WCP837

Transcription (WCP837.1009)

[1]

Copy.1

The Dell, Grays, Essex.

March 20th 1873.

Dear Sir,

Having decided to part with my collection of Malaysian birds, I beg to offer it, through you, to the Trustees of the British Museum.

The collection consists of from 2300 to 2400 examples of about a thousand species, and contains the typical specimens from which about 200 of the new species discovered by me have been described.

The specimens are in first-rate condition and are, in all cases, the best which I was able to [2] obtain during my eight years travels in the Malay Archipelago.

As this collection will form the basis of for any research into the ornithological fauna of those islands for many years to come, I am anxious that it should be preserved in a National Institution to which every student has access; and therefore I have fixed its price at the moderate sum of £1000.2

I remain | Yours very faithfully | (signed)3 Alfred R Wallace

Dr John Edward Gray.4

1
The letter is a neatly transcribed copy of a letter written by Alfred Russel Wallace. The hand-writing does not appear to be Wallace's.
2
Adjusted for inflation, this would equate to a value of approximately £92,000 in 2012 (source: Bank of England inflation calculator).
3
The parenthetical reference has been added later, and in pencil
4
John Edward Gray (1800-1875). British zoologist and Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum from 1840 to 1874.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP837.1009)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Cooper, Rod [2014-02-20]

Please cite as “WCP837,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP837