I thought it would be interesting to find out what, if any, was the main stream media reaction of the day, but have been temporarily diverted from that search by, not exactly a coincidence but an unexpected juxtaposition, a coincident, of the names of two men I have been reading about recently.
I began with a simple search for the name Engels in the Times Archive for the years 1845 to 1899, starting with the advertising columns. Under the heading The Times Column Of New Books and New Editions December 12, 1892 Swan Sonnenschein & Co Paternoster Square announced two new titles in their Social Science series (2 shillings and 6 pence each):
Socialism: Utopian & Scientific – Friedrich Engels
Land Nationalisation - Dr Alfred Russell Wallace.
I realise that I know very little about the life of Wallace, though I think I knew about his role in the discovery of evolution by natural selection since we studied The Origin of Species in the Sixth Form.
Relying, so far, on the Dictionary of National Biography I am astonished to find that besides land nationalisation his interests included Miracles and Modern Spiritualism and – very topical just now – the Delusion of Vaccination. He was also well regarded by supporters of the emancipation of women.
It is perhaps even less surprising that his modern reputation is not up there with that of Darwin, but I look forward to repairing this gap in my knowledge & finding out much more about him.
Links
Condition of the Working Class in England: Preface to the English Edition
Archives of Swan Sonnenschein & Co - University of Reading
Condition of the Working Class in England: Preface to the English Edition
Archives of Swan Sonnenschein & Co - University of Reading
