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The Malay Archipelago (1869)

by Alfred Russel Wallace

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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461653,286 (3.97)26
Sociology. Travel. Nonfiction. Geography. HTML:

Fans of geography and travel writing should definitely spend some time with Alfred Russell Wallace's fascinating volume The Malay Archipelago. Compiled through decades of research, this book provides an exhaustive account of Wallace's experiences and observations on the large group of islands situated between Australia and Southeast Asia, including his interactions with the indigenous people and theories about the development of the flora and fauna of the region.

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» See also 26 mentions

English (5)  Dutch (1)  All languages (6)
Showing 5 of 5
Alfred Russel Wallace's 1869 account of his travels and observations in what is today Indonesia and that occurred mostly in 1858, the year that he and Darwin published on the Theory of Evolution. Wallace describes his adventures visiting the many islands in the archipelago and his constant search for and preparation of bird and insect specimens that he sent back to England and with which he supported himself. At one point he comments that he is the only white person residing on the thousand-mile-long island of New Guinea, where he is primarily interested in finding new examples of the Bird of Paradise. His description of hunting the Orang-Utan is especially disturbing in light of its recent endangerment. Wallace discusses the biogeography of the archipelago at length including the faunal divide that would later be called the Wallace Line. He also discusses the people of the islands at length, frequently comparing the Malay and Papuan "races" and their degrees of civilization or barbarity. This Victorian view of humanity is sometimes trying, although Wallace makes several comments admiring the noble savages around him who live in peace and harmony without any of the oppressive social structures that are necessary at home. (Later in life he became a social activist supporting women's suffrage and opposing eugenics, the destruction of the environment by human activity, and militarism.) The Folio Society edition of this book has beautiful color plates with drawings by the author and some photographs. ( )
  markm2315 | Jul 1, 2023 |
Alfred Russel Wallace was a co-discoverer with Darwin of evolution through natural selection. This book is his account of his travels collecting specimens of animals, birds and insects in what is now Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

I have to admit my eyes did glaze over from time to time at the descriptions of the birds and beetles, but his actual travels and his description of the people and societies he met were fascinating. ( )
  Robertgreaves | Jul 2, 2014 |
Always fun to return to... ( )
  Katong | Apr 16, 2012 |
The great account of travel and exploration in Malaya through a vanished world of jungle, tigers on the island of Singapore, and attacking Oran-utans. Wallace sweated his way through it all writing one of the most important and engaging of all 19th century scientific travel books.
1 vote hmc276 | May 26, 2007 |
I have at least two other editions from various
publishers in Bali. This is a redesigned Periplus
quality paperback.
  Alhickey1 | Jan 5, 2020 |
Showing 5 of 5
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» Add other authors (33 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Wallace, Alfred RusselAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Jones, StevePrefacesecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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To Charles Darwin author of 'The origin of species' I dedicate this book not only as a token of personal esteem and friendship but also to express my deep admiration for his genius and his works.
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My readers will naturally ask why I have delayed writing this book for six years after my return; and I feel bound to give them full satisfaction on this point.
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I thought of the long ages of the past, during which the successive generations of this little creature had run their course — year by year being born, and living and dying amid these dark and gloomy woods, with no intelligent eye to gaze upon their loveliness; to all appearance such a wanton waste of beauty. Such ideas excite a feeling of melancholy. It seems sad that on the one hand such exquisite creatures should live out their lives and exhibit their charms only in these wild inhospitable regions, doomed for ages yet to come to hopeless barbarism; while, on the other hand, should civilized man ever reach these distant lands, and bring moral, intellectual, and physical light into the recesses of these virgin forests, we may be sure that he will so disturb the nicely-balanced relations of organic and inorganic nature as to cause the disappearance, and finally the extinction, of these very beings whose wonderful structure and beauty he alone is fitted to appreciate and enjoy. This consideration must surely tell us that all living things were not made for man. Many of them have no relation to him. The cycle of their existence has gone on independently of his, and is disturbed or broken by every advance in man’s intellectual development; and their happiness and enjoyments, their loves and hates, their struggles for existence, their vigorous life and early death, would seem to be immediately related to their own well-being and perpetuation alone, limited only by the equal well-being and perpetuation of the numberless other organisms with which each is more or less intimately connected.
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Sociology. Travel. Nonfiction. Geography. HTML:

Fans of geography and travel writing should definitely spend some time with Alfred Russell Wallace's fascinating volume The Malay Archipelago. Compiled through decades of research, this book provides an exhaustive account of Wallace's experiences and observations on the large group of islands situated between Australia and Southeast Asia, including his interactions with the indigenous people and theories about the development of the flora and fauna of the region.

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