Transcription by Charles H. Smith, Ph.D.
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky

 
     The attached pdf file contains a near-exact facsimile transcription of this famous work by Alfred Russel Wallace, just as it appeared in its original place of publication, the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society: Zoology (Volume 3, No. 9, 20 August 1858, pages 53-62), where it was directly preceded by Charles Darwin's first published utterances on the subject (the entire article was titled "On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties; and On the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection").
 
     The transcription is based on the one provided at my Alfred Russel Wallace Page, reformatted (and very carefully proofed) to exactly resemble the original. I have however employed the Times New Roman font setting, as the original font is somewhat more ornate (especially its italicized letters), and may not be quite as searchable.
 
     Most reproductions of this work derive from the slightly altered version included in Wallace's Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection in 1870; the few images of the 1858 version that are available suffer from the poor visual quality of the original printing. The current effort is fully searchable and easier on the eyes, both onscreen and as printed out.
 
     For bibliographic details on this, the "Ternate essay", click here.

DOWNLOAD PDF FILE HERE

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This transcription copyright 2015 by Charles H. Smith. All rights reserved.