WCP6121

Letter (WCP6121.7077)

[1]1, 2

Kensington Gore,

London, S.W.

12th November 1913.

Dear Madam,

As President of the Royal Geographical Society, and on behalf of the Council, I desire to assure you of our deep sympathy with you in the loss which you have sustained by the death of your distinguished husband, Alfred Russell[sic] Wallace. Dr Wallace was a a life member of our Society, having joined it so long ago as 1854, and he was thus one of the oldest members on the list. He was awarded our Founder's Gold Medal in 1892.

On his eminent services to Science I need not enlarge. His contributions to geographical knowledge both in the Amazonian basin and in the [2] Malay Archipelago, were of the highest rank, and some of his earliest contributions on these subjects are published in the original Journal of the Society. His interest in geographical science continued to the end, and his researchers had a powerful influence in directing our subject into scientific lines.

He is probably the last of the great scientific pioneers who began their work in the early decades of the last century to whose labours all departments of science are indebted for the advanced stage which they have now reached.

Believe me to be, dear Madam, | Yours sincerely, | Curzon of Kedleston [signature]

President, R. G. S.

The Royal Geographical Society crest is embossed onto the top centre of the page.
Written at the top left of the page in the hand of the author is "Mrs Russell[sic] Wallace".

Please cite as “WCP6121,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP6121