WCP6071

Letter (WCP6071.7021)

[1]1

From the CURATOR, PITT RIVERS MUSEUM

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

10 December 1947.

Dear Mr. Wallace,

The arrowheads have arrived, and are really beautiful examples of their kind. The handwriting on them is precisely the same as that on a collection chosen by Powell2 and Stevenson3 for Moseley4 and Tylor5. The moccasins6 arrived this morning, and we are very glad to have them. Thank you once more for adding this historic collection to our Museum.

Yours sincerely, | T. K. Penniman. [signature]

T. K. Penniman.

W. G. Wallace, Esq[uire].,

61, East Avenue,

Bournemouth.

[2]7

A larger collection of Arrowheads presented to A[lfred]. R[ussel]. W[allace] by the Smithsonian Institute8 [sic], Washington, 1888.

1

The letter is typewritten and signed in ink. The page is numbered [WP16/2/48] in pencil in the top RH corner.

2.

2
Powell, John Wesley (1834-1902) U.S. soldier, geologist, and explorer of the American West. The Powell Geographic Expedition down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869 included the first known passage by Europeans through the Grand Canyon. He was the second director of the U.S. Geological Survey and first director of the Bureau of Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution (see Endnote 8).
3
Stevenson, James D. (1840-1888) American geologist, naturalist and anthropologist. His work for the U.S. Geological Survey included those of Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. He and his wife Matilda Coxe Evans Stevenson worked for the U. S. Government Bureau of Ethnology and made substantial collections of material in the Southwest, most of which are housed at the Smithsonian Institution (see Endnote 8).
4
Moseley, Henry Nottidge (1844-1891) naturalist and member of the Challenger expedition 1872-1876 to survey and explore the world’s oceans.
5
Tylor, Edward Burnett (1832-1917) English anthropologist, the founder of cultural (social) anthropology influenced by the evolutionary views of Charles Lyell. He believed that there was a functional basis for the development of society and religion, which he determined was universal.
6

Two pairs of small Indian moccasins which ARW purchased in Denver, Colorado in 1897 for the recipient and his sister Violet (see WCP 6069).

8.

7
The annotation in ink in the hand of the recipient, is written on the back of the letter.
8
The Smithsonian Institution is group of museums and research centers funded by the estate of British scientist James Smithson (d. 1829). Established in 1846, they house an eclectic range of 138 million items.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP6071.7021)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by O'Dell, Sandra [2018-08-15]

Please cite as “WCP6071,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP6071