WCP6861

Author’s draft (WCP6861.7953)

[2]1

March 15. 1951

Dear Miss Atkin

Festival of Britain

All my father’s scientific m[anu]s[cript]s have been dispersed, some to the B[ritish]. M[useum]. (Natural History)2 & some to the Linnean Society3 — I suggest that you approach the latter.

The I have a few sketches of a slight character which my father made in the Malay Archipelago4. chiefly in Borneo Some are in water colour others in pencil or ink. Most depict trees or flowers, one represents a flying frog. I am willing to place these at your service if considered suitable. I presume all things loans of this kind will be fully safeguarded & insured.

I am puzzled as to why a body called the "Design Research Unit"5 should be interested concerned with Darwin & Huxley. The members [sic] names & qualifications do not suggest scientific interests in biological science.

1
This draft reply is written in pencil on the blank second page of WCP6050.
2
The British Museum (Natural History) opened in South Kensington in 1881. It is now commonly referred to as the Natural History Museum.
3
A learned society founded in 1788, for the study and dissemination of taxonomy and natural history, named in honour of Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist, regarded as the father of modern taxonomy.
4
From 1854 to 1862 ARW travelled through the Malay Archipelago (now Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia), to collect specimens for sale and to study natural history. Accounts of his studies and adventures there were published in 1869 as The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-utan, and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel with Studies of Man and Nature London, Macmillan & Co.
5
The Design Research Unit was one of the first generation of British design consultancies combining expertise in architecture, graphics and industrial design. It was founded in 1943 and became well known for its work in relation to the Festival of Britain in 1951.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Author’s draft (WCP6861.7953)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by O'Dell, Sandra [2020-04-23]

Please cite as “WCP6861,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 18 September 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP6861