
Likely referencing a book by William Swainson, who classified the subspecies Dendrophila flavipes before it was renamed.
3
Hand-list of Genera and Species of Birds, Distinguishing Those Contained in the British Museum, Part I. Book written by George Robert Gray, published in 1869 by the British Museum. Not to be confused with the series of books of the same name written by Richard Bowdler Sharpe and published between 1899 and 1909. The specific reference to Dendrophila flavipes in this manuscript can be found on page 182.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP5678.6531)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Rodwell, Stephen [2014-09-19] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2014-09-19] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10]

Enclosure (WCP5678.7958)

[1]1

I have much pleasure in hearing testimony to the high qualification of Mr. R.B. Sharpe2 as an Ornithologist.

His "Monograph of Alcedinidae3,4" and his "Catalogue of Raptorial Birds in the British Museum5" are very valuable works. They show that Mr. Sharpe not only possesses an extensive knowledge of his subject, but is also an experienced writer; and above all that he possesses great industry and energy [2] and spares no pains in acquiring information from every possible source for the benefit of his readers.

Few men that I am acquainted with are better qualified to bring an extensive ornithological museum into a state of order and usefulness.

Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Grays, Essex

Dec.[embe]r 20th. 1874.

1
This letter remains unaddressed and is a letter of recommendation for Richard Sharpe.
2
Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847 — 1909) an ornithologist
3
Alcedinidae are river kingfishers, a brightly plumaged compact bird with short tails, large heads, and long bills.
4
A Monograph of the Alcedinidae: or family of kingfishers was published in 1868.
5
Dr. Sharpe composed a catalogue on the birds of prey in the British Museum in 1874.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Enclosure (WCP5678.7958)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Pearson, Keon [2020-04-24]

Please cite as “WCP5678,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP5678