WCP7194

Letter (WCP7194.8345)

[1]

70 Great Russell St.

London. W[est]. C[entral].

March 8. 1904.

Dear Mr. Riley:

As showing you how difficult it is to convince the eminent Dr. Wallace in re your Poe hoax1 I enclose his latest letter. By putting the "Leonainie" poem into your 25th year he thinks he has ruled you out, particularly noting also all the differences & variations in the machinery of the imposture & the text of the verses. I fiercely resent the imputation that you have not shown equal ability in any of your other writings, as I know you have far surpassed "Leonainie" in every quality that goes to make up true poetry. Dr. [2] Wallace is very nice, and has a commanding position here as a Litterateur & Scientist, but he is now in his 82nd. year & being "set" in his opinions needs specific, itemized proof on every count. Knowing your good nature & satisfied you can satisfy even him (with the enclosed letter before you) I hope you will find time to give it a categorical answer, more particularly as sides are being taken in literary circles here & I wish you to profit by the agitation.

With kindest regards to yourself & Mr. Dickey,2 | Sincerely, | James D. Law. [signature]

(of Lancaster, P[ennsylvani]a, U.S.A.)

Ja[me]s. W. Riley, Esq.

Indianapolis,

Ind[iana]. U.S.A.)

P.S. I mean to look up John Ingram,3 the Poe authority, who is at present in London. — Law.4

1
"Leonainie" was a poem which appeared The Kimono Dispatch in 1877 as a previously unpublished poem by Edgar Allan Poe. In fact it was a hoax by the young poet James Whitcomb Riley, intended to show that the public would praise any work supposedly by a famous author. ARW came across it years later and was convinced that Poe was actually the true author, and there ensued a heated debate in literary circles. Schwartz, Joel S. 1984. Alfred Russell Wallace and 'Leonainie': A Hoax that would not Die." Victorian Periodicals Review,17: 2-15.
2
Dickey, Marcus (1859-1950). American secretary to, and biographer of, James Whitcomb Riley.
3
Ingram, John Henry (1842-1916). British biographer and editor with a special interest in Edgar Allan Poe.
4
This P.S. text is written up the left-hand side of the page.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP7194.8345)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Ghosh, Susan [2020-10-27]

Please cite as “WCP7194,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP7194