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Darwin Correspondence Project

To W. R. S. Ralston   27 March 1877

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

Mar 27. 1877

My dear Mr Ralston,

Many thanks for the reviews. I have read that in the Times with extreme interest. This seems a sort of judgment on me because I said to you that reviews never helped one in forming an opinion on a book.1

I shall be pleased & proud to see Mr Wallace if he thinks it worth while to come so far  You had better tell him that Orpington is our station. I would suggest his leaving Charing X at 11.15 & coming here to luncheon; & if he will let me know beforehand I will sure to be at home.2

One word more,—as I should be very sorry to appear ungracious, pray tell him that I am unable to converse long with anyone, as my health suffers afterwards

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

Ralston’s letter to CD has not been found. He probably sent reviews of Donald Mackenzie Wallace’s Russia (D. M. Wallace 1877). A long review appeared in The Times, 18 January 1877, p. 3. Ralston had been contracted by the publisher Cassell & Co. to write a large historical work on Russia but ceded the commission to Wallace (McCrimmon 1988, p. 183). CD probably met Ralston in December 1875; see Correspondence vol. 23, letter from W. R. S. Ralston, 2 December 1875.
No letter from Wallace mentioning a visit has been found.

Bibliography

Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.

McCrimmon, Barbara. 1988. W. R. S. Ralston (1828–89): scholarship and scandal in the British Museum. British Library Journal 14: 178–98.

Wallace, Donald Mackenzie. 1877. Russia. 2 vols. London: Cassell Petter & Galpin.

Summary

Thanks for the reviews, particularly the one in the Times.

CD will be pleased to receive Mr Wallace.

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10916,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10916.xml

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