WCP7174

Letter (WCP7174.8311)

[1]

Parkstone, Dorset.

Decr. 10th. 18891

Dear Sir,2

My "Travels on the Amazon"3 was the first book I wrote, & I am rather surprised you find it so interesting as it sold very badly when first published.

Darwin's Naturalist's Voyage is considered one of the best & most interesting books of the kind ever written, & I am sure you will not regret purchasing it. None of my other books are issued in [2] cheap editions as hitherto they have not had a very large sale. I am surprised there is not a public library in Dublin where you may get all such books. There ought to be, and if you & other intelligent working men wrote letters to the papers urging it I have no doubt it would soon be done.

Let me recommend you to buy "Looking Backward"4 (1/-)5 as a much delightful picture [3] [1 word crossed out] of what is in store for humanity in the future.

I hope there are a fair lot of Land Nationalisers6 in Dublin.

Believe me | Yours faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]7

P. S. I send a few tracts that may interest you.

A.R.W. [signature]

1
On left side of page, above the salutation, is text underlined and heavily crossed out, presumably the name of the recipient of the letter.
2
On the right side of the page is a pencil inscription "yo[?]".
3
Wallace, A. R. 1853. A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, With an Account of the Native Tribes, and Observations on the Climate, Geology, and Natural History of the Amazon Valley. London: Reeve & Co.
4
Bellamy, E. 1888. Looking backward 2000-1887. London, UK: Rutledge.
5
One shilling.
6
ARW was deeply involved in the campaign for land nationalisation, becoming the first president of Land Nationalisation Society in 1881. Raby, P. 2001. Alfred Russel Wallace: A Life. Princeton,NJ: Princeton University Press. [p. 228].
7
On left side of page, below the valediction, is text underlined and heavily crossed out, presumably the name of the recipient of the letter.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP7174.8311)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Ghosh, Susan [2022-06-30]

Please cite as “WCP7174,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 29 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP7174