WCP646

Letter (WCP646.818)

[1]

5, Westbourne Grove Terrace

London. W.

Decr. 12th. 1862

To Dr Felder1

My dear Sir

Many thanks for your kindness in sending me your numerous papers on Lepidoptera, and also the beautiful plates which illustrate them.2 They will be of the greatest service to me, as they contain many of the species collected by myself in the Malay Archipelago.

When in Amboyna [Ambon], in January 1858 I made the acquaintance of your amiable friend Dr. Doleschall,3 who furnished you with so many beautiful species of Lepidoptera from that island. His untimely death robbed the science of Natural History of a most enthusiastic cultivator.

Should the Imp[erial]. Zool[ogical]. Society of Vienna4 think me worthy of their diploma as an [2] honorary member,5 I shall feel highly gratified.

With regard to exchanges of Lepidoptera with you I must explain of to you that I have no intention of forming a general Collection of even diurnal Lepidoptera; finding my own collections sufficiently extensive to occupy me many years in their arrangement & study. I desire therefore only specimens to complete my collections of the Malay Archipelago, and also of the countries which surround it as, the Pacific Islands, China, India & Ceylon.

I should also be glad of a set of the diurnal lepidoptera of Southern & Eastern Europe, Asia Minor & Siberia. For any of these with which you can furnish me, I shall be happy to return you an equivalent in species from Celebes [Sulawesi], N[ew]. Guinea, & Sumatra. A fine specimen [3] of male Ornithoptea priamus from Amboyna [Ambon] will be very acceptable, the ♀ I possess.

If you are acquainted with any Ornithologists in Vienna, will you mention to them that I desire a set of the birds of Austria or of Europe generally (excluding the vultures & large Eagles) and will offer in exchange about half the number of species of birds from the Malayan Archipelago, named.

I remain | My dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

P.S. Several of you Amboina [Ambon] species are wanting in my collection; viz. Amblypodia eridanus, A. annulata, A. nobilis, A. disparilis Myrina jolcus &c. If you have any duplicates of these they will be very acceptable.

A R W. [signature]

1
Felder, Cajetan von (1814-1894). Austrian baron; jurist, politician, and entomologist (specializing in Lepidoptera).
2
Either with his son Rudolf, or with C. L. Doleschall, Freiherr Cajetan von Felder published at least six articles on lepidoptera in the Wiener entomologische Monatschrift and the Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Matematisch-Naturwissenschaftische Classe between 1859 and 1862, to which ARW may refer here, although they do not appear to contain plates (see: the entries in Biodiversity Heritage Library <https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/> [accessed 8 October 2018]).
3
Doleschall, Carl Ludwig (1827-1859). Austro-Hungarian physician and entomologist.
4
The Imperial Zoological-Botanical Society of Vienna, 1858- (co-founded in 1851 as the Zoological-Botanical Society by Georg Ritter von Frauenfeld (1807-1873), Austrian zoologist, first secretary until his death) (Deutsche Biographie. N.d. Georg Frauenfeld. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. <https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd116721464.html#adbcontent> [accessed 8 October 2018]).
5
ARW was only elected Honorary Member in March 1901 (see WCP5443_M6165).

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP646.818)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Brunnen, Claire [2012-02-16] Transcription checked by Parfitt, Elisabeth [2012-08-13] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Watt, Helen [2018-11-02]

Please cite as “WCP646,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP646